Noren [ Korean × Japanese ] — Restaurant in Seattle

Phew, we were not expecting to have these type of quality issues at a sushi place in Seattle. We went in on a weekend evening to scratch the sushi itch with 2 big Nigiri combos, some takoyaki, and some assorted rolls. Also ordered some tea. The whole experience was just kind of weird, and I can't help but think I might have confused this place with another Sushi restaurant that might have been here pre-pandemic.

The first thing that kind of set off alarm bells was that the tea was served in a mug with a tea bag in it instead of the normal kind of tea you're supposed to get at a Japanese restaurant. It was a smaller mug and did not come with a refill.

From there, we ordered appetizers in addition to our big plates, and everything just kind of came out at once after waiting a while. We weren't super hungry, but, that was another kind of weird thing that we noticed. I wrote that one off because the Takoyaki at least was pretty good and fresh from the griddle.

That's where the pleasantries end though - our Nigiri was abysmal in that our fish was obviously old, and the mackerel flat out smelt like it had gone bad. I'm pretty experienced with fish (catching, cleaning, eating), and wow boy we could smell the fishiness when the plates were set down. Good fish shouldn't smell like the seafood aisle of a discount grocer. I also smelt a hint of citrus in the sushi rice (or maybe they had it on their hands when they were assembling the nigiri and working with the fish) but that's another common mask for old fish because it helps hide that smell.

Second red flag was that the shrimp on the shrimp nigiri wasn't deveined or beheaded - I've never been to a sushi place that hasn't done that for you. The internet will tell you that it's a personal preference thing, but the intestines can contain sand and it also kind of defeats the point of assembling Ebi Nigiri if you have to disassemble it anyways.

This all being said, we did order sushi on Labor Day weekend, so my review is 2/5 because I believe that the cuts they served COULD have been good if they were fresh, and this experience just kind of reinforced the rule I broke of not having Sushi on non-market days. That doesn't seem to be an issue for other places in the area though based on prior experience. So, your...

WHAT A GREAT EXPERIENCE!

We brought our relatives who were visiting there for dinner. I set a reservation through Google for 630, and we were going to be a bit late. Made a call and no problem. Finished our drinks at the Reserve and ran up the street for dinner here.

PARKING! Parking even though it was a bit challenging, once you find a spot, you can download an app to pay to add more time if needed.

They checked our temperature painlessly through some contraption pointed at our forehead. So glad it wasn't checked traditionally.

We ordered quite a bit of food, so get comfy on your throne if you're gonna read all this.

Calamari, Hamachi Special, and Garlic Edamame for appetizers. Fairly large calamari rings with a nice spicy sauce. Hamachi Special was good with a jalapeño slice on it. Garlic edamame was good as well. Agedashi was great! Fried nicely and partly in some sauce.

For the food...bear with me. Trying to jog my memory because we had a great time if you know what I mean.

Spicy tuna hand roll. Perfect. Not too hot and no shortcuts taken to try and pass off something.

Salmon skin hand rolls. Maybe a bit under but still crispy. Didn't fall apart or take extra effort to bite.

Volcano roll. Now there's a twist. It came with a small cup that was on fire on the side. Really neat to see that.

Next up, Amy's Special. Can't remember too much on it because they kept it at the other side of the table and I was too much into the next dish.

Firecracker roll. Very spicy and very enjoyed.

One thing I'd probably mention was that the cut rolls seemed to come apart easily a few times. But nothing that affected anything big.

At this point my brother in law and myself each killed a bottle of Sake and that's probably why I don't remember much of the rolls.

Speaking of Sake. Wifey and sister in law shared a Sake sampler that had Strawberry, Lemon, and Matcha sakes.

We finished off with some Mochi which...well...its Mochi. I think there is only one maker of Mochi in the world.

Service? They were all amazing! Specially Olivia! She was like family and joining in the laughs and fun! Any time we come back...I hope she's there because she's...

To start, the decor is amazing. It's super clean and very tastefully decorated. The space itself feels simultaneously very high-class and very unassuming while maintaining a certain level of charm that I really enjoy.

The staff are always really friendly and it's easy to tell that they're trying their best (they tend to get busy at certain times and Noren seems to get quite a bit of business via takeout and Uber Eats) but wait times are almost never very long.

Now for the best part: the food. It's really very difficult to go wrong when ordering; I once ordered a few hand rolls (without knowing what they were) and LOVED them. The care that they put into even the cheapest items on their menu is immediately clear and there is an obvious desire for you to enjoy the food. The calamari is always picture perfect. The specialty rolls are where you find the more experimental and daring flavor combinations, but after eating a large number of them, there was only one that I didn't enjoy and it was only because it wasn't to my taste; it was still carefully planned and crafted and I could still appreciate it.

Regarding drinks, they offer some of the more common beers and a respectable array of sake wines. I didn't think of myself as someone who enjoyed sake until after I tried a few flights; it really is a much more rich experience than most people realize so if you drink alcohol, give these a shot (no pun intended).

Overall a 5/5 and this will no doubt continue to be a...