No, Thank U Chicken!
- Dylan & Kaitlynn Henderson
- Jul 9, 2017
- 5 min read
Hello everyone! Welcome to our first post and our first starred review! Today we're reviewing Thank U Chicken, located at 3473 Old Norcross Road in Duluth.
On Friday, we took a trip out to Duluth to try something new, but an old favorite, Korean fried chicken. Traditional Korean food has been a staple since our relationship's beginning so we were surprised when we realized we've yet to eat Korean fried chicken! So, we look online, found some reviews and off to Duluth we went. Getting to the restaurant is easy enough, just make sure you don't miss the turn in to the shopping center like we did since there's only one entrance.
Upon entering you'll be greeted by the waitresses in Thank U Chicken jerseys and pleated tennis skirts and they'll lead you to your table. We were there at 7:30 on a Friday night and there was plenty of empty tables so we didn't have to wait at all. The interior of the restaurant reminds you of a dance club, it's all purple with some neon decoration around to help lighten up the dark room, there are a lot of TV's around as well that play different tv shows, sports, music videos, giving out your typical Korean restaurant vibes.
Once we sat down we were greeted by our waitress, she took our drink order and let us know that there was a button on the wall that we could press if we needed anything. We started talking about the drive and the atmosphere and before we got to looking at the menu she was back with our drinks. We let her know we weren't ready and she nodded and let us know again about the button on the wall. After another 2 minutes our waitress was back, asking for our order. We asked her what most people get and she suggested the half fried chicken, half yangnyum chicken (which is sweet and spicy) on a whim (and a rush) we let her know we'd have the half fried, half spicy fried chicken.
Now, if you've never had Korean food before then you should know that with every order you get free appetizers called banchan. Thank U's banchan was pretty light, but made up for it in the sides you get with the platter. We got the typical sweet and spicy radish along with a cabbage salad with a honey ginger dressing. It was light and a refreshing way to start the meal. The sweet radish was fair, but not great. It was missing most of the sweetness and honestly did not taste like much of anything. The spicy radish however, was one of the best we have had. It had a great spicy flavor, with just enough bitterness and crunch.
We also got the Korean spicy noodle with our meal but we weren't sure if it was supposed to be banchan or if it was part of our platter, but either way it was delicious. It was our first time trying them and I know for sure I'd come back again just for them. They were spicy but not intolerable and sweet but not sweet enough to take away from the noodles or the cabbage that topped them.
The sides we were given were fried chicken gizzards, onion rings, house made potato chips and some sort of cold mashed potato mixture. The gizzards were good, not the best we've had but definitely binge-inducing. The onion rings were okay, they were your standard frozen onion rings. The potato chips were mild, with the right amount of salt. The biggest complaint we had was the inconsistency between the chips. Some were cooked really well and crispy and others would disintegrate from being over fried. The mashed potato mixture was just mainly confusing I think. We still aren't even sure if that's what it was, we didn't think to ask the waitress about it, but I know I didn't like it at all. It was almost like they took a potato salad, blended it up and then stuck gizzards in it. The taste itself wasn't bad but without knowing what it was supposed to be it made it hard to like it.
Now, onto the main attraction. Once we had already eaten ourselves halfway to a food coma, the fried chicken arrives. It was a whole bird, split up into the regular Thank U style, and spicy. To put it plainly, it was delicious. Every bite of the chicken was unbelievably juicy, and the skin was addictively crispy. I think a certain national chicken chain needs to hand the slogan "Finger Lickin' Good" over to these guys. The spicy chicken was near perfection. The crispy, juicy chicken was coated in the same delicious sauce that covered the Korean spicy noodle. It was just spicy enough with the tiniest hint of sweetness to avoid it ever becoming monotonous. The chicken was also well prepared with several bones being removed, allowing for easier consumption. There was so much chicken that we had to bring almost half of it home, and considering we didn't actually finish a side, I would say you could easily have three, maybe four, people share a platter. Considering it only cost $25, that makes for an incredible value.
All together we were only in the restaurant about 45 minutes form start to finish. The service is very prompt and all the food arrives fresh, as soon as it is prepared. The prices were very fair, and on the whole the food was delicious.
Dylan's Final Review:
Service: 4/5
The servers are very prompt, and sometimes almost too prompt. They are at your table as soon as you're in the door and it can be a bit overbearing to a new customer. Every waitress we saw was friendly however, and we never had to wait long for anything.
Value: 5/5
This is so much food for the money. We spent $25 on the platter and had way too much food. There is also a large variety in the food you get. We had two types of chicken, four sides, and four banchan items. I can't think of another time I ate so many different items for that price. While we didn't drink, the soju and beer were both reasonable (about $13 for a bottle of Soju and $4.00 for a beer).
Food: 4.5/5
Honestly, I'm just nitpicking here. What we actually came for, the chicken, was fantastic, the spicy noodles were exceptional, and the sides were mostly solid. There were a few inconsistencies as mentioned above, but they were small gripes in the grand scheme of a delicious meal.
Overall: 4.5/5
I would highly recommend this restaurant to almost anyone. The chicken was delicious and everything came at a great price. Put this one on your calendar to eat sooner rather than later.
Kaitlynn's Final Review:
Service: 4/5
The servers were certainly prompt, for me it was too prompt. I felt rushed and I don't really understand the point of having buttons for your patrons to use if you're not going to let them use them. They were really nice though and they made nice conversation so they get a 4 from me as well.
Value: 5/5
This is exactly the type of place where you go when you've only got $30 to your name and you need to eat for another week til you get paid. If you got this platter for one person, you could have a variety of meals for that one week and not have to eat beans and rice everyday.
Food: 4.5/5
The food was awesome, definitely one of my top five favorite Korean places, the only reason they get a 4.5 is simply the inconsistencies that we mentioned earlier.
Overall: 4.5/5
For sure recommending this to people, especially if you're afraid to try Korean food because you've heard it's super spicy or different, I think this is a wonderful place to start!
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