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    Balo Kitchen

    4.2 (423 reviews)

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    Recommended Reviews - Balo Kitchen

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    Chow-Fun Classic Chicken
    Gene W.

    This a kiosk/food stall at The Block. We opted for the fried chicken wings with fish sauce and chow fun with chicken. The food is made to order so it took about 15 mins. The food was hot and fresh. The wings were so hot in fact, that it melted the plastic fork (see photo). The wings with fried perfectly crispy and it was juicy inside. The fish sauce caramel was light. Could have used more sauce on the wings themselves or at least a side of extra. The homemade ranch was good. 9/10 Needed more sauce on wings. The chow fun had a great wok hei flavor. Didn't have a lot of green onions or chicken. The noodles were a tad overcooked as well. And there were no char marks on the wide noodles. Also, at bottom of the bowl, way too much oil. There was a puddle of oil. We could not finish the rest. Way too oily. 7/10 If the noodles were less oily and had more chicken and green onions, solid 9. Again, WAAAAY TOO OILY!

    Laksa Noodle Soup (Curry) with fried egg added.
    Steven B.

    Ok. Clearly, this place is not at a deficit for good reviews and rightfully so! I have eaten here three times and never been disappointed. Twice I've had the Laksa Noodle Soup with Pork Belly as a protein and the other time I came I had the Beef Stew (Bò Kho) because the first time I was jealous of my buddy's entree. Thus, on my second visit, I switched it up and tried it. 3rd visit, back to the favorite, Laksa Curry and this most recent time I added fried egg on top for a little extra oompf! Although this place is one of several choices in this food hall, and in the local are, I literally make a special point to battle the DMV traffic and pick up a meal there anytime I'm in town. The service is quick and the food is delicious - spice levels appropriately scaled, the quantity of protein in the dish was generous for the portion size, the temperature was hot (not unbearable) and held its heat for decent amount of time while consuming this deliciousness. The vibe of the food hall varies by the day. Some days the tv's by the bar are showing sports games, other nights there may be trivia, and once there was a cool dj. This place is buzzing with a nice vibe no matter the day (of the three days I've been there, lol). This place is a new definition of a value meal. Solid quality, filling, clean tasting. All for about $20. I'll take it.

    Brussel sprouts
    Claudine L.

    Located inside the block food hall, in the back right corner is balo! I was super intrigued by the brussel sprouts one of my favorite dishes if done correctly. I asked the cashier if it was good and crispy and he said yes. So i went ahead and ordered. It came out to be around $13 for a small which i thought was kinda pricey but it came out pretty quickly. It smelled a little garlicy so not great if you're trying to impress but decent portions. Unfortunately it was not crispy at all even though it was fried. It was pretty soggy but the flavor was there! If it came out crispier I think there would be a lot of potential! Would come back to try something new but not sure I would order them again

    Garlic green beans
    Soo C.

    Came here on a Friday night 20 minutes before closing and ordered the green beans. They were made to order so crispy with a hint of salt And garlic. It doesn't come with anything other than the green beans and it was the perfect meal for me. dish I often use the crispy green bean dish as an indicator of if I'll like a place's other food. These were great so I'll be back to try their other offerings which looked interesting and unique. It's a food court so there's open seating and a bar in this place too. Fun to bring a group of people and everyone can get what they want from the various food places. I'll be back to try some of their other dishes too! Service was friendly.

    Tori H.

    My all time favorite meal is the lemongrass chicken with fish sauce! It's my ideal comfort food when I'm missing my mom's home cooking! The chicken is always so tender, and I love their pickled veggies with scallion sauce. The fish sauce makes it so so good! Service is always quick, and they serve it in a plastic take out container, so whatever you don't finish, just ask for a lid to take it home! It's located inside the block Foodhall, and there's a lot of seating inside and outside!

    Ana T.

    Realllly good food! We tried the chicken and rice dish, I got the soy glaze flavor. If came with pickled veggies and ginger scallion oil and it was sooooo good. The second dish was chow fun noodles with crispy pork belly and let me tell you it was cooked to perfection. The noodles had a nice wok flavor and the pork belly was crispy and tender. Even after we saved some for left overs it was still Crispy! We will be back to try other food.

    Vina H.

    Delicious foods that you can order using their scanned menu system and have it ready instead of standing in line. Balo Kitchen is inside the block in annandale. They provide variety mixed of asian culture food. I love their chicken wings with fish sauce (part vietnamese). Their Dan dan noodles (part taiwanese) tasted okay. not something i would order again because noodles is plain and all seasoned is in the meat. Their beef and rice is delicious. Everything seasoned right with plenty of meat and rice and veggies. All their bowls takes me 2 seatings to eat. It does take them a bit long to make the food so expect 15-20 minutes to make the food so call or orddr ahead! The staff is super nice and sweet!

    Chicken Rice Bowl with pickled greens, sauteed green onions, with fish sauce on the side
    Jon T.

    Since The Block overall is set up like a giant cafeteria with it's own section for different cuisine/drinks, Balo Kitchen is just one of the few places you can order from. Sometimes the line can be a bit long and slow ( they only have one person ringing up orders) I do like the added convenience of a kiosk right next to the front if you already know what you want to order. It helps speeds the line up! I got the chicken over rice. Pretty solid bowl with a generous amount of chicken, pickled greens, rice cooked with chicken broth and on the side, some fish sauce for that extra umami. For the price you pay for, I think it's a tad high but I think it's average around the area. I'll have to try more next visit!

    LeAn H.

    Warning: This place is addicting! I live in RVA but whenever I go up to NOVA to visit my family I always have to find some sort of excuse to get tacos from this place! I've always ordered online for pickup and they've been pretty quick. There really isn't a point in putting the time that you wish to have it ready by, they will go ahead and just work on it and get it done asap - One of the orders that I had done was done about an hour early. Fortunately, I was closer than expected and could do the driveby pickup haha. I went with my sister the first time so it does take getting used to around the parking lot and where to go to get what. The Block is pretty kickass and I would like to try the other food options that are located there (like poke bowls and some alcohol bar-like places). The place can definitely be packed but it's a food hall - what do you sort of expect? Anyway, I ALWAYS order their pork belly and grilled chicken taco (at least and pretty good for traveling too - from NOVA to RVA). If my husband is with me then we'll in addition typically get their fried chicken and shrimp as well. They never disappoint! I'd like to try the other foods listed on their menu but it's sorta of like, "Why fix it if it's not broken"? I know that I will always be satisfied with their tacos so...why order anything else when I'm in town? haha. LOVE their tacos and I'm so glad my sister was nice enough to share this delicious location with me. (She actually does love me!!! haha)

    Fried Pork Belly Rice and pork belly fries
    Kathryn C.

    Tried this spot out on the block in Annandale. The block is known for being a typical hangout spot in the dmv and there was a good mix of people from high schoolers to adults in their 30s. The food was good but was slightly overpriced. The pork belly on the rice was crispy and more flavorful than the one in the fries.

    Hawaiian Teriyaki chicken plate.
    Eric L.

    Food options are delicious all in one place! Highly recommended! Nice bar with music. Very courteous.

    Crispy Pork Belly Rice
    Kyle N.

    Great Vietnamese street food in a very cool setting! This place is a part of The Block; a sort of cool food court with multiple eateries, and communal dining. I tried crispy pork belly rice and pork belly banh-mi, both excellent! Planning to return for more!

    Order
    Natasha P.

    I've always preferred to address issues directly with businesses, giving them a chance to rectify them. Recently, I ordered a crispy pork bowl with rice and chicken soup through Toast. Unfortunately, they called me 15 minutes later to inform me they didn't have the soup. That was fine, and I asked them to cancel it. When I picked up my order, I was disappointed. The meat and rice were cold, which is strange coming from an Asian restaurant. I inquired about the reduced portion of pork belly, which I noticed hadn't been reflected in the price. The employee apologized and said there was nothing she could do as they did in fact change the quantity recently. I'm surprised, as I had a great experience there just a month ago. I'm not sure what caused the decline in quality

    Chicken wings

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    Page 1 of 11

    Ask the Community - Balo Kitchen

    Is this place still have Loco Moco ? I'd love to try it if they do.

    The Curry Loco Moco yeah they have it as of 09/28.

    Is this still open at the Block? Seems like it got replaced by a fried chicken place.

    Yes it's still open. The fried chicken replaced the Thai place.

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

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    I used to love this place but the past few visits are huge disappointments…read more First and foremost, the condiment bar is dirty. There are multiple gnats hovering above the uncovered sauces. I notified our server and he just shrugged "it's been like that". We were the only customers in the restaurant. He was mostly just hanging out by the cashier, he could have cleaned the condiment bar easily. I lost my appetite after seeing the bugs flying around the condiment bar. Even though we were the only people in the restaurant, they did not check on us at all. The table next to us was not cleaned up until an hour after they left. Meat quality is subpar at best. Beef slices are either super fatty or not marbled at all. Each plate of beef tongue looks different, their quality is not very consistent. They used to bring out ice cream with the check, now you have to ask for it. I think the fact that it's not very sanitary sealed the deal for me, there are plenty of places in the area that are much cleaner. It's a bummer because this place used to be so popular (a few years ago, you have to wait 1.5-2 hours to be seated on the weekends), it's so sad that it has fallen off and I truly hope that they can bounce back.

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    Balo Kitchen - comfortfood - Updated August 2026

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