Donwoori - Modern Korean Cuisine — Restaurant in South Burlington

I’m not usually someone who writes reviews but sometimes an experience is so disappointing you just got to.

We walked in and were ignored for probably 15 minutes, wait staff was very disorganized, seemed like they all shared tasks of seating, waiting tables, etc. Everything was very scattered and hectic. We got seated and ignored again for a while. I can’t overemphasize how bad the service was the entire meal.

We ordered the kimchi pancake, cheese tteokbokki, and 20 piece “family” size fried chicken, half soy garlic and half gochujang.

The food was so mid. Definitely not worth going. I felt like I should’ve been getting paid to eat it instead of paying to eat it. Nothing we ate was remotely spicy at all. Kimchi pancake was hard 2/10, tteokbokki was terrible, the sauce was way too thick 0/10. The chicken was the best thing we ate, still a 2 or 3 out of 10. We saw most people eating other dishes, so maybe that’s the move. Just don’t order what we got.

Also, haha, they charged us incorrectly, and charged us for only a medium order of chicken ($23) instead of the probably $50-70 we spent on two drinks, two apps, and a $35 chicken order. I didn’t refute the price because it seemed deserved after the experience we had. Won’t be returning, writing this review as a warning.

Update: it made my boyfriend THROW UP!!! DO NOT EAT THIS OMFL...

WOWWWWWW. This is not just another Asian restaurant. I realize Korean people are known for their fried chicken but this was literally the best fried chicken I've had in my life, huge pieces of chicken wings, double fried. I got the 12 count because I thought there's no way 6 will fill me up but realized I had 6 left as I threw in the towel. Perfectly executed, perfectly balanced flavors and extremely moist , can grab a hold of the bones and just slide them out clean. These best even the "specialty" chicken places around the area. The only thing I've had so far that could use improvement are the French fries (easily changed by changing vendors) but let's be honest, even if the French fries were amazing id take that money and throw it towards more chicken or a bulgogi bowl. Amazing food, friendly people, nice atmosphere inside, I really hope this place sticks around as it's in a spot that has a high turnover of various Asian restaurants, something tells me this usually abandoned looking parking lot over my lifetime will not look so abandoned and we will be seeing an unusual amount of traffic pulling out of...

I was really looking forward to trying this Korean restaurant, especially for their Korean fried chicken—but unfortunately, it was a huge letdown.

First off, what they advertised as Korean fried chicken turned out to be nothing more than basic wings — ones that you can get from a gas station, nothing even close to the real thing. It was lazy and deceptive.

But the real nightmare was what I witnessed in the kitchen. One of the cooks licked the bowl he used to toss the cooked wings—yes, licked it—then continued prepping food without washing his hands. I watched in horror as he touched kitchen equipment, containers, and other food items with the same unwashed fingers. It was filthy and unacceptable.

To top it off, the bartender drank the leftover cocktail straight from the shaker after making a guest’s drink—right in front of customers. Completely unprofessional and unsanitary.

This place is not only misleading customers with overpriced menu items, but it’s also a serious health risk. Avoid...