Noona Meat and Seafood — Restaurant in Duluth

God, I really wanted to love this place. I had high hopes. Which is why I choose Noona to eat at for my birthday.

First impression, it was warm and inviting, it had nice decor. Our bartender was very nice and attentive but it soon took a drastic turn.

We ordered the charbrolied oysters which we have had at other restaurants before, and it has been one of our favorite things. So we were excited to have them again. Only they fell short they were very dry, overcooked and only edible with lots of lemon juice and cocktail sause.

Coming from a background of working in the service industry for many years we understand how difficult it can be, so for that reason we are not big on complaining or sending food back. So we choose not to say anything and hoped the next course would be better.

We were sadly mistaken. I ordered the cowboy 18 oz dry aged ribeye. I love ribeyes and never had a dry aged one, so I was excited to have it in celebration of my birthday.

When it came out it was overcooked, I ordered medium it came out well done. It was sent back by our bartender without question. And then the owner came to talk to us about it. And told me that was their medium and if I wanted medium rare then that's what they would cook for me.

I was pretty surprised that the owner would approach me like that. He didn't take responsibility for the chef's mistake. Didn't seem apologetic and basically told me I didn't know how to order a steak. When it wasn't just my opinion that the steak was overcooked but also the opinion of my husband and bartender who watched me cut into it.

The potatoes I ordered on the side although looked delicious had zero flavor and tasted very oily. I couldn't even eat it. We also choose to say nothing about the potatoes. There was nothing we had that we enjoyed.

The steak now came out a second time, this time the steak came out bloody. I saw that, my husband saw that, the bartender saw that and so did the owner. It now had gone back a third time.

At this point I was exhausted, frustrated, starving, and all I wanted to do was just leave. The third time it came out the chef brought it out. At this point I no longer cared if it was improperly cooked I just wanted to eat. I said the steak was fine. And the chef walked away. It was still undercooked and not seasoned properly.

If you are going to have a $70 steak on your menu, get a chef who can properly season and cook it.

And to the owner although I appreciate you trying to fix the steak, you telling me it was properly cooked and I just ordered it incorrectly made me feel as a customer unwanted and as if I was in the wrong for a mistake your chef made.

We are not asking you to make it right and have zero desire to ever come back. I wish you all the success in the world and hope you take this experience as a learning experience so you can continue to...

I am actually baffled by all of the 4+ star reviews at this place because I read a number of reviews before making my decision to dine here. Either this area lacks a good high end restaurant (and Noona is the only option), or there's some new trend where everyone suddenly enjoys overpaying for flavorless, mid tier quality foods. Mind you, this is my first review for a restaurant. Ever. And I am a frequent diner that supports local businesses wherever my travel takes me. Now that you understand the honesty and disappointment coming from this review, let's jump right in.

I made a reservation for 2 on a Saturday night. Parking was a little difficult to find, but it was nice to take a walk through the downtown area to the restaurant. Upon arrival, I was greeted by the manager (who was working as the host also). I told him my name and that I had a reservation for 2 at 7pm. He said he couldn't find my name on his list, which was not an issue. I provided him my reservation confirmation and we were seated shortly after. There were maybe 5-6 other parties dining in with several tables open. Service was okay, we had a kind gentleman bring us our drinks and explained the menu to us. Although we never saw him again after we got our food.

We ordered a Surf and Turf with ribeye, cooked medium, and also the Grilled Salmon. The steak came to us well done. I realize other reviews mentioned something similar. If that's what they call medium, is burnt shoe leather the equivalent of a well-done steak at Noona? Serious question. There was not a hint of pink.The crust was slightly burnt and all you could taste was the bitterness of the charred crust. For $95, you could expect a prime cut from any renown steakhouse in the Atlanta area. There was zero to minimal marbling on a ribeye almost as if this was a select cut purchased from Walmart. The ribeye was probably the most disgusting steak I've ever had. The lobster tail was the only thing that wasn't terrible, except it was cold. The grilled salmon was very standard, nothing special, and it was also cold. Along with the kimchi fried rice. It's almost as if they cooked everything, left everything out in the open until the last item was finished, even if it took significantly longer.

Seriously, go spend your hard earned money elsewhere. You won't impress your date here, nor...

I'm submitting this review in hopes for a response from someone at the restaurant to discuss my lackluster experience Saturday June 29th reservation for 5 at 6:15pm.

We arrived 5 minutes ahead of our reservation and were promptly seated. The hostess was kind enough to let us know they were busy and it would take the server 3-5 minutes to approach. It took a bit longer, but totally understand given how busy they were....this is where everything falls apart.

I spent 10 years waiting tables in various restaurants (including find dining) around Buckhead. I know most restaurants get food & alcohol deliveries early Friday in preparation for the weekend. Given such, I've NEVER heard the word unfortunately so many times within the first 10 minutes of ordering. If you don't have it on the menu, scratch it off (I know it costs money to constantly print them).

Wife's desired cocktail, no. Oysters, no. Vesper martini, no, etc., etc. We all settled for 2nd/3rd options, but mind you we sat down at 6:15 and didn't receive the first cocktail until 6:45; and they came in waves instead of together in single fashion as they should. My gin martini didn't come in a martini glass and had zero other liquors mixed in (it was supposed to be a vesper, I ended up with room temp gin, plus I asked for Hendricks but per above they were out).

Our waitress had the apps all arrive at separate times and finally took our food order. Food was good, but the service completely killed the night. We had friends in from Buckhead, while my wife and I live in Norcross and frequent Noona. We were hoping to show off a great dining example outside the perimeter; instead we were frustrated and couldn't wait to get out and progress to our show at the local theatre (Steely Dan cover band).

I've been here several times without a single issue, but Friday was a disaster and embarrassing for my wife and I trying to entertain friends.

Please connect with me directly so we can...