Decibel Korean Fried Chicken — Restaurant in Cincinnati

I am in town for work and ordered via Uber so I can't speak to the service or atmosphere really, but I greatly appreciated the automatic inclusion of flatware given that my food was not all handheld.

I had the Korean corn dog, a side of white rice, and a side of the marinated cukes. I wanted the drumsticks, truly, but was not gonna be able to eat that much.

The corn dog was something I had wanted to try because I've never had one. The breading, the actual frying, the sauce, everything was incredible. I feel it would be much better suited around a less processed center like dark meat chicken than say a hot dog, but hot dogs are so easy on a stick. I would eat the outer shell served as it is, alone. I didn't notice the potatoes at all, and I didn't care because it all combined to create something great.

The cucumbers were fine. They were very fresh, lightly flavored, but not so much distinctly Korean.

My main complaint is that the white rice was so bad. They expressly state "Korean white rice," with Calrose which is a fairly fancy brand of white rice. But the preparation was wrong. Instead of hot, sticky, slightly sweet, it was... more congealed, without being mushy. They let it sit in the water too long before cooking it, and/or used too much water to begin with. I'm inclined to rate it 3 stars due to this most basic staple being botched, but that's more a personal point of pride as an East Asian person.

I'm sure this place is worth...

I've been meaning to try Decibel and decided to go today since they had a Cincinnati Wing Week special. Really enjoyed the garlic soy sauce on the wings, however I think they could have used more of the sauce on the wings. I was not expecting the wings to be the large ones, so 6 of them for the $7 special price was an awesome deal. Also got the cured cukes and the waffle fries with the fly sauce. Loved the cured cukes. The waffle fries were great too and I really enjoyed the fly sauce...was not expecting it to be that spicy! The place is a little pricey (6 wings are normally over $10) so without the wing week special, I probably would not have bought as much food but $15 for 6 large wings and two side items was a great deal in my opinion. The place is a little out of my way but I'll be back...

First things first, if you plan on sitting and eating, go next door to Esoteric Brewing. They have a dedicated order/pickup window for Decibel and had plenty of seating when we went. There is no seating at the main storefront. If you are getting take out, go to the storefront.

Now, for the food: Great, crispy chicken and tasty sauce. I had the gochujang BBQ on tenders with some waffle fries. Both were excellent and despite a small crowd came out quickly. The tenders aren’t gigantic and 6 were plenty of food to leave me full. The order of waffle fries was seasoned nicely and came with ketchup and “fly sauce” (spicy-ish special sauce). The serving size of the fries is generous, and I could have comfortably split it. All in all, a great experience and I’ll...