Those who know Eunji Noh will have felt the missing place at the table since she closed her restaurant The Thirsty Korean on Manchester Road at the beginning of 2024.
Already a beloved spot for hot chicken and cold beer, she went a bit viral when – in a post-lockdown show of support for local businesses – Sacha Lord, at the time the city’s Night Time Economy Advisor to the Mayor’s office, paid the bill for anyone who turned up to eat.
Queues snaked down the street, a few new fans were made, and for a moment, the whole of Chorlton seemed to be crammed into her modest little unit, brandishing those distinctive Korean metal chopsticks.
But when her lease came to an end, so too did that chapter. A heartfelt farewell followed on Facebook – “Don’t forget about us,” she asked. As closures go, it hurt.
That pain, thankfully, didn’t last (too) long.
Eunji is back at it, this time on Wilbraham Road, in the old Pot Bellied Vietnamese site. It’s bigger, brighter, and a clear step up in ambition — but still unmistakably hers.
The spirit of The Thirsty Korean hasn’t changed. Eunji’s still doing things her way: sleeves rolled up, beer taps flowing, music on, and plates of food packed with heart. The same signature fried chicken is there — still crisp, still spicy — but now joined by a deeper dive into Korean cuisine, with dishes that she reckons you won’t find anywhere else.
The new menu reaches further, confidently branching out from the crowd-pleasers into less predictable territory. There’s dubu duruchigi, thick slabs of tofu simmered in a punchy, red pepper sauce, and jjimdak, braised chicken thighs tangled up in sweet potato noodles, delivering a slow-building heat.
You’ll find grilled mackerel, charred and rubbed with a house spice blend that clatters your tastebuds, and – arguably the star of the show – chijeudongaseu, a pork cutlet, hammered flat and stuffed with cheese, before being deep-fried like a Korean take on the chicken kiev. Beware this molten filling, it punishes the impatient and greedy.
It’s food that dares you to look beyond the obvious, but never feels like it’s showing off. There’s no ego here — just warmth, generosity, and the same sense of fun that made her first spot such a hit. Even the drinks list has had a glow-up, offering sharp Korean soju alongside local craft beers, ready to cut through all that fried goodness.
But for all the upgrades, the heart of it is still Eunji. She’s at the stove, working the pass, and sending out food with a grin, a wave, perhaps a dance too. Her connection to the community — and to her customers — remains as fierce as ever. “I’m the cheapest cost of labour,” she joked when announcing her original closure, but you can’t put a price on what she brings to a room.
The new space has allowed her to stretch out (and the loo is still full of those wild translated proverbs, printed out on A4). This is still Thirsty Korean through and through: comforting and filled with soul. Chorlton missed her, but she’s back — and ready to feed us all again.
The Thirsty Korean on Wilbraham Road is now open.
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