The epitome of foo-foo food. It may be Thai inspired but I would not call it Thai food. The vegetables were fresh and flavorful but that's the end of the positives. Left feeling hungry and in search of something more satisfying. read more

Tasty unique food. Menu is limited but the dishes they do serve are full of flavor. It was fun to try some creative and authentic Tai dishes. Only kind of weird experience I had there was our bill. It came to $47.65 and we gave him a $50 dollar bill. He came back to our table telling us they didn't have change. I had already tipped him $10 and so he got a little extra out of us. I gave the restaurant a 4 star instead of 5 star rating because of that. Not sure if the waiter was trying to pull something over on us or not. read more

Incredible three course meal: crab cake bites, rainbow trout, the mango sticky rice dessert. Some of the best service I've had in years, every person smiling and friendly. Will certainly return, and recommend to others. read more

Place was amazing! Not your typical Thai food (which I love also) but this was better! Everything we had was great. The details of presentation were appreciated! Looking forward to next visit out here for a chance to have it again! read more

Oh my. As good as the hype. The food was beautiful. I had the poached shrimp entree for lunch and it was fabulous. The shredded beef appetizer was not my thing. I can't wait to go back to try more things. read more

NaKorn is the epitome of style and substance. Not only did the food look good, it tasted even better than it looked. The food presents itself as modern take on traditional Thai cuisine with no sacrifice on it's authenticity for bold flavors. My friend and I came here on a Thursday night during North Shore Restaurant Month. The prix fixe dinner menu includes the daily soup, a choice of bites, meat/sea, and sweet for only $30. We could not stop gushing about the soup. It was in a coconut milk broth with mushrooms and chicken, it sounds so simple, but the flavor was so rich and hearty. Unfortunately, I didn't get the name of the soup. Our choice of bite was the Pandan Tapioca Pearl Crackers, which included a peanut-base dip for crackers. The dip was slightly sweet and earthy. For our choice of meat we got Mina's Braised Short Ribs, and I cannot tell you how much we loved the broth. I highly recommend ordering this dish because the broth was so savory, I just kept drinking it. The meat was a little chewy and didn't absorb the flavors from broth but it was still really good. Lastly, for desert we got Black Sticky Rice Pudding--to die for. On top of the great food the service was attentive and super courteous. Overall, a great take on modern Thai and I will be returning real soon! read more

See all

The mung bean noodles I tried had so little portion certainly does not worth the $12 they are Update: To the owner who replied. I really did not say the food was bad. I only said the portion was tiny for a $12 dollar dish. It was smaller than a salad and I felt hungry even after eating it. read more

this place is just okay. I've read the reviews. I knew what to expect (non-traditional thai fusion food). So this is not a case of mismatched expectations. The prices here are steep for the small portion size, but it is not really made up for by added interest in flavor and quality. I especially remember the lackluster braised short ribs, which was tough, lukewarm and bland as the flavor did not penetrate into the meat. Overall a pass. read more

I am a little late in writing this review because we just moved here. One of our first nights out to dinner was at NaKorn and it was such a delightful surprise! There were four of us dining and we each tried one another's dishes, each had a unique delectable flavor. We can't wait to come back for more. I highly suggest getting the hibiscus soda! read more

I've now been to NaKorn twice: once for dinner, once for lunch. It's great ambiance for a business power lunch and a romantic date (or mix the two!) As a vegetarian, I was thrilled with the selection. Most places just offer salad, but NaKorn's vegetarian selection were fresh, visually interesting, and packed with flavor! I unequivocally recommend the following veg-options: * The Southern Style Fried Noodles with bok choy, bean curd, sweet peppers, carrot, corn kernels and onion with fried tofu were perfect for lunch on a cold day - just what I needed to warm me up inside. * The Charred Eggplant and Tomato was also outstanding with its housemade tamarind dressing. * Finally, the very interesting and substantial tofu steak with pea pods, sprouts and au jus soy. Enjoy! read more

A modern take on traditional Thai cuisine! Delicious food that won't leave you feeling too full or guilty. Great waitstaff and environment. Would definitely recommend the roasted cauliflower steak and braised chicken. read more

Very tasty. It is unlike any other ordinary Thai restaurants, it is flavorful but not super sweet. The presentation is delightful, colorful, and very pleasant. We want to come back in the future. First time here. read more

The best thai fusion food I ever had! So satisfied and would highly recommend the place!

Wow!! That would be lovely!! Thank you! I'll definitely give you all a heads up when I plan to come in next because that dish was Absolutely the Best!!! read more

Been here a few times, I am giving up. Not impressed at all won't mention why... well maybe one reason ... fish was cold in the middle, my girlfriend had shellfish allergies... didn't know how to handle that properly. Otherwise some of the dishes were great ... but some were meh. There's nothing upscale about this place and the prices are really high for what you get. read more

Not your typical Thai restaurant so if you're looking for Pad Thai you'll have to go somewhere else! We came up from Chicago and found this place on yelp for dinner. A week later I'm still craving it and am going to drive back out there JUST to come back . I'm a meat eater but the vegetarian dishes were the ones that really wowed me. The flower rice and cauliflower steak were to die for. Must haves! Meats were flavorful and tender too. I'm in love! read more

The best food hands down. Service is amazing. Presentation is always beautiful. Sam and her staff are the nicest happiest people. Makes the meal very enjoyable. read more

See all

The food is really thoughtfully prepared with quality ingredients at this inviting spot. The menu is not the typical multiple pages of the same fair seen in most Thai restaurants but is focused on a limited variety of dishes that show case the their skills. I see get that the prices are a little higher but you get what you pay for. The crab and the steak entrees were really standouts for our party (although we were not asked how we wanted out steak and it was a bit over done). Although the tapioca pearl crackers had a great sauce the crackers themselves were like bland rice crackers - I will choose a different appetizer next time. But the crab appetizer was fantastic. Our server was a bit overbearing, selling the menu like we were at a TGI Fridays and tried to pressure everyone at the table to order drinks (which we have no problem doing but needed time to digest what was on menu), Overall, I highly recommend and look forward to going back and trying more of the items on the menu. read more

NaKorn is a dining experience of a quality every restaurant should aspire. From the moment we walked in the door, the staff members were attentive and accommodating. Our server provided thorough answers to our questions and was knowledgeable about the food and the wines. We ordered small plates of roasted brussel sprouts and the papaya and rice noodle salad. My spouse had a fish entree (Arctic char, I believe), and our companion opted for the crab cake bites and smoked white fish Thai basil wraps. My jumbo blue lump crab was brought to the table on a rice cracker with naked noodles, and the server poured a pitcher of liquid gold curry onto the plate. It was almost too beautiful to eat, but the flavor of the dish equaled the presentation. I have seriously had dreams about this dish since our visit! We shared all three desserts offered. The salted caramel banana bread was light - not at all dense like banana bread often is. The brûlée'd banana on top was divine. The chocolate mousse was so creamy, and despite the light color, it delivered on chocolate flavor. The sticky rice was the least sweet, the coconut and lotus root providing contrasting texture to the rice - it was comforting. The menu is simple, but it was still hard to decide what to order, and there were no disappointments among our selections. We will return and look forward to new food adventures on the frequently changing menu. read more

See all

God I love this place, here's all the reasons why I keep coming back: 1) Amazing food: not a crazy long menu but very well curated. Unique and interesting food, but nothing over the top 2) Amazing staff: really truly kind and attentive servers and management 3) Amazing atmosphere: Not too loud, interesting decor, just overall a good ambiance read more

Just wonderful. Waiter was Tristan and he was very knowledgeable. The entire experience was a real treat. I was almost sad to leave. A good selection of wines and the chocolate mousse was off the hook. We'll be back read more

We're from out of town and stopped at NaKorn for dinner last night, and it was outstanding. When we first sat down, we were concerned because we didn't see the "traditional" Thai dishes on the menu, but we ordered the trout and the curry chicken, and were both excellent. read more

Only good things to say. The red curry was phenomenal and the service was excellent. It's a small restaurant, so I recommend calling for a reservation. read more

Extremely creative dishes and they were all superbly prepared and extremely delicious. My experience was simply a wonderful culinary surprise start to finish. High compliments to the chef !! read more

Unexpected Surprise All of the other Yelp reviews have noted that this is not the Thai food you have come to expect, so forget that this is a Thai restaurant and judge it as an innovative experience. It is more like Fat Rice, where interesting flavors and fresh ingredients are combined in surprising ways to challenge your preconceived notions of what the dish should be. I had the vegetarian scallops. This name means nothing to me because I am a vegetarian, and do not eat scallops. What it was was King mushrooms sliced into disks and seared and then covered with a sweet and spicy sauce reminding me of the sauce used for Vietnamese Spring Rolls. They were then covered with flower petals and unique greens. Wow. I'll try to recreate this dish a bit dumbed down at home. I never would have thought of it. I also had the "stuffed cabbage." Yes, this was in fact stuffed cabbage, but that doesn't do the dish justice. It was in fact filled with the most earthy and woody mushrooms and thin rice noodles, swimming in an aromatic wild mushroom soup. One taste brought me back to Michigan eating fresh harvested wild morels. I thought I was going to taste the black loam they grew in. One disappointment was we couldn't figure out how to eat these tightly rolled cabbage sushi rolls. They didn't cut with a knife, and you couldn't pick them up with a fork. I asked the waiter, "how are you supposed to eat this?" he responded, "with chop sticks." I noted that I hadn't been given any, and he walked off. I had to track down another waitress to get the proper tools to eat the dish. All in all, I love to be surprised and challenged. I'll be back. read more

Top notch spot with authentic dishes located in the heart of downtown Evanston. Great decor, intimate setting and wonderful staff. Try the chicken meatball, vegetarian scallops and seafood stew. The crab meat on Thai noodles was presented with flair and creativity. Fun cocktail list too. Cheers to Mina for bringing her interpretation of Thai cuisine to town. Definitely going back. read more

Tried NaKorn after reading about it in Chicago Food Crawls and am SO glad I did. Only bad part was having to narrow down the menu because there were a number of things I wanted to try. The fried tofu was cooked perfectly and had a really nice tamarind coconut sauce. The artic char was amazing as well. Can't wait to come back and try the scallops and kale+tofu. YUM!!! read more

I'm not even sure where to start on this review. This is such a neat concept for a restaurant. Their menu reads well, drink list is great (some draft beers would be nice, but OK) and the restaurant is beautiful and laid out well. My husband and I stopped here on a whim with our toddler and tiny infant in lieu of the place up the street we had been planning to go to on a Saturday night. This restaurant has fantastic reviews, which makes the below more surprising... Our waiter seemed familiar enough with the menu and described the concept for the food well, but that is where his ability stopped. When walking us through the menu (or rather, walking my husband through the menu), he stopped to turn to me to point to my menu to tell me where the salads were. A) Women can read now. B) It's 2018, women are allowed to eat food other than salad. Same genre of patronization when he took our drink order-my husband ordered a glass of wine and he turned to me to let me know they "have tea". That should have been a warning. After bringing our drinks, the waiter asked if we wanted an appetizer, to which my husband replied that we wanted to share a salad instead and would go ahead and place our food order as we had a hungry toddler with us. My husband ordered the salad, his entree and our son's meal. I requested the blue crab entree, which the waiter repeated and pointed to on the menu and a side of their pickled mustard greens, again repeated back to me by the waiter. My husband noted that the glass of wine he was served was off (tasted as if it had been opened a few days prior and gone bad) and that was replaced without incident. Out came our son's meal, my husband's entree, the salad we had ordered to share and the side. At that point I was nursing our daughter, so we thought the waiter had asked the kitchen to hold my entree until she was finished-which I actually thought was very thoughtful. He came back once to check on us two minutes later and ask how the food was tasting and noted I was not yet eating because I was feeding our infant. Then he disappeared...and my entree never came. We looked around for him to ask where my food was and he was nowhere to be found. Both my husband and our son finished their food while I ate half of the shared salad...still no waiter or my food. Our son started getting antsy after sitting too long (20-25 minutes after the first round of food came) and we still couldn't find our waiter. Finally another waiter saw my agitation and came over and we asked where my food was. He went to get our waiter, who came over and asked what the problem was. I indicated that my food hadn't come and he said he would go check what happened. Instead of getting my food, he disappeared for another 5 minutes and printed out the ticket that went through the kitchen and came back to argue with me that I had not ordered an entree. Then he started making an excuse that he was hard of hearing and had not heard my order. That would be sympathetic, except that he repeated it back to me and pointed to it on the menu when I ordered. He then said he could submit the order to the kitchen and we could wait for them to make it but that's all he could do. At that point, we were 30 minutes past when our original food came, with two small children at meltdown level and a wait for the kitchen to make the food was not an option. We told him to forget it and bring the check. To our shock, he brought us a full check, including a $3 charge for club soda for our toddler (really?! most places comp children's drinks, but especially egregious for fizzy water that they don't even have children's cups for). My husband objected that charging us $80 when I didn't even get to eat was a little ridiculous. The waiter responded with a "not to worry, I didn't charge you for the food that never came." Well-I should hope freaking not! At that level of disaster, with a waiter arguing over whether you had even ordered a meal, two extremely unhappy customers and two upset children, most restaurants would at least offer you a free drink (or a drink or dessert while the kitchen made the meal). I wish we had refused to pay the check, but to leave as quickly as possible, my husband paid and we walked out. In retrospect, I am so angry that we paid that check, because of how poorly we were treated. When we got to the car, my husband decided to go back in and talk to a manager, at which point the waiter came over to further argue that he had not charged us for the meal that never came (as if that would solve it). The young lady at the front said there was not anything she could do but offered to take our phone number so the next meal could be free. To say the least-we won't be going back. That is not how you treat customers if you want to stay in business. read more

I can't believe we waited so long to go here! The ambiance is completely lovely, warm and inviting. The service was excellent, too. We were particularly impressed with the cocktails and wine list. And the food was phenomenal! They were able to make my dish mild for my wimpy palate, and they made my husband's more spicy for him. Everything was fresh and perfectly seasoned. We were very, very happy diners and will definitely be back. read more

We've been to NaKorn several times and you simply cannot go wrong. The food is Thai elevated and is delicious! The atmosphere is wonderful, the service is hospitable, and the food is just amazing. Definitely a wonderful night out. Must go! read more

The food here was amazing, particularly the vegetarian food and the Curry's. We had a great time.

Jumbo lump crab meat with rice noodles in yellow curry. Need I say more!!!!!! I could have easily devoured another portion as the curry was super delicious! read more

NaKorn is great!! It's super cute inside; the food is great; and the staff's amazing. Our waiter, Nam (I think), was the friendliest waiter of all time, and he was very knowledgeable about the menu. He had many great suggestions that we listened to. I came with one other person and was moderately hungry. We got the Brussels sprouts, the New York strip steak, and the Kabocha- kale chicken roulade. Everything was amazing and came with white basmati rice. The curry sauces were great and rather light for curry sauces which was nice. We really enjoyed everything and even had leftovers. I definitely recommend nakorn! read more

Inspired food. Fantastic cocktails. Lovely service. One of my favorite Evanston restaurants, and I've tried all of them!

A great authentic Thai restaurant in the heart of downtown Evanston. Wonderful presentation, high quality ingredients, prepared to order so everything is fresh when served. I had a wonderful whitefish pan fried with tamarind sauce (served on the side so it did not overwhelm the fish). Wonderful find! read more

The veggie scallop was a bit chewy, but other than that everything was really good. The chicken was the star dish.

I was super excited to try this place out after reading reviews and seeing photos of NaKorn's many offerings. While I did enjoy my meal on their outside seating, the interior appeared quite clean and very welcoming. All of the staff were friendly and my waiter was great with explaining the details of each dish I ordered. We started out with a Thai iced tea and a Thai iced coffee. Both were delicious and quite refreshing, however, I thought the tea was a tad too sweet for my liking. Now, onto the food. We started off with the Taro Chicken as our appetizer. While it wasn't bad, it didn't really blow my mind. The presentation was excellent though. The dish consisted of deep fried pieces of dark meat chicken that weren't crispy enough. I wasn't really a fan of the sauce, as it had some large pieces of chopped peanuts that threw off the texture. The taro puree on top was definitely a nice touch. For our mains, we ordered the Jumbo Lump Blue Crab Meat noodles and Mina's Braised Short Ribs. Again, the plating and presentation of the dishes were very appealing. The appearance, however, was the only redeeming quality. The noodles had a curry with nice flavor, but beyond that, it was very lacking. The crab meat did not have much flavor and was quite bland. The braised short ribs dish was even more disappointing to me. The meat was pretty tender, but the rest of the dish was lacking. It was very reminiscent of the soups that many of the Chinatown restaurants serve before bringing out the main courses. Definitely not worth $18. My NaKorn experience was pretty NaKrappy. I was sorely disappointed after reading so many raving reviews of its authentic food. I understand that this is supposed to be an upscale Thai fusion restaurant, but I would be much happier spending my money at a small hole-in-the-wall Thai joint. read more

Delicious traditional Thai food and not the same pad Thai that Americans are used to. Beautiful space in downtown Evanston that reflects a funky twist in traditional Thai aesthetics. Flavors are good as well as the service. read more

NaKorn was 100% delicious. Do not pass this gem up. We were there for the 2nd Anniversary weekend (congrats!) and were blown away by the flavors, balance and expertly prepared dishes. Top to bottom, no exceptions. On top of all that, the care and love that the NaKorn put into each dish shone through, and elevated the meal from "really good" to "omg this is fantastic." Lest you doubting Thomases worry that this is a suburbanite's uneducated-palate-turned-over-inflated-Yelp-review, my usual Thai choices are in the city--Loop, River North and Lincoln Parkish areas--and NaKorn would stand out against anything I've ever had in any 606xy zip code. In fact, I'd trek to Evanston for NaKorn even if all of those city-proper Thai options were closer. Highly recommended: -House made Pandan tapioca pearl crackers -Rainbow trout -Coconut cream pie parfait For you bourbon lovers, the Jasmine Old Fashioned is light, delicious, and well balanced. read more

Food that is more hype than anything else. The concept sounds hip but deconstruction of Thai food into something else is contrived. Still it seems to survive but my meal was one and done. Never a good sign when the styrofoam chips are the highlight of the meal and you feel fleeced when you leave. Stick to the real deal and save some $$ in the process. And yes gentle reader, a well run Subway sandwich shop does beat the pretentiousness of a high end hacking-- there is no illusion of what you are about to eat. read more