JOA Grill — Restaurant in Dallas

I would describe this place as Texas meets East coast.

I'll list all the things I liked about the place first: I had great service and both of our servers were really nice and professional (we changed to a different table during our dinner). I think the best part about our visit was the service. The food was good overall. We ordered the Crab Fritters, Tuna Tartare, and Oyster trio, Nuri feasts, recommended by our server, The meat was good, the aioli accompanied with the crab fritters was good. The atmosphere is popping and warmer than other fine-dinning restaurants. If they were not trying to be a fine-dinning restaurant but a Texas meets East Coast kind of restaurant I think they did a fine job.

What I didn't like: I would have liked it if they offer the Texas-sized portions for the meat at least. The Tuna Tartare has a strong sauce, good but strong, so I could not taste whether or not the tuna was fresh. In my opinion, this is crucial in fine-dinning, if that's what they're going for. I was not able to taste the pinenut at all even though the menu says it's in there. The aioli in the Crab Fritters was great but the fritters themselves were just okay. The spring onion made it sweet and it over powered the sweetness of the crab which was a shame. If you have had creamy crab croquette it tastes similar to that but with better execution. Oyster trio : I had high expectation for this dish. It's my favorite and I have had it at multiple different places. The dressing over powered the Uni, some oyster only had a small piece of uni and the strong sauce made it very difficult to taste the uni at all. I would recommend dumping the sauce out. I believe they used pacific oysters, aka miyagi oyster, it was a shame that I couldn't taste it's natural sweetness. Again, this dish was still good! If they were not going for fine dinning concept then they did a fine job. Nuri Feasts : The filet mignon and marinated galbi were both good. The other two selections were not memorable. There were two chewing pieces that surprised me. The soft tofu stew was salty and the house salad was sweet. The homemade vanilla ice-cream was good but it's a bit too eggy for me so I didn't finish it. Atmosphere : It's pretty loud in there. From the music to the people talking. I can hear other people's stories so that made me feel a little shy. For the price I would have expected more privacy.

Overall, if you don't expect this place to be a fine-dinning restaurant but instead an expensive steak house with a nice, young expensive feel you won't be disappointed. The menu did not intrigue me enough to warrant a...

Nuri Grill is an interesting take on Korean BBQ with a fine-dining steakhouse twist.

To be honest, the cold, unwelcoming attitude of the hostess gave me a bad first impression of this place. Maybe she was having a bad day, but the rest of the staff members - the server and bartender - made up for that.

Unlike many other korean barbeque restaurants, Nuri Grill is not all you can eat. I went with a party of five people (unexpected guest tagged along), so we ordered 2 Nuri Feasts, then the Sweet and Sour Chicken, Pan Fried Octopus, Crab Fritters, and the Steak Noodles as starters/sides. The portions are quite small, so obviously not ideal for sharing beyond 3-4 people.

Pan Fried Octopus: BEAUTIFUL presentation, sauce was delicious. Very small portion and with a tad too much salt. Personally, I don't eat octopus, but with the crisp batter disguising the tentacles, this time was an exception. I would recommend.

Sweet & Sour chicken: I wanted to slap my friend silly for ordering CHICKEN at a steakhouse/KBBQ place. Alas, it was still delicious, but not unique.

Crab Fritters: Again, quite delicious with beautiful presentation. Would recommend.

Steak noodles: (if you've seen Parasite, you will recognize this dish). Good flavor and the steak was fine. The menu says it's made out of chow mein noodles, but the noodles remind me of ramen blocks. Small portion size too. $12 is pretty expensive for what it is though

Nuri Feast: Our server was amazing and super kind. She cooked the meats for us, although I do not believe it is typical for them to do so. The meats were good, salad was too acidic for my liking, and surprisingly, the soups were my favorite. To finish off, they served us a pomegranate slushy to cleanse the palate. The slushy is more acidic than it is sweet.

Lastly, the noise level was pretty loud. I would have preferred if there was more space between different groups of people as it was almost impossible to hear my friends without yelling. There were many empty tables, yet everyone was compacted in the same area, which also is questionable when considering Covid-19...

Overall, I think it's a decent place to check out for the experience, but be prepared to spend a lot of money if you want to...

My first ever Korean BBQ experience did not disappoint thanks to Nuri Grill!

Listed as one of the hot new places to try out in DFW, the environment, drinks, food, and overall experience certainly lived up to the hype.

A unique twist on some traditional cocktails helped get the night started off on a great note, followed by the delectable crispy pork belly appetizer which literally melts in your mouth. As a night with many firsts, I also tried oysters for the first time (with some convincing from my date), and they were Incredibly smooth and tasty; not at all what I expected.

The star of the evening came next, which was the chateaubriand; a wide selection of meats with countless accompaniments such as pickled cucumbers, cilantro, lettuce, sauces, and much more. Each kind of meat had its own unique flavor and pairing of seasoning, but all of them were incredibly tender and delicious. The process of cooking over the tabletop grill and combining different flavor profiles made for an experience I won’t soon forget.

After another round of drinks, we finished off the night with a pomegranate sorbet of sorts, which had a hint of apple cider vinegar. It definitely cleansed the palette, but is an acquired taste for sure.

Overall, the service was amazing, food was top notch, and overall ambiance was a definite 5/5. For anyone looking for a unique and adventurous date night at a new spot in DFW, be sure to check...