Palace Garden Korean Restaurant, Annandale, VA

Palace Garden
7131 Little River Turnpike
Annandale, VA 22003 
(703) 256-9292

If it wasn't for a deal offered by Groupon or Specialicious (can't remember which coupon we had), we would never have tried this place. Getting deals like these is definitely an incentive to try a new place. The food was great. All the dishes we ordered, including seaweed salad, avocado salad, Beef Soon Doo Boo, Seasoned Korean Chicken BBQ, an assortment of sushi, and the wide assortment of small typical Korean "banchan" side dishes were delicious. They were fresh, tasty and plentiful.

Unfortunately, the service made us feel less less than welcomed. The waiter's favorite word seemed to be "no," regardless of what we asked. The restaurant was clearly shorthanded on wait staff, so a waiter and two others who appeared to be his helpers were running around between tables, with barely enough time to stir the food on the BBQ or refill waters. Requests to make a dish more spicy was met with at least several "no's" and a request to take a photo of our table was also declined because he had to run to another table. It was hot and stuffy in the restaurant, the exhaust systems were definitely not working properly.

We had a great time with our friends, as always, because after all, it's the company and the food that make a great evening. Our advice: if you like Korean food, but don't care about the service, this is not a bad place. But for an all-around better experience, almost any other Korean restaurant in Annandale would be better.

Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant, Fairfax, VA *** CLOSED ***

3900 Pickett Rd

Fairfax, VA 22031
(703) 425-1130

If we hadn't bought a Specialicous coupon, we would have never gone here, but we are glad we did.  In a nutshell, the food was great, but the dining experience as a whole was not something we would return for.  The first thing that hit us when we entered Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant was the poor ventilation.  After a few minutes we got used to it, but sure enough when we walked out, the smell of an exhaust-lacking kitchen followed us all the way home.  We would say that this was the worst part of the dining experience.

Though the waitress served the entire dining room alone, she did a relatively good job and was very pleasant.  However, she was clearly overwhelmed with having to serve about 6 or 7 tables by herself. 

The other thing that we noticed right away was that most of the diners in the restaurant were American.  It’s great that Sheba caters to the American clientele, but all the excellent Ethiopian restaurants we’ve ever been to in this area all have a relatively large contingent of Ethiopians (typically all men) eating there, but at Sheba we noticed one table of Ethiopians.  Accordingly, when we sat down we were given a cutlery set – a fork and knife wrapped in a napkin!  That was extremely unusual, because Ethiopian food is typically eaten with hands (and injera--the spongy buckwheat-like pancake used to scoop up the food).  We looked around and the Americans eating at a table next to us were using forks.  This confirmed that this restaurant caters to a non-Ethiopian crowd.

We ordered our usual Ethiopian restaurant entrees – a vegetarian sampler and an order of beef Tibs with awaze sauce on the side. Bill had a Sambusa appetizer, which was a large deep-fried pastry filled with lentils.  Usually $3.95 gets you two small Sambusas, based on our experience at other Ethiopian restaurants, while here it was a single large pastry, which was OK.  The food was tasty, but lacking in the flavorful spice that is characteristic to Ethiopian food.  We usually expect a full flavored Ethiopian meal when we go to an Ethiopian restaurant, but this was not full flavored.  They may have toned it down for “gringos,” or maybe, as we wrote earlier, they do not cater to a crowd that appreciates the full experience.

If we are ever in the Fairfax area again and feel like having Ethiopian food from Sheba, we will most definitely go there, but rather than dining in the restaurant, we would take it to go.

I-Thai Restaurant, Vienna, VA

8607 Westwood Center Dr.

Vienna, VA 22182

(703) 975-8785

What a pleasant surprise!  Although not everything was set up in this brand new restaurant when we ate there in the first week of February 2012, there was plenty to enjoy here.  Tucked away in a Tyson’s Corner (technically Vienna) corporate office building (if you ever wanted to know where Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus official corporate headquarters was located, it’s next to this restaurant!) this place serves up some very tasty Thai food.  The dining area is divided into two rooms with simple decorations and plain furniture that are clean and attractive. 

We went with our friends and we all agreed that despite the restaurant still ironing out the service routines and the bar set-up, the food was delicious.  Our appetizers included Tom Yum vegetable and tofu soup, Vegetable and Soft Tofu soup, Calamari, and Blanket Shrimp.  All were well-prepared and tasty.  Our entrees were Crying Tiger (a delicious beef dish that we felt was one of the most delicious beef dishes we ever had) that came with delicious sticky rice in a very unique container, Mango Curry with tofu (they had no problems at all substituting the green beans with any other vegetable, we selected broccoli), Cashew Nut Tofu and Pad Se Eew with Seafood.   All dishes were wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed them.  For dessert, we all had the traditional Mango and Sticky Rice, which was good, but nothing particularly noteworthy differentiated it from other Thai restaurants.

Their house Merlot and Chardonnay wines added a nice bonus to our meals.  The meal cost us about $50 per couple with a glass of wine, but not including tip. We came here because we got a Specialicious coupon, which is a great way to explore new restaurants.

Overall, we would definitely return to i-Thai.