Chik'n & Mi — Restaurant in Louisville

I really wanted to like this place, but it fell short in many ways. The first time we tried to come here was on a Friday night and it couldn’t get in without a reservation. I’m a sucker for lines and crowds. I thought for sure this place had to be a hit if it had such high demand. When we came here most recently, the weather was nice and the patio was open. We did like their patio a lot, but it is by a noisy road, so there is a lot of car noise. We had reservations, but it didn’t look like we needed them on a Tuesday night.

I very much appreciated that they had nonalcoholic cocktails on their menu that were not just juice or soda. I didn’t especially like the cocktail that I got, but I appreciate its attempt at being a cocktail. It wasn’t overly sweet and did have some complexity as far as flavors. It just still felt mostly like a herbal soda though.

While it took them a long time to bring out food, I thought that their appetizers were acceptable, but there is nothing especially memorable about anything that we ordered. We were seated around 6:50pm and didn’t have appetizers on the table until nearly 7:25pm. I saw one table of ladies leave because of how slow the service was. Given that we ordered pickles, I felt like they should have at least brought that out so we had something on our table to snack on. The brussels sprouts were crispy and well done but I feel like this is one of those dishes you can get at many places and they do it well. We also ordered the pork belly bao buns, which were fine, but not memorable. Bread was soft, pork belly was fatty and moist. Flavors were ok but not really great.

I ordered the pork Ramen. It’s very different than any Ramen I’ve traditionally had. It doesn’t have your usual savory pork broth, but rather tastes more like Chinese medicine soup. It has a little bit of a bitter aftertaste with lots of strong herbal flavors. I’ll just say that it wasn’t for me, but I don’t think it was terrible. The main problem with the Ramen was that when I was eating it, I found a metal shaving that comes off of a steel wool scrubber for cleaning dishes mixed into a bite of cabbage and soup. While I understand how accidents like this can happen, It really made me lose my appetite for this place.

My husband ordered the fried chicken and paired it with rice and coleslaw. I think that this was a better move as far as strengths of dishes here. There is nothing wrong with the chicken but again it wasn’t memorable. The chicken took an extra 5 to 10 minutes to arrive after my Ramen. But it was hot and crispy on the outside. The chicken remained relatively moist on the inside. Of the dishes that we had this was one of the better ones, but again it wasn’t good enough that we would come back for another meal here given the price point, food safety quality, and...

Asian Fried Chicken and Ramen… and so much more! This was our first time visiting this delicious eatery and will certainly NOT be our last. We made a same-day reservation, was seated immediately and weren’t too close to the fireplace 😉 We instantly recognized a cohesiveness among the staff that was as well-oiled as Ruth’s Chris, without the haughty flair. The atmosphere was welcoming to all walks of life, with a fun, laid-back mood. Our server, Brooklyn, was nothing short of amazing! We had already decided to sample three different appetizers and recommend ALL of them! The steamed pork buns with hoisin sauce, chicken lettuce wraps with zesty peanut sauce and the mushroom eggrolls with sweet chili sauce were all top-notch bites. Because we’re, admittedly, gluttonous AF, we ventured on to the curry ramen soup and the x-tra hot fried chicken sandwich with bonito fries. The flavor of everything was of the “slap yo’ mama” variety! Side note, if you happen to be under the influence, the “melting” effect of the bonito flakes will keep you amazed and staring at them until they stop moving We finished our hour and a half off with a cocktail each from the fully stocked bar and the bread pudding for dessert. Brooklyn not only had ours and other tables inside and a couple tables outside, but she was also behind the bar, stirring, shaking and pouring the best cocktails in town. The bread pudding, for me, wasn’t my favorite as the texture was a little too dense, and I didn’t know it’d have caramel on it. It didn’t stop me from savoring a few bites and enjoying the hell out of my pear-fusion drink (can’t recall the name). READ THE MENU! Had I done so, I could’ve avoided the caramel. For all you “cilantro tastes like soap” people, make sure to heed that warning as well. I would gladly drive the hour-long round-trip again tomorrow for their brunch, but I will instead eat my left-over curry ramen soup and dream of the Saturday or Sunday where I can go back to indulge in Chik’n and Waffles and a drink...

My mom and I went here for the first time today! I’ve wanted to go for ages, but the wait is long if you don’t have reservations. I finally got my act together and made reservations. I was blown away! They have a parking lot, which was unexpected for the neighborhood. The outdoor dining area was beautiful, and if it wasn’t 100 degrees, we would have eaten outside. The restaurant itself was super cute! I get the feeling it was a renovated old house. It was cozy and inviting, and the decor was unexpected and beautiful (think faux flower accent wall and cool vintage furniture). Every single staff member that we interacted with was friendly and cool, and our server Daniel was both DELIGHTFUL and efficient. Our delicious Summertime Spritz cocktails took less than five minutes to get to us! They were light and refreshing, but dry! I do not care for overly sweet drinks, so this was bonus points! Our food came out less than ten minutes after we ordered, and it was so fresh! We got the banana flower salad, wood ear mushroom egg rolls, house pickles, and each of us got a 3 piece fried chicken. The salad was super fresh and crisp, the dressing was flavorful, it wasn’t over dressed, the fried shallots were lovely, and the salad was double the size of a normal side salad. The pickles were clearly made in house as each one had a different brine. They also pickled them all quickly, so they maintained a crisp texture. The fried chicken was crispy, hot, and tasty. I think my favorite item was the wood ear mushroom egg roll (though it’s a tough choice). The rich hearty mushroom flavor played beautifully with the pleasingly sour veg. My husband who hates the texture of mushrooms said it was the best egg roll he’s had (and that was even after having to drive twenty minutes home to deliver it to him!) I really wanted dessert, but I was too full! Also, because we were there for happy hour, all our food plus three cocktails was under $60! I cannot wait to come back and work my way...