Nori Sushi and Ramen Noodle Bar

You would think, given my experience with such things, that I would have learned to follow some essential rules, like (a) when you buy cheap sushi, you get what you pay for and (b) don’t order raw fish from anyplace in a mall food court in suburban Illinois. I wasn’t expecting anything great, but this was several yards downfield of even «not anything great». I have only myself to blame, I suppose. The best thing I can say about Nori is that it wasn’t the worst sushi I’ve ever had, but it needs to step up even to be as good as good supermarket sushi. Sorry, Nori, you lose out to a franchise location of the Billy Goat! What a blow!

I’ve been to a lot of sushi places. Their sushi isn’t bad, but their seasoning for their rice tastes exactly like the low-​end sushi that you would find at Jewel Osco or even Super Target, when you’re on a budget. Although they’re made to order, they’re ingredients are low quality compared to a larger scaled restaurant. I would go back their for their ramen. Service was excellent though!

Nope! Before it opened I wanted to try it and thought it would be a cool experience and what not. When they first opened they gave out free samples of the broth which actually wasn’t bad. But when my bf and I actually tried the whole broth bowl it wasn’t horrible but I would rather get something else in the food court. It was kind of expensive from what I remember and the taste wasn’t worth the money. I have yet to try the sushi but I could most likely get fresh and better sushi at a grocery store nearby to my house for cheaper. So in the end it was blah for me and I most likely will not get again.

no bad, that’s it…

Service is as decent as it could be since it’s not a sit down restaurant, but rather in the middle of the food court of Yorktown mall. Cashiers, servers don’t roll their eyes at you and they take your order quickly and promptly. They have no issue if you want to try the broth or something similar.
Food on the other hand.
We got a pretty big order. Spicy beef ramen, seafood ramen, shrimp shumai and and a spring roll (free with Unilocal check in). All were disappointing.
A) Spicy beef ramen: Egg was cooked decently enough, hard to mess that up. Ramen was prepared fresh to order. But the BROTH. THE BROTH WAS SO SALTY DEAR GOD. I felt my face bloating within minutes. Beef ramen? Yes. Spicy? No, but definitely salty. I will say the portions are quite generous but that’s basically it.
B) Seafood ramen: Again, ridiculously salty. Definitely took away from the taste of the individual bites of seafood fare (shrimp, shumai, etc). Otherwise the ramen was cooked perfectly, and the egg was perfect. But the salt level was so high I could barely eat past a few bites.
C) Shrimp Shumai: about 6 came in a small take out box, and while they were prepared fresh (freshly steamed), they lacked any taste. Weirdly enough not enough salt if any was used. Freshly steamed but almost overly steamed as the wrapper started to disintegrate slightly while using chopsticks.
D) Spring roll: super fresh, the perfect amount of crunch/​cripsiness of the outer wrapper to the inside. Standard vegetable filling on the inside (perhaps too much cabbage), but again, no seasoning– specifically salt. The roll however was perfectly brown all around, with no open «bursts» of the filling through weak points in the wrapped. So yes, aesthetically the roll hit all the marks, but the taste profile was subpar.
Notes:
1) While one side serves Ramen, the other side focuses on sushi. I have not tried the sushi, but its made fresh to order.
2) You can also get a $ 15 for $ 20 worth of food coupon through Unilocal for this establishment (as of when I post this review)
TL;DR: Unless you’re REALLY craving ramen, and any quality of ramen will do, then try this place. Otherwise skip it. Overly salty broths and under/​not salted shumai/​spring rolls. Unilocal offers available while checking in. Service isn’t bad but also nothing to rave about. They also offer made to order sushi.

Save yourself! Go somewhere else! It looked promising. But alas, what a disappointment. The shrimp shumai was stale, the egg they gave was way over cooked, and the price for that was definitely too much. I didn’t expect the place to be out of this world, it is in a mall. But for the price, i expected better.
Don’t waste your time or your money.

We checked out the mall and wanted to try this place for dinner. It’s in the middle of the food court. On one side and they serve hot meals such as Ramen noodles soups, Rice bowls and Bento boxes. On the other side they made fresh sushi rolls and sashimi.
It’s like a Japanese take out concept. You can spend about $ 15 for three rolls and a drink.
Here is what we tried:
They gave us samples of their ramen broth it was ok but didn’t want ramen. Besides, we had better flavored broth in the ramen houses.
We were here for the sushi!
It looked fresh and they had a deal for two rolls a dollar cheaper than just getting one roll of 8pcs.
We got 2 shrimp tempura roll it was good and well displayed in their plastic take out containers. I’d get it again however the shrimp wasn’t hot temperature but room temperature. Yet still crispy. So I’d get this again.
Spicy tuna, now that was spicy and really good. Smooth tuna pâté like and heat that my roof of my mouth was burning, I need a drink! We ended up getting another roll sniff sniff it’s spicy good!
Finally we ordered a chicken like teriyaki bento box. It came with salad, California roll, veggie egg roll, chicken cane with rice and steamed fresh broccoli. Everything was ok, I didn’t care much of the texture and look of the chicken though. Chicken was kinda dark maybe thigh cuts of chicken? The texture was like it was boiled or something. I have to say the sauce and chicken from the hibachi place next door is way better. I’ll try a different bento box next time.
Overall a nice experience. The servers were nice and polite. I’ll come back again for yes their sushi. Arigato Nori Sushi!

The ramen was okay — toppings added interest — noodles were disappointing. With a soda, the bill was just over $ 10. Reviewing my debit transactions today, was very disappointed to see I was overcharged $ 10. Tried to call and no answer. BEWARE!!!

My husband and I LOVE this place. We went there for the first time this past Sunday and both of our ramens were amazing. Definitely the best ramen I’ve had in a very long time, and the prices are very reasonable. We can’t wait to go back and try new things!

I usually don’t write mall restaurant food reviews but I’ll make an exception. Honestly, the food felt similar to a typical Chinese buffet food. Dried out fried food that’s been sitting out for too long. Staff seemed uninterested in their job. The look of my dish wasn’t too appealing either. Afforementioned flavor was lacking and not really present. Expected more for whatever reason. There’s nearby Asian places like Hokkaido or Dao that offer much tastier food. If they made fresher food with better sauces I might reconsider but too many better choices around.

Love everything. Tastes are different with the varied soup flavors along with the many toppings. Would recommend to all friends trying different things. Also the staff are very friendly which makes it feel like home.

Interesting concept; fresh ingredients; knowledgeable staff, friendly. 4 choices of flavors. Several protein options. I chose soy flavor. Wish it had more flavor. Not bad/​not great. The girls liked it but they are Ramen noodles fans. I’m not.

While shopping in Yorktown, I decided to check-​out the new places in the food court. The place that first caught my eye was Nori Sushi & Ramen. Very sleek, with a bar-​like section on one side with chairs. Before I even perused the on-​wall menu, a man behind the counter asked if I wanted to try the miso. A sample of the miso was testament that if I liked it and ordered a bowl of ramen, it would probably be good as well. For a food court venue, the chicken ramen miso was perfect for a chilly day — piping hot, delicious, filling and fresh, without a sodium overload oozing from my pores. For one who cooks almost salt free yet with lots of fresh garlic, herbs/​spices, this was my idea of a delicious ramen. The bowl had the usual half of a soft boiled egg, lots & lots of noodles, a generous helping of chicken, broccoli, carrots and the perfect amount of miso broth. The only change I would make are the beverage options. With only soda cans, water bottles and a mango pineapple type juice bottled drink (loaded with sugar, of course), I kept thinking about tea — hot or iced, or both — just fresh brewed. Not that fountain drinks are more authentic (they’re not), it just seems bizarre to drink a can of coke with a bowl of ramen at the mall. For $ 10.90 per diner, not too bad.

Nice place for a Fast Asian Food in the Mall, i like their Miso Hakata Mix Ramen!

This review is mainly for the sushi side. I had a sushi sashimi combo that was quite fresh and priced well. The staff is very friendly. The ramen was nothing special and the broth needs more flavor. The sushi is worth checking out though.

I like their concept, fast food ramen. But it’s Americanized fast food ramen — that’s why you should not expect too much from each bowl. Don’t think Santouka or Misoya. Their broths are not that tasty, no depth. Noodles are like those in instant noodle pouches, not chewy and no bite. It’s such a disappointment. I feel bad writing this review because the staff are very nice.
Paid about 16 bucks for two bowls. I actually felt sad I wasn’t able to finish my food because it was terrible. For toppings, we chose the spicy beef. The beef was dry and hard to chew, as if it was old and had been under the heat lamp for quite some time. It’s not even spicy. Very tastless. Everything was tastless. They got three flavors: miso, milky pork and i think the third is just regular pork broth.
I hope they improve everything especially their soup. Good luck!

I’m a huge ramen fan and was so excited to see this opening where I eat lunch quite frequently. I even brought my wife to try it after their opening. It is absolutely the worst ramen I’ve ever had. It was barely edible, the broth had no flavor at all. It was basically dish water. It was one of the most disappointing meals I’ve ever had and I’m not that picky. I would never recommend this store to anyone and would try to discourage people from wasting their hard earned money on such horrible food.

Really bad ramen but I guess you can’t really expect anything good out of a mall ramen. Would much rather eat the cup ramen noodles than this. If you want good ramen I suggest you go to Santouka (inside Mitsuwa) in Arlington Heights or Oiistar in Wicker Park.