It’s finally arrived! Matt and Holly noticed that a Korean restaurant was going to open in Cortland soon and since it’s a small town it’s been a buzz with all our friends. Their grand opening was September 3rd but I noticed on their social media that the completely sold out the first day or two of opening and I figured most places get slammed their first week so it was a better idea to wait a little for things to settle so they’re not so crazy and have a chance to work out all the kinks in the operation. Then over this recent weekend one of our friends went and got a couple dishes and LOVED it so we were convinced that now is the time to go.
LOCATION: 114 ELM ST., CORTLAND NY, 13045
Yori House is a Korean restaurant thats a little more fusion with dishes like Chicken Tacos (Marinated chicken with pickled red cabbage and fresh lettuce drizzled in house dressing -Yum Yum sauce) and Kimchi Pork Fried Rice (both dishes that Caleb decided to order). I think it’s a smart choice to do a fusion to bring Korean flavors to Caucasian Cortland to expose people to the culture with ease. Adding familiar things like tacos and pasta but with Kimchi is much more modern and really great. I hope this gets them continued lines of customers so they can stay open for a long time.
As I said Caleb ordered the Kimchi Pork Fried Rice and the Chicken Tacos. While Yori house has interesting combinations of food, their menu is pretty limited clocking in at 21 dishes total. Salads, rice, noodles, tacos, rice bowls, and of course pancakes. I love Korean Seafood Pancakes which are total staples and Yori house has a Veggie Pancake or a Shrimp Pancake. In a farmland town like Cortland it’s not surprising that Yori house didn’t want to invest in a full seafood pancake. I think shrimp is a great choice for them and good enough for me so that was my first pick. At $10, it wasn’t a bad choice. The Shrimp Pancake is described as a Korean style pancake with shredded vegetables and shrimp. Simple and straight forward. I noticed on their menu that they don’t use too many unfamiliar Korean words or dishes. Very smart marketing for this town.
I was super excited about this Shrimp Pancake. It smelled so good upon opening the container and I could tell the edges were nice and crispy and the middle was still soft and chewy. This is one thick pancake per order and it came with two sauces. One i’m taking to be their house ‘Yum Yum sauce’ and the other being a green chili mayo sauce. Both tasted pretty good but I’m not a fan of green chili so I held off and went with the sweeter Yum yum sauce which was also a mayo consistency. I cut it with a pizza cutter (tips and tricks for ya out there, pizza cutters are great at cutting more than just pizza) and ate a little crumb off the cutter and my mouth exploded with flavor. This thing was perfect and tasted exactly like it’s supposed to taste. Authentic, hands down. As I said before, the consistency was perfect, crisp on the outside edge and warm and chewy and almost creamy in the middle. The onions and other vegges inside gave it a great crunch and was so satisfying. I ate half and was already filled up inside. I was so happy.
Caleb agreed after one bite if his Kimchi Pork Fried Rice he was in. He told his friends to order for Yori House after a couple mouthfuls. This place is at the top of ur list to revisit. Prices were reasonable and the service was great. The inside was super clean and they had a whole line of take out orders on their counter when I came to pick up mine and they were cranking them out super fast. I also ordered some Tan Tan Noodles which is chicken broth with flavors of peanuts, chili oil, and black bean sauce for a savory, spicy kick served with noodles. I love noodle soup and Tan Tan noodles or rather DanDan noodles are actually Chinese so it’s no wonder I would want this in craving home cooked authentic Asian foods. After the shrimp pancake I was too full to tackle a whole bowl of noodle soup so I saved it for tomorrow and I’m super excited to try it. Stay tuned for a review to come.