Korean restaurant Noc Won is recommended

It was Sunday, and I had just gotten back from spring break. I had work to do for Monday and bags to unpack, but I couldn’t bring myself to do anything but lay around on my computer — not atypical behavior for me. I was just settling in for an evening of doing absolutely nothing with some light self-loathing and a dose of isolation when I got a message from my friend Jisoo asking me to go to dinner with her and her boyfriend.

“Thank God!” I thought. I was now absolved from having to do anything constructive whatsoever today. Perfect.

I asked where, and she said we’d be going to a Korean restaurant not far away. We caught the Blue Jay Shuttle and, after a 10 or 15 minute ride, we arrived at the restaurant.

Noc Won is near the former Club K in Station North. The Crown and the Windup Space are nearby landmarks. It seems dingy on the outside, and, looking at it, you expect it to be small. However, when we walked in, we realized it is quite large and not badly kept. The place is almost — but not quite — dimly lit, with posters of Korean food and boy bands scattered over the walls. We were led to the back of the restaurant. A TV played a video of a cat in one corner of the room.

We were served glasses of a yellowish liquid. I wondered if it was supposed to be water. My friends were drinking it, so, assuming that even if it was water it must be safe, I took a sip. It was not water. Drinking it was rather like drinking bread or rice. When asked what it was, Jisoo said it was barley tea. If you like chamomile tea, you will probably like it. It was really very pleasant.

Jisoo ordered for all of us in Korean. First we all got rice with toppings and vegetables to share. I’m not a kimchi fan, but if you are, that stuff would have been great. Then we all got bowls of some kind of ribs cooked in a sauce that was just spicy enough, along with peppers and onions. Delicious.

It was a little expensive — maybe about the same as One World. It was around $12 for the meal, but there were likely cheaper items on the menu as well. For vegetarians, I would check online or call to be sure they have meatless options, but they likely do. A huge plus were some of those lollipops, the kind your kindergarten teacher used to give you, by the door (dum dum pops, I’m pretty sure they’re called).

Altogether, I’d recommend heading to Noc Won if you want to get a little further away from Charles Village without going too far. I can’t speak for the authenticity of their cuisine myself, but the fact that Jisoo is from Korea and likes the place a lot seems indicative that Noc Won is decent in that regard.