Dinner for Two: Nowon
Korean American comfort food in the East Village
[This restaurant review is part of a series of reviews. A broad description of the series format and other reviews in the series can be found here]
Menu
2 person prix fixe. Nowon requires their tasting menus to be shared by both people at the table. We got "The Classic", 7 plates served in four courses. We both got drinks as well.
Whipped Ricotta Toast
Broccolini a la Caesar
Nowon Fried Chicken
Chop Cheese Rice Cakes
Honey Garlic Butter Tots
Legendary Cheese Burger
Pineapple Mousse
Ginger Beer + Korean Mango Beer
Cost: ~$120
Mia's Review
There’s a lot to enjoy at Nowon1—playful flavors, bold dishes, and a vibe that feels both laid-back and energetic. The space strikes a balance between downtown cool and neighborhood casual: dim lighting, hip-hop playing at just the right volume, and a bustling open kitchen2 that gives the whole place a sense of motion and warmth. It feels like a modern take on a classic Korean pocha—the kind of casual late-night pub where people gather over strong drinks and salty, comforting food. That spirit comes through here: communal, lively, a little rowdy in the best way. The menu leans into indulgence in a way that feels deliberate and fun. Especially if you’re coming in hungry or with a group ready to pass plates around, it hits that sweet spot between comfort and creativity.
And in that spirit, there were a few standout bites that set the tone early in the meal. The Korean mango beer was a surprising favorite: lightly sweet and silky smooth, with just enough fruitiness to feel fun without being over the top. It masked the alcohol so well I had to remind myself it was a beer. The broccolini a la Caesar was another clever moment—a playful twist on the classic, with anchovies pulled out of their usual spot in the dressing to play more of a spot-light role in the dish. The briny crunch worked especially well against the char of the broccolini, offering a salty hit that made it one of the more balanced dishes of the night.
Not everything landed quite as well. The whipped ricotta toast, for example, looked promising but felt a little underwhelming. I usually love ricotta, but this dish lacked the richness and dimension I expect—especially when compared to versions like the one at Miss Ada, where the ricotta acts as a lush base for vibrant, textural toppings. Here, it felt carelessly dolloped-on with some sweet sauce3 rather than crafted as a composed bite.
The Nowon fried chicken had potential: it was undeniably well-fried, with a satisfyingly crisp crust that held up well. But the glaze, which leaned heavily sweet, overwhelmed the rest of the dish. There’s a non-sweet sauce option we declined, so that one’s partly on us—but even so, I was hoping for something that packed more heat, tang, or complexity to cut through the richness.
The cheeseburger was, as everyone says, legendary. Oozing with flavor, messy in the best way, and packed with umami. But by the time it arrived, I was already feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of heavy food we’d eaten, and I don’t think I appreciated it as much as I would have earlier in the meal.
That might be the biggest theme: Nowon goes big on flavor—heavy sauces, rich textures, bold choices. That can be really satisfying in the right mood, especially with a group where the indulgence is spread across a table. But on a night when I was hoping for variety, nuance, or that slow-burn feeling of a meal unfolding in layers, I found myself wanting more contrast and composure. A few of the dishes felt like stars on their own, but not quite part of a cohesive, balanced meal.
If I were with a larger group looking for a fun, casual spot with bold flavors and easy drinks, Nowon would absolutely fit the bill—especially at its price point. But if I’m planning a meal where the food is the main event and I’m chasing that feeling of savoring every bite, there are other spots I’d turn to first.
3 out of 5
Amol's Review
I love fusion cuisines. In an increasingly globalized world, there is a natural evolutionary effect on food. Dishes are no longer limited by the ingredients that are within driving distance. Global supply chains allow the best spices, prep methods, and ingredients to rise to the top and blend together as people pick and choose the best parts of different food cultures. Indian South African food is a great example — bunny chow, which combines Indian curry with South African meat, is probably one of my favorite dishes on the planet. Also a big fan of currywurst (a mix of German sausage and British-Indian curry powder), plate lunch (a Hawaiian mix of fried katsu over rice with a side of mac salad and kimchi) and the famous NYC halal cart (chicken over rice with pita, I get it at least once a month).
A lot of fusion cuisine originates from working class immigrants who come to new countries with their clothes and their recipes. Often, they will adapt dishes from their home life to their new working conditions — that's the story behind bunny chow or plate lunch, for example. Or they open a restaurant and use their culture as a business opportunity, naturally finding a new medium between their home cuisine and the palettes of the local populace. That's the halal cart, or the doner kebab if you're in the EU.
Here's a hot take: I generally hate places that are explicitly marketed as "fusion restaurants". The quintessential example is the 'Asian fusion' joint. It's run by some restaurant group founded by a few third generation American guys. It's got sushi and mapo tofu and grilled sashitos4 and "dynamite shrimp", and it doesn't do any of those things particularly well. If you've ever been to TAO or Buddakan, a) I'm sorry, and b) you know exactly what I'm talking about. The worst part is that in a city like NYC, you generally have to pay way more for the privilege of eating at these places. "O, you added miso to this Indian curry? Why yes I do think that justifies an extra $12 on the price of the entree!" I notice that restaurants actually run by immigrants never advertise as fusion, even when they are literally selling a chicken tikka masala pizza (Omar's is fantastic by the way, highly recommend5). The average marketed-as-fusion spot is either a tourist trap or a playground for a chef who thinks that turmeric is a novel idea.
Maybe I'm being a bit too harsh, but I really don't believe that you can just, like, invent high-end fusion cuisine by thinking really hard about it. The best fusion comes naturally! And more generally, I'm a big believer in the Lindy effect when it comes to food. I think that dishes that have been around for a while are likely doing something right. If I really want to try some new flavor combination, I think it's better to hunt for a local immigrant family doing something new and cheap, than to spend a hundred bucks on an experimental fusion meal. I am almost always apprehensive when someone suggests a fusion restaurant, because I am basically preparing for the worst value-per-dollar around.
So when I say that I enjoyed Nowon, an East Village Korean-American fusion restaurant, so much so that I went back twice in two weeks, you should be thinking something like "damn, that's probably a pretty good restaurant."
Maybe I shouldn't be so surprised. If you've been reading this series from the beginning, you know that I am a big fan of comfort food, and Nowon is basically all comfort food. Every dish on their pre-fixe menu is creamy, fried, or made with fatty beef. Even their lone vegetable dish — the Broccolini a la Caesar — was coated in a thick homemade Caesar dressing made with deep fried anchovies. This place isn't winning any health awards.
Nowon is also not winning any awards for consistency. I only liked every other dish, but the ones that I liked I really really liked. The Broccolini mentioned above was legitimately delicious. The Legendary Cheeseburger is definitely up there as one of the best burgers I've had in a while. And the chopped cheese is easily the highlight of the meal6 — the chewy texture of tteok works perfectly as a base for the ground beef and cheese, while the korean spices and jalapeno cut through the otherwise overwhelming savoriness. The result is something close to a pasta bolognese, except it's the best pasta bolognese you've ever had. Even though I had a full meal the second time I visited, I more or less went back for the chop cheese alone.
On the flip side, the whipped ricotta toast was a gooey overly sweet mess. The honey garlic butter tots were cloying and bland, and didn't pair well with the burger they were served with. And the fried chicken was really just fine, but nothing to write home about — there's better Korean fried chicken in the area.7
If this was a more expensive restaurant, disliking half the meal would be an instant rejection from me regardless of how good I thought some of the dishes were. But for an all-in price of $60 per person, I thought Nowon punched way above its weight. It's worth noting that the restaurant has a lighter pre-fixe option with their 5 best dishes for $10 less per, which is extremely reasonable for date night — though I'll probably just get my faves a la carte next time I visit.
I'm not sure when exactly that will be. Nowon's menu is fairly small; the 7 dishes that we had comprised nearly 50% of the menu. That means the chefs in the back can work towards perfection in a relatively narrow band, but it also means that there is not much in terms of variety. If we lived closer to Nowon we'd go back as regulars. It is really perfect as a casual go-to spot on a lazy weekend, or an after-work don't-want-to-cook-at-home dinner on a weekday evening. Unfortunately, since we're way out in Brooklyn, we probably won't be going that far out of our way anytime soon. But I really do recommend everyone try Nowon at least once, especially if you happen to live near East Village (or its sister restaurant out in Bushwick).
I think what makes Nowon work as a fusion restaurant is that it's drawing on two extremely rich comfort food traditions. But I also do have to hand it to the head chef, Jae Lee. As far as I can tell, the chop cheese (have I mentioned how much I like the chop cheese?) really is just something he came up with. So I suppose I should amend my statement from the beginning — maybe sometimes a really gifted chef can just invent good fusion from scratch. Nowon seems to have one such chef behind its grill.
3.5 out of 5
What does each rating mean?
If we are rating a restaurant, that already means the place has merit. Something about it piqued our interest, or we got a recommendation from someone we generally trust. That said, we are exceptionally opinionated eaters, so we recommend modulating all of our ratings against your own tastes and preferences.
1 — this was a disappointing meal with very few redeeming qualities. We would not come back and would strongly recommend against it. We expect very few restaurants to fall into this category.
2 — a good meal, but not worth the price; there's better in the city for cheaper. We likely won't come back here.
3 — good price for the value. We expect most of the restaurants we review to fall in this category, including most of our 'go-to' casual spots.
4 — an excellent restaurant. Either a fantastic meal at a high price, or extremely good dollar value. We likely will be back here, and will go out of our way to be back multiple times, often with friends.
5 — one of the best restaurants we've been to, or meals that we've had. This is a restaurant that is best-in-class in its category or at its price point. We expect very few restaurants to fall into this category.
Restaurants change. The half life of a review like this one is about 6 months. That is, every 6 months, you should trust this review 50% less than you did the previous 6 months.
Pictures
Amol: then why did it take you 4 months to write your review HUHHHHH?
Amol: this is a very generous definition of 'open kitchen'
Amol: I think the sweetness really killed it for me too. Just kinda bleh. Ricotta is already on the sweeter side, adding additional sweet is overkill, especially for the first dish
Mia: not how you spell shishitos...
Mia: is it as good as singas though?
Mia: tasty but a little too heavy for me
Mia: true, but i need you to name names