I had the chance to attend the soft opening of Nori Handroll Bar, a trendy and new sushi restaurant located in Deep Ellum. I've passed by their closed doors a few times and read the "coming soon" sign and anxiously waited for the opening. Fortunately, my awesome and handsome boyfriend Osman, followed them on instagram and saw that the soft opening was this weekend and we knew we had to go for date night and check this place out.
Upon arriving and entering through the doors, you notice there is a small host stand on the right, a small bar on the left and a millennial must- a neon sign up top. The host said the wait for a spot for two at the bar would be about 30-45 minutes so Osman went ahead and grabbed a beer from the bar and some complimentary edamame to munch on while we waited for our seat. We ended up only waiting about 10 minutes and walked through to the bar. As we were being seated we were welcomed by all the staff as our host shouted our arrival. This was a little strange but also very fun and memorable. Usually when I'm waiting to be seated or while i'm waiting on my food, I like to take in the decor and what the restaurant has to offer in addition to the food to create the entire dining experience. Nori is a minimalist dream. With subtle accents and sleek design, you really can't be distracted from the main feature which was awesome food made in front of you. They had a really great playlist that made the atmosphere very chill and relaxed. You know how to go to a really fancy steakhouse where you know you have to dress a certain way and if you drop your silverware you basically can never show your face again? Well Nori is the complete opposite.
