Nori The Pointe on 17 st - Nori Asian Fusion & Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Wilmington

I was also at Nori today for dinner. I was meeting 3 long time friends, our first time here. We planned to meet there at 6pm. We were seated right away. It did not seem that busy at first. Our waiter brought us water, due to we were not ready to order, we were waiting for the last one of our party to show up. I flagged down Raphael, and said we would like to order some wine. He took our drink orders. It took at least 15-20 minutes to get those. Maybe longer. He seemed rushed. Then he didn’t come back for probably another 15-20 minutes, and took our food orders. Another wait. Three of us got sushi and one ordered from the kitchen. He said the sushi may take longer as it it hand made to order. No problem. I ordered the pork egg roll, ginger salad and Angel Hair Sushi. There were two big egg rolls cut in two, so I shared it with my friends. It was very good, fresh and the wrapper had a good crunch to it. The ginger salad was good, could have used more ginger in my opinion, the romaine lettuce was very fresh and crisp. The three sushi dishes came out at the same time. The sushi was cleverly placed differently on our dishes (we ordered the same one) and was delicious. I ate every bite. But the Curry Coconut Chicken from the kitchen did not come out for another 20-25 minutes. We all stopped eating, waiting on the kitchen order as we felt bad eating when our friend is just sitting there with no food. Finally her dish came out. Raphael was very apologetic. As we ate I asked my friend how her dinner was and I noticed she wasn’t eating. She said the flavor was there and good, but that she ate a piece of chicken that was raw in the middle. She did ask our waiter to take it off her bill and told him why. I thought a manager would come over and speak with her, but that didn’t happen. We sat there another 15 minutes talking and paying our checks. We asked him if it’s always this busy, especially on a Wednesday night. He said no, and that he had a big party in the back, plus us 4, another 4 top and another 2 top. He thanked us for our patience. My friend wasn’t asked if she wanted to order anything else. I’m glad she got half of the pork egg roll. We paid our checks. We walked out at 8:15p. Apparently they are still working out some kinks, as the kitchen was totally backed up. Apparently the bar was too. It did seem to be a frantic atmosphere among the wait staff. We all agreed we would definitely go back. Hopefully it will be a...

Not long ago, I had Nori Sushi at The Pointe for my curbside-takeout birthday dinner, during the end of Phase 1 quarantine order expiration. Was wanting to try another local business to satisfy my sushi cravings, Nori is just a couple of miles away and their creations always look so good on social media.

FOOD: Spicy Spider Roll (soft-shell crab), Yummy Yummy Roll (tuna, salmon, crab, cream cheese and avocado, tempura fried with special sauce), Spicy Tuna Roll and the Baked Scallop Roll (crab, avocado and cucumber topped with spicy seared scallops, crunchy tempura snow flakes, tobiko and scallions). The execution & presentation of the Baked Scallop Roll & Spicy Spider Roll were flawless. They were my favorite rolls of the evening. The baked scallop roll is firm, but buttery and has a the perfect combinations of asian flavors. So good. The Spicy Spider was tempura fried with a light crunch, making each bite easy and pleasant to enjoy. This spider roll is high on my list. The spicy tuna roll was up to par for freshness and flavor. The Yummy Yummy Roll had incredible potential but fell just short of my expectations due to one miscue. During the deep-fry process, the Yummy Yummy Rolls appeared to cook longer than expected. The ingredients were fresh, but each ingredient was very warm / semi-hot and ended up cooking the tuna inside to medium, rather than seared or natural. I believe if this roll were flash-fried at a minimum to offer up that light, warm crunch on the exterior but keep the fresh ingredients inside, cool...it would be an absolute homerun. This was the only area of opportunity I noticed during my meal. The baked scallop roll was the STAR of the evening. SCORE: 4.2 STARS!!

SERVICE: I placed an order directly via cell phone. The young lady was pleasant and "smiling through the phone", which was refreshing. The pickup time was prompt, the staff were all practicing safe, social distancing...wearing masks, etc., friendly and made pickup seamless. SCORE: 5 STARS!!

OVERALL SCORE: After enjoying the meal, I read that Nori is the sister location to Nikki's Gourmet Sushi in downtown Wilmington. Well...that would explain why I enjoyed it so much!! Nori is a serious contender and they compete well with other leading sushi bars in Wilmington. Thank you for a wonderful meal!! MUST TRY: Baked Scallop Roll....

I know that people in this area don’t really know sushi, so I want to tell everyone, this place is an absolute scam. $30 for 12 pieces of sashimi is ridiculous. There’s no option for a sashimi for two, so you have to order two $30 orders to get enough sashimi. The rolls are somewhat fairly priced, but if you get two rolls, two orders of sashimi for one, then you are at about $94…without drinks or appetizers, and still might not be enough food. That is not normal, even for the northeast. We walked out.

In response to the owners, I appreciate your well wishes, but I do have to disagree. I have eaten at some of the most highly regarded sushi establishments in NYC, NJ, and the surrounding area, and none of them even closely resembled your price point. These restaurants are regarded as some of the best in the US, and heavy competition ensures that quality is their main priority. I have even eaten at the most highly regarded sushi restaurant in Denver, CO, where the owners import fish from Japan. Again, a densely populated city, even though it a landlocked state, there is heavy competition in the area. Their prices, again, do not match yours. There is no justification for your prices - other than to line your pockets at the expense of the consumer. I suggest you add a sushi and sashimi for two, offer 12 pieces of sashimi, 8 pieces of sushi, and maybe even a small roll. That combination, along with two soups/salads, would be a fair offering at about $35. Again, your rolls are somewhat fairly priced, though some could stand to be reduced by $1-$2. Even further, if you were to offer a special roll combination, where customers could pick two special rolls for $30, that would also be extremely fair. If someone were to order both of the options that I just mentioned, then they would be at about $65. They could still add appetizers, order a third or even fourth roll, and be satisfied with the amount of food ordered.

I seriously hope you take my advice into consideration, and enjoy...