Privus

my 1^st ktown style fried chicken was a pretty euphoric experience, although i was pretty entoxicated
compared to others its on the higher end of pricing but it was still pretty darn good
i wonder why they closed? was it because of their spotty kitchen and front house service? i hate how the wait staff and managers dont own up to a time problem when they know it does not take 45 mins– 1 hr to fry ups some poultry.

I come here for two things: bon chon chicken and cocktails.
OK, people-​watching too.
This place is seriously good for the above. All the cocktails are affordable (green apple sake margarita is my favorite) and you can’t get Korean Fried Chicken anywhere else in Boston. They do KFC so well: moist, flavorful, cracktastic.
Can’t believe it’s closing. At least KFC will still be served in a new spot in Harvard Sq. *Sad violins*

Bön Chon = BOMBBB
Service = Very Friendly
Sake = came in the cutesttttt bottle!

The thing I love most about Privus is definitely the atmosphere. The interior design is sleek, modern, and classy. Lights are dim to either encourage romance or just a chill conversation. Music is loud enough to hear when conversations fall silent, but not loud enough to have to yell over. Everything seems quite well-​balanced at Privus.
Sushi is expensive, but it’s one of the better quality sushi places. If you’re trying to save money, don’t go here for sushi. If you have the money to spend, and you’re craving sushi anyways, go for it. The chicken… some people LOVE it, and some people don’t. I fall into the latter group. That doesn’t mean I don’t like it. I just don’t LOVE it the way the BonChon fans do. The texture’s there, but I’m not too fond of the sauce. I’ve had better, but hey… might as well get it if you’re at Privus.
I like going to Privus, and I’ve always had a great time there. It’s perfect for smaller groups, and I wouldn’t mind spending a good 2~3 hours there, drinking and talking and eating. My favorite things to do. :)

I realized just now that I have no other place to compare this to, but I’m giving Privus five stars anyway.
We got our Bön Chon chicken on and it was amazing! Well seasoned, the wings had a good amount of meat on them, and the service was fantastic. We also tried the seafood scallion pancake, which totally took my love of scallion pancakes to another level.
We were there on the decidedly unglamorous side of nightclub life (i.e. 5:30 p.m.), but we were in the neighborhood and thought we’d stop in. No drinks for us – why bother when we could use that money to buy more chicken?!
Good choice. If I’m going to a potluck and I want to impress folks, I’m bringing some Bön Chon from this place.

Privus is a very contemporary-​looking restaurant lounge that serves bonchon chicken. Before coming here, I’ve never heard of this style of chicken and thought it was more similar to the wet chicken wings I’ve had at other Korean establishments. We started off with an extra large order of the 20 drumsticks to share between the five of us. Half of the platter was spicy and the other was just soy sauce. It was accompanied with pickled radish.
I managed to finish five drumsticks before feeling full. The bonchon chicken was amazingly good. I was a doubter, but now I’m a believer. Korean fried chicken kicks American fried chicken in the butt. Supposedly traditional bonchon chicken is fried twice, which gives the skin a crispier texture. The chicken here is fried thrice, which makes the skin even thinner and crispier. The skin resembles that of crunchy roast duck, but thinner and more chip-​like. The flavors were outstanding and the underlying meat stays juicy, moist and wonderfully delicious. The spicy drumsticks were hot, but enjoyable and went well with the pickled radish. By the end, I was feeling full and disgustingly oily. I wish there was some soup to counter the oily chicken skin.
Privus has a big variety of other Japanese and Korean foods like sushi, pancakes, noodles, etc. Looking at the prices, they looked steep, but I think most of the menu items are meant to be shared so Privus would be great if you’re coming with a large group. I also liked the big projection screen, which is especially useful during March Madness.

Having heard much about Bonchon fried chicken, I finally made my way out here to see what all the talk was about. My friends and I split a combo plate (drumsticks/​wings) with half and half spicy/​soy garlic — delicious! The skin wasn’t heavy or greasy at all and it was like a distinct, thin, crispy layer that mixed with the tender meat very nicely.
To go with the chicken, we also had Salmon Katsudon, Bulgogi, and Billy Billy Maki (tuna inside, salmon and salmon roe outside). The bulgogi had great texture and was one of the better attempts I’ve tried, the katsudon was okay and does do a good job of filing you up for your money. The sushi, however, is sub-​par and should be avoided. A couple seconds after taking my first bite, I was so glad that I opted not to get a sushi bar entrée. The rice had a sort of gritty texture and neither that nor the fish tasted even remotely fresh.
Being a lounge, Privus obviously has a night club vibe. What didn’t work so well though was having loud House remixes of pop/​hip & hop/​Top 40 songs playing during dinner hours… The interior reminds me a lot of Taro’s and Mikuni (modern Japanese restaurants back in CA), but they at least had enough sense to save the thumping music for club hours XD
All in all, this place is totally worth it for the Bonchon chicken with average to solid performances in all other regards.

After a night of bad bars on Brighton Ave, my friend and I went here for some dinner and drinks. As soon as we walked in I knew I would be happy with this place– clean, nice décor, full tables of happy people, a bustling waitstaff, chefs at work making sushi.
This place has so much to offer from sushi, teriyaki dinners, bon chon chicken, and great drinks. We ended up with ordering a teriyaki dinner together because they require that you order 2 proteins/​veggies as a dinner, which makes it a larger expensive dinner. We ordered chicken teriyaki and shrimp teriyaki which is served with miso soup, rice, and steamed veggies that are mixed into the teriyaki. With a extra rice we enjoyed the dinner, which is perfect for 2 people. The fact that you have to order two types of teriyaki is a bit annoying since is makes the dinner like $ 25 – 30, when there is no need to have that much food. If you go the route of ordering an entrée consider sharing it with someone or at least expect to leave with a doggy bag. The dinner was great because it was good quality chicken and shrimp and they were cooked perfectly.
In addition to our entrée we ordered a spicy tuna roll, which is a typical maki roll. Privus has beautiful large rolls, which were too much for us to eat that night but I will def come back in for them because they had interesting names, ingredients, and were priced well at $ 12 – 15 a roll.
The drink that I had might have been my favorite thing that night. A sweet, tangy drink that was light with a ginger taste. I could have had a dozen, okay, maybe not that many but they were so refreshing that I would have had a few except I was not in the mood for a hangover or spending like $ 50 on drinks.

Oh man, the bonchon chicken.
The dish size was huge at this korean/​sushi/​asian lounge/​restaurant. When you walk in, it’s definitely a contemporary modern restaurant. Plus, the music beating in the background, gives it a hip ambience. We sat down in this tiny booth, and ordered some duk stuff and soup for appetizers. The duk was good… it had some type of vermicelli in it (I don’t know my korean food names). But the soup!!! Dang, it was GOOD. It was sweet, with a variety of items in it– from good size pieces of broccoli to scallops, etc, the broth that came out as a result, was so sweet and so good. I wished the bowl had been bigger! But with a group of 8, it’s kind of hard to share…
The highlight of the dinner was the bonchon chicken. OMG. Korean fried chicken? This is amazing. Half the plate was spicy, half was sweet… and the size of the drumsticks were so big, it was soo good. The spicy… was spicy. Luckily, there were radishes there to cool my spicy tongue.
Then, we ran down the street to Yi Soon bakery to grab a birthday cake for our friends. and finished the night off with their amazing raz mojito. Yep, it was definitely good.
But man, that bonchon chicken. Mmm.

During my visit to Boston, I made sure to stop here for some Bonchon chicken! Apparently, this is the same restaurant as the one in New York, except this place is bigger, nicer (especially since it was designed to be a lounge), with bigger pieces of bonchon chicken!
Basically, this was all I ate:
Seafood scallion pancake — really yummy!
AND
HUGE pieces of bonchon (we got the spicy flavored one, but I believe the soy garlic is just as good). We ordered the 15 piece drumstick plate for 3 people. I was patting my belly full after the 4^th one. Ah gosh, I love chicken.
Of course, down that chicken with a lychee martini and you’ll have a very satisfied and happy night. :)

I love Privus! The first time I went here back in the summertime was on my first date with my current boyfriend :) So since he took me to Privus I suppose that was an early sign of his good taste ;) Since I was, at that point, so enamored with him I honestly don’t even remember what we ate but it was delicious.
I recently went back with my boyfriend tonight and I wasn’t disappointed! First of all, the décor is really modern and classy but unique at the same time. The booths are really cool and feel private.
We ordered 3 maki rolls– spicy tuna, spicy salmon & spicy shrimp (notice a trend?) Not only was the sushi well made and delicious, but also a really decent price! (About $ 6 a roll) Their miso soup is delicious as well.
We ordered hot sake, and my boyfriend was opting for the cheapest option and our friendly waitress suggested we not waste our money and try a different one that tasted better. We trusted her instincts and I’m glad we did because it was the best sake I’ve ever had (and still inexpensive).
Our service was really great, our food came super quickly and overall it was a great experience.

Dear Heat Lamp that is keeping my Bön Chon chicken hot,
I’ve been to Privus a number of times now to figure out that something is just off with this Bön Chon franchise. The chicken is just coming out WAY TOO FAST. THIS_​IS_​A_​BAD_​THING! In NYC, the chicken is a minimum 30 minute wait!!! I want my chicken piping hot that I can’t even hold it because it’s straight out of the fryer. I don’t want to find random pieces of chicken that are just kinda warm (these are the ones hidden at the bottom of the pile). I want my Bön Chon extra cripsy and not taste like it’s been sitting out! What is going on back there in that kitchen?
Please fix this immediately or I will have to get my fix in NYC from now on!!!
Your #1 fan,
Dreamsrey

I have been to Boston twice and I have been to Privus twice. I love the scene, the décor, the service, and the FOOD. I’m from the DC Metro Area and I’ve had Bön Chon before so it wasn’t new to me, but it was just as delicious.
What really impressed me was the sashimi! I had the sashimi appetizer both times. For $ 11 you get 8 pieces (3 tuna, 3 yellowtail, 2 salmon). I thought it was well worth the price; it was so fresh, meaty, and tasty. Melt-​in-​your-​mouth quality!
The only negative was the maki I ordered — Alaskan maki. The actual roll would have been 10 times better if they hadn’t had so much rice in it. It ends up overpowering everything else making it not so enjoyable. My friend ended up just breaking hers apart and eating the inside of it. I’ll probably just stick with sashimi next time I go to Boston, and yes there will be a next time.

I was very impressed with Privus. After reading the reviews, I decided to have my birthday dinner there. They were very accommodating with the reservation (went from five to twenty). The staff was very patient and attentive. Also, the ambiance is just right. Not bad for Allston.
The food was delicious. The only thing that we did not like was that they plated the food with multiple orders We had some people who had never met and a couple sick people. But besides that everything was good.
I had the spicy tuna Maki and a california roll along with the yellow tail. It was flavorful and fresh.
I’ll definitely be going back! And the good thing is, they deliver too!

This is one of the coolest sushi places in Allston/​Brookline/​Brighton that I have been to. The place was really quiet last night so no problem getting a table for 5. The booths are really cozy and modern (the shapes are very geometric) and they give you nice hot towles to begin with!
The menu is very extensive. We started with drinks: I had a pomegranate margarita which was yum; others had raz-​mojito, appletini, drity wasabi martini, and cosmos. The drinks were great-​you couldn’t taste the alcohol at all.
The menu for food is a mixture of korean, japanese, and thai foods. We started with edamame (which was amazing as the salt was on each piece) and a scallop appetizier. Both were great. For meals, we all ordered sushi and sashimi. I had the mango maki and the philly maki. I was disappointed that there was no oshinko roll (the online menu said there was) but I got over that. My sushi was ok; I didn’t love the philly but really liked the mango one. I also tried the mango salsa maki which was also good and I loved the onion ring one. There are over 50 sushi options so you should be able to find someting you like.
Service was fantastic; our waiter was very attentive and knowledgeable about the menu and he refilled drinks regularly. The bill was not outrageous; about what you’d pay for sushi in the area (at least where I go).
I had to drop one star for the lack of oshinko roll and the weird music played at the restaurant. It went from John Mayer to Lupe Fiasco to Beck. Just didnt’ make sense and vibe with the place.

Bön-​chon chicken. Seriously, just come here and get the combo immediately. The more, the merrier, go for the half-​half flavor mix (sweet and hot), and you’ll never look back. Honestly, there’s no better combination of fried chicken that is both crispy and doesnt feel like its going to add 10lbs on your frame afterwards.
The service is really nice, the atmosphere is pretty good, and the pricing isn’t too bad ($ 18 for the combo).
We also had the donburi and the tempura udon — but at that point my stomach was so full of tasty goodness that I didn’t have much energy left for the main courses. But the donburi wasn’t too bad, good portion and pretty safe in ingredients — I like that the add a little medley of pickled veggies. The only negative of the tempura udon was the little serving of tempura that came with it (only four pieces).
Honestly, five stars just for the fact this is the only place with bonchon chicken, and it does it freaking well. And a plus for the atmosphere — I would definitely try to come at night with friends and enjoy martinis here.

This place tries really hard to be like something you’d find in Back Bay. That’s not always a bad thing. I mean, they succeed, but the formula just doesn’t seem right for Allston: Trendy environment, trendy prices.
It’s a nice, unique place for the area, definitely somewhere I’d consider bringing a date (well, when they aren’t pumping the bass that night). But if I wanted good sushi, I could just head down a few blocks to another restaurant for the same quality food at lower prices.
I found their drink selection to be rather disappointing. There were a lot of bitter and sake-​based items, but it didn’t really cater to other tastes. I, for one, always hope for at least a good selection of drinks on the sweet side. I had to settle for a strawberry mojito, which was «okay». Points for creativity though, they didn’t have any drinks I recognized beside a mojito.

This place was empty on a Friday night. There was a line next door at The Kells but nobody lining up to go here. It’s not really a lounge. and it’s not a club. If you’re looking for an Asian lounge. this is not it. A bit expensive and the music is a bit loud.
Maybe I didn’t go on a good night… who knows.

Innovative! Contemporary! Posh! Ambrosial!
I’ve always had this preconceived notion of raw seafood with sushi. And while I knew that there were some rolls that didn’t involved raw food, such as a California roll or prepared with cooked foods, such as a Blue Crab roll. I never knew the things you could do with sushi until I came into Privus.
The first time I came in, I was a bit overwhelmed by their menu. But thankfully I was equipped with 2 very knowledgeable gals who frequented Privus and was able to help me decipher the Maki menu and figure out what I would or would not like.
I ended up with the following:
Drink:
The restaurant was very accommodating in making a regular margarita which is not on their menu but perfect nonetheless — $ 9
Appetizer:
Soft Shell Crab Tempura $ 9
deep fried soft shell crab in light batter served with
ponzu sauce for dipping.
Entrée:
Triple A Maki $ 5
asparagus, avocado, apple with kiwi sauce
Tropical Maki $ 7
cucumber, pineapple, crab stick & coconut flake with kiwi sauce.
My counterparts had also gotten:
Mango Maki $ 5
mango, cucumber with kiwi sauce.
The Tropical Maki without the crab stick.
I believe the Caterpillar Maki * $ 9
fresh water eel, avocado, cucumber & flying fish roe.
rolled in the shape of a caterpillar.
and one other roll I can’t remember.
The large private booths allow you have certain conversations without anyone eaves dropping on ya. I actually love whoever designed this restaurant, it’s sexy, modern chic with an Asian twist.
For 4 girls, 5 drinks, and a whole lot of sushi, our dining experience was fulfilling and delightful. It was such a great experience I ended up back at Privus not too much longer for dinner with a young lad and repeated it all over again.

Restaurant/​lounge/​bar right next to the beer swilling Kells on Brighton ave. We had a table of 13 right by the window on a Friday nite. The restaurant was not full, maybe ¹⁄₃ full.
We ordered «cooked» meals — steak teriyaki, shrimp teriyaki and the Unagi. I asked for it to be medium rare and it was cooked to order… and yummy. There was good quanitity too, the Eel on rice was twice as big as I’ve seen at any other japanese rest. We also got the spider and caterpillar rolls and both were good. Others in our party got sushi, etc. Everyone enjoyed their meals.
Service was good, the waitress was very accomodating and even split the bill for us into small groups of 4 or so. Give her a full star just for that willingness and capability.
There was club/​lounge music playing in the background and as it got later they dimmed the lights. It had that club/​lounge vibe w/​a doorman outside w/​a rope set up just like Kells. I guess they are hoping for a large bar crowd too. and don’t know if they got it as we finished and left at 10pm.
Décor, nice, modern… the booths seem a bit claustrophobic for my taste.
would return… the waitress said it’s only been open about 3 mos. or so.
Our meals came out to $ 33 each which includes tax & tip. so prices are reasonable and portions plenty.