Good Asian restaurants recommendations (Arlington, Alexandria: live, store, garden)

[smithy77]

Originally Posted by slim04

If you mean Tony Cheng's on 7th and H, it has gone downhill. They don't use fresh meat or seafood anymore. It is all frozen. I was surprised that they even had frozen slices of meat at that the BBQ and put it directly on the grill without thawing it.

Thanks for the update. I haven't been there for several years. Lately I've been getting my Mongolian fix from the Genghis Grill in (or near) Springfield.

[Noble Savage]

Yechon is my favorite Korean place in Annandale followed closely by Heeben. Check out the Korean bakery too next to Yechon .

[newvadad]

this might seem redundant but where can a person with little Korean dining experience go in Centreville to get some authentic Korean meals? I shop there all the time but I've never tried one.

[nytimes703]

yechon - quality has gone downhill big time. heebeen - was a fan in the beginning but service and food quality went bad soon thereafter. for korean food, and food only (i.e. not service) - seorak garden is probably as good as it gets down here which isn't saying much (backlick and little river).

for pho i like pho 75 the most.

i haven't found any good full service chinese restaurants in my 25 yrs of living here.

[PK12]

Originally Posted by nytimes703

yechon - quality has gone downhill big time. heebeen - was a fan in the beginning but service and food quality went bad soon thereafter. for korean food, and food only (i.e. not service) - seorak garden is probably as good as it gets down here which isn't saying much (backlick and little river).

for pho i like pho 75 the most.

i haven't found any good full service chinese restaurants in my 25 yrs of living here.

Yechon is pretty good for what it is, i.e a 24 hour Korean BBQ joint.

If you want a newer, fresher and considerably nicer alternative to Yechon check out Kogiya BBQ off of Annandale Road. I was very impressed.

Sorak Garden is average at best. Check out Lighthouse Tofu for excellent Korean fare, both BBQ as well as their tofu soup , the soondabu. And Kang Chon for amazing Korean-Chinese cuisine.


Hong Kong Palace (Falls Church) or 88 China (Chantilly) for Chinese, otherwise drive out to Rockville.


God I love Asian cuisine!!!

[nytimes703]

we were pretty disappointed the last few trips to yechon. they keep their prices very reasonable but it shows in the quality of the food and portions of some ingredients. e.g. a beef soup came with a few shreds of beef...goat stew a few strips of goat. people that go back to yechon after a long time can easily tell the difference.

kogiya may be good for the brisket and pork belly but that's about it. i got their beef platter and the kalbi was a complete joke. it literally got laughed at by the people i was eating with and a lot of it remained uneaten. i think kogiya has done and will do well for some time due to its novelty since there aren't many ayce korean bbq around here.

the lack of good korean restaurants in this area is rather disappointing. i'd think the third biggest korean metropolis would have food almost as good as la or ny but it's not even close.

[sequon]

Originally Posted by nytimes703

we were pretty disappointed the last few trips to yechon. they keep their prices very reasonable but it shows in the quality of the food and portions of some ingredients. e.g. a beef soup came with a few shreds of beef...goat stew a few strips of goat. people that go back to yechon after a long time can easily tell the difference.

kogiya may be good for the brisket and pork belly but that's about it. i got their beef platter and the kalbi was a complete joke. it literally got laughed at by the people i was eating with and a lot of it remained uneaten. i think kogiya has done and will do well for some time due to its novelty since there aren't many ayce korean bbq around here.

the lack of good korean restaurants in this area is rather disappointing. i'd think the third biggest korean metropolis would have food almost as good as la or ny but it's not even close.

Wow, you must have a very high standard for Korean restaurants. A lot higher than me who spent about quarter century of my life in Korea. Not because of your comments on Yechon and Kogiya--I've never been to either, but because of your comment "the lack of good korean restaurants in this area." Are you Korean?

Although I have to admit that Korean restaurants in LA and NYC are so great that they make me think that that some of them are even better than Korean restaurants in Korea...

[HB2HSV]

I ate Korean tacos off the food truck today at lunch. Granted, it was nothing to brag about, considering it's a food truck operated by white guys and taco is not exactly a Korean invention , but it was 1) not bad at all for food truck quality, and 2) how cool is that to be able to taste different ethnic food off the food truck! This is from someone who, for last several years, has been living in a city where there is no food truck and the popular lunch place is "Five Guy" for burgers & fries (the variety is the straight fries vs the curly fries) Not that I don't love a good burger once a while but I am beginning to enjoy the food diversity of the area.

This weekend we are ready to venture out and begin to sample some of restaurants you folks recommended. Another "thank you" and please continune to post your recommendations

[slim04]

Originally Posted by sequon

Although I have to admit that Korean restaurants in LA and NYC are so great that they make me think that that some of them are even better than Korean restaurants in Korea...

Funny, I did not recommend any Korean restaurants, although I think some are great to me, because my spouse's parents are Korean and from Southern California and they always rag on how the Korean restaurants are terrible here. But when I go to Southern California and try the places they say are fantastic, I don't really notice a difference.

Like this restaurant, Han Sook Oak at Lincolnia in Annandale/Falls Church. I think it is great and I always see big tour buses full of Korean tourists stopping there (it was what put it on my radar in the first place), but my in laws gave it a thumbs down.

[weezycom]

Unfortunately, Han Sook Oak has closed. The buffet (bus people food) wasn't much, but the regular menu stuff was pretty good. To Sok Jip is my favorite for a few things -- the bo'ssaam especially. Gamasot (Backlick & Hechinger) has good soups.