2750A Gallows Rd
Merrifield, VA 22190
703-204-2969
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| Passion Fin Dining Room |
Passion
Fin is more about where it is than what it is. I’ll do my best
to focus on the restaurant than on the neighborhood, but one thing that stands
out here is while Passion Fin is fair at best, what makes it good is its
location in the up-and-coming Mosaic District of Merrifield, VA.
We’ve done the “asian
fusion” thing before, and Passion Fin falls into the trap we wrote about in our Kenji Fusion entry back in January. Again,
“if you can do one thing well, stick with it. The more you add, the more washed
out it becomes.” Passion Fin is no different.
On to the food and service. Jake was
a very pleasant and competent server. His attentive service and repeated (but
not overdone) check-ins made sure we were satisfied with each course. Elena
went mostly Thai, Bill went mostly Chinese. Most courses were very mediocre
(see above and the Frasier quote from the Kenji Fusion entry). We started with
the Crab Wonton and two soups: Miso and Tom Yum. Average, expected, but not
very exciting. Our entrees were Sesame Chicken ($14) and Drunken Noodles ($10).
Each were average and needed some “heat”, but requests for hot sauces were
unfulfilled, other than some sriracha and a flavorless hot oil. The $8 hot sake
was a hit, though!
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| Sesame Chicken |
Is Passion Fin good enough to
return? Perhaps. Seems they have some really good specials, and they may be
enough to get us back. It will be a long wait though since there are many other
Mosaic district restaurants we want to try.
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| Daily Specials |
I did my best to keep the Mosaic
District discussion to a minimum; however, I can’t keep it out of the
discussion. Mosaic is building and building fast. Situated just off the Dunn
Loring Orange Metro line, anchored by a wide swath of condos, stores, and
apartments. Just look for the construction cranes, as there is plenty of
development happening there. The district is well engineered, and hopefully in
time the distinct neighborhoods separated by Lee Highway will be bridged so
that the southern area will connect to the newer northern end. Anchored by a
series of small-medium sized boutiques, grocers, Movie Theater, and a big box
Target store, restaurants are plenty. Ted’s Bulletin, BlackFinn, Ocean Pearl,
Four Sisters, Cava, SweetGreen, and Gypsy Soul (getting excellent reviews and
on many Top Restaurant lists including Northern Virginia Magazine) serve most
of the world’s cuisines. With all these notable new additions, we hope Passion
Fin can survive.
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| Drunken Noodles |
Passion Fin is
comfortable, open, and well-decorated. Sparse Asian décor separates the Sushi
bar, regular bar, and a few separate dining rooms. The lighting is perfect –
not overbearing, but can still see your menu and food. Music was a strange mix
of 80’s and 90’s pop, certainly not expected, but better than the constant
stream of ting-y Asian music. The clientele was diverse, ranging from families
to millennial daters.
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