Ambiance is upscale but not stuffy. We were able to dine casually without a reservation…read more Cocktails and mocktails were great. Food was very good, first time having white kimchi. Service was very professional and friendly. We came by on a holiday without a reservation and they seemed a bit short staffed; but when they heard we had waited for our server they brought out a complimentary appetizer. Our server Fabrizio was kind and knowledgeable. When he heard we were going to try to catch a movie next door he was mindful to be quick but didn't rush us out at the same time. Will definitely come back!

Hubby and I dined with another couple last night at Soul Prime, and we were primed for good food!…read moreWe knew we'd be going fancy (chose the wagyu tour at $99/person), and assumed we would get good value for the money, but that's where things fell short. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I put Great American Restaurants at the top in terms of service. Always professional, you always know what to expect: friendly, efficient, and classy. I hate to give poor marks for service at Soul Prime, but when you were paying over $115 per person, you assume your server will know how to interact with customers in a way that elevates the experience. What we got was the opposite. Instead of deftly serving out table and then disappearing into the background, our very sweet server showed her inexpeience right off the bat. She gave us a rundown of the the menu and then said, "Sorry, I know that was word vomit; hopefully that wasn't too much." Not not only was there nothing about her intro speech that warranted an apology, but please don't use the word 'vomit' anywhere near me before I embark on a delicious and large meal. I cringed - probably outwardly. And it wouldn't be the last time. The food was good, the bonchons fine. Definitely choose the brussel sprouts - they are the best we've ever had. Everything else was just good. The meat arrived and she began cooking it. To be fair, I realize it's a big job to be both the waitress and the tableside chef, but all the more reason to have a very experienced person doing this job (and maybe assign her a support person?). We've been to a lot of KBBQ places and seen it done quite efficiently. I think the problem here is that the restaurant has unnecessaryily burdened its servers with an image of suave tableside banter and explanations for everything, which slowed our waitress down as she moved between us and the two other tables she was serving. The result was that she apologized on multiple occasions for cooking our meat past the doneness we had requested. Yes, the $99 per person wagyu beef. Probably, none of us would have had a big issue with the doneness we received, but because she proffered an apology each time it became pretty cringy. There were even a few times that we wondered if she was suggesting that we could request a redo (we didn't try, so who knows?). But then at other times, it seemed she was just apologizing to apologize. So why apologize at all if there is no recourse offered to the customer ... and they aren't even complaining? Why not act like everything is going great?! We would have played along, no doubt. Clearly there's a psychology lesson here! Nothing was egregious. It was the emphasis of error that stood out. This happened at least four times during the meal. It put a burden on the guests - with a table bill of over $460 - to reassure the waitress that she was doing okay. It made us feel parental, which wasn't the feeling we were going for or we wouldn't have left the kid at home! The final apology arrived with the bill in the form of a cheesecake slice. It was good, but as our friend said, it felt like tip manipulation at that point. And again, why profusely apologize for minor slips in service when delivering this extra dessert? Just say, "Thanks for coming in tonight, here's a complimentary slice of our famous cheesecake!" It was taxing to hear yet another apology and to have to say over again, "Oh no, everything was great." Because at this point, we felt everything was not great, but only because she'd pointed it out at every turn. Were we really going to say, "You know, you're ruining our meal with all of these apologies?" Maybe it's a generational problem. I was tempted to give her some waitressing tips. As a teen, I waitressed in a nice restaurant, and I know that smooth service depends on being upbeat, positive, efficient, and in and out from the table without interrupting. In short, fake it till you make it. Word vomit and the recognition of it, will do you no good. Less said the better. Also, don't make me ask for rice three times. So, was the wagyu beef good? It was! Will be tempted to return? Nope! It is definitely a once in a lifetime experience. Now I can say I have had nice, juicy bites of wagyu beef and I am good to go. I would rather dine at a place where I will spend less money and get better service. Want good Korean BBQ? Stick to an all-you-can-eat place in Annandale or Fairfax where the service is brusque and the meats are unending. Be aware: Soul Prime is not AYCE. They are too fancy for that! It's still plenty of food, but at those prices, I might have liked to taste a little more...or at least had service that really impressed. Oh, and after she brought the bill and apologized for the fourth or fifth time, she also brought a QR code display for leaving reviews. Really? We're spending over 460 bucks and you want to beg me for a review? That just seemed a little sleezy. But here I am leaving one!

server was very accommodating and food came out quickly. drinks were delicious and diverse…read moreselection for menu. very easy to eat your monies worth.

First off... I have never considered leaving a review until I visited this establishment. I have…read morenever eaten food so good that I immediately felt compelled by the gods of delicious food to write about a meal until today! Upon entering we were greeted and seated by the nicest staff you could ever imagine! The entire vibe was amazing and the establishment was flawlessly clean!!! Now to the food! The portions are huge!!! Come hungry because you're about to be stuffed!!!! I ordered the muscles off of the appetizer menu and they were absolutely amazing. I don't know what kind of broth they used, but I could drink a gallon of it. I had the eel sushi and I'm not sure what kind of roll I ordered. But it was top-notch absolutely phenomenal. I also ordered the Spicy miso tonkotsu!!!!! It was my first time trying this dish and I cannot believe how delicious it was. Whatever magic they are doing in that kitchen is out of this world! I will honestly say that it was possibly the best meal I have ever eaten in my life. I don't have enough good things to say about our entire experience. My review does not do this restaurant justice!!!! 10 out of 10! I honestly hope someone with better writing skills than me eats here ASAP so they can properly get the word out about how perfect this place is!!!

Loved Padaek. The service was friendly and thoughtful. Our server made great suggestions. We…read moreordered all kinds of dishes. The kra prow and the Burmese tea salad stood out the most. Flavors are authentic and the perfect balance of sweet spicy and sour. They also serve delicious cocktails. I had a tamarind cocktail which was to die for.

It's been almost 2 years since I ate there last. Went on a Sat night and surprisingly not busy…read more Guessing the extreme cold made everyone stay home. We got the crunchy rice with sour pork (naem khao thadaeu), pork shoulder (ping), fried catfish (patod), chicken pad thai (kua mee), and warm coconut milky dessert (bua loy). All the dishes were delicious but a bit more salty than Thai. Feels like a lot of fish sauces in all the dishes. The crunchy rice came with lettuce but ours were not the best lettuce. The fried catfish were nicely fried with a perfect coating. Definitely a dish to get. The pork shoulder is another dish to get. Nicely seasoned with sticky rice. Their version of pad thai is uniquely different than Thai. A bit more sweet but the lime makes it better. Wife wanted to try bua loy dessert. It is a warm sweet dessert that balanced out all the salty flavors of the dishes. Something to try as well. Flavor are still the same. The dishes we order were too much for 2 of us. My only complaint was the restaurant smelled like smoke when we walked in. Not the kind where there was a fire in the kitchen but more like someone smoking in the kitchen?

I'm native Floridian so I'm probably biased but this place is a little piece of Florida in Falls…read moreChurch. Only downside is the owners are Gators I think so there's no FSU stuff in the entire place! I always enjoy coming here and having a tasty beverage or two on the patio and listening to some live music while enjoying some grilled shrimp tacos. I've had other items and enjoyed but the grilled shrimp tacos are my go to here. Food and drinks are just as good in the winter but it's not quite Florida weather so I'm eating inside when it's too cold for flip flops. The margaritas are always enjoyable as is everything else I've ever had to drink. The grilled shrimp tacos are also always just right and they bring the shells and tortillas separately so you can fill the shells yourself make them just how you want them. I usually choose corn tortillas and black beans but they also offer flour tortillas and refried beans as options. Service is always fast and friendly here, even when they're crowded on a weekend. This place is a must try if you're a Floridian in exile or just want to enjoy the beach bar experience in Falls Church.

I was in love when we walked in and fell progressively less in love as we ate more of our food…read more Tl;dr - come for drinks, vibes, and simple shit that is good fried. Do not come expecting a solid seafood dinner. We came here after a nearby event. There was live music in the very sizable back lot area. People were actually up and dancing and having a great time. The vibes were stellar. I don't know if I would be into tbis place in the winter if I had to eat inside because the inside is kind of dingey, but outside in the summer is pretty paradisiacal. I did notice that they were doing karaoke in a weird little side room and it did not seem crowded on a Saturday night so that might be worth checking out. Servers were also all super nice. Pretty sure we entered the wrong way and kind of just let ourselves in through the back lot area and then we had no idea where to go to find a host(ess). So we asked the first server we could find where to go and she went "oh I can seat you" and grabbed two menus. Excellent. She also gave us our choice of wherever. The place is huge. Our assigned server was also nice and really knew the menu, which is not small. The menu had a ton of options including some really interesting tofu options and I had a hard time picking so I got excited. Also very customizable where you can choose your preparation. The beer list was not exactly artisinal...a lot of like...michelob ultra. And they had those island slushy kind of drinks. So at first I was like...this is my new weekend hangout. Then our drinks came. They were small and in little plastic cups. Wuhoh. Then our food came. I should have known it wouldn't be fresh. The price wasa little *too* good. When I asked about the catch of the day it was like four different things. I ended up with a buffalo grouper sandwich (grouper was one of the four things). I have had a fresh buffalo grouper sandwich in Clearwater before and that was in 2019 and I still remember it 7 years later. This buffalo grouper sandwich? Oh no. First of all it was this thin, flat battered fried cutlet thing. The breading absorbed the buffalo sauce so I couldn't taste it very much though they did bring me a lot of Bleu cheese dressing. The fish was bad. I bit into it and it tasted fishy and it was dry. Honestly if I hadn't been super hungry I would have just not eaten it. On top of that, I paid an extra dollar to upgrade from fries to hushpuppies. These were legit hushpuppies, but hushpuppies are small and how many did they bring me? 5. Are you kidding? Again, in Florida these are brought free by the basket. They're literally just fried up balls of corn meal. I think that may have offended me more than the bad fish. My husband went witb BBQ pulled chicken and fries and said both were good. So. Here are my thoughts. Would I come here again in the summer for fun vibes and good service? Yes. Would I set low expectations for my food and drink? Yes. Would I probably just order a softdrink and stick to something simple they can't screw up like a quesadilla and fries? Yeeeeeeeah.

Really great vegetarian food. The menu has so many different options from soups, rice dishes, stir…read morefries to spring rolls and appetizers. My friend and I tried the shredded rolls and I got the bun bo hue. The flavor was really similar to a meat version I've had before. Perfect spice level as well. Come here if you want to try some vegetarian viet food!

Over a year later and this place still kicks. Plenty of parking because it's a shared parking lot…read more Great spot and still really good food. The seating inside is pretty spacious, for a Wednesday night it wasn't too crowded so we were able to get a table relatively easily. This time I went with my vegetarian friend and I think it might have become her new favorite spot. First thing she said when I came in was "there's so many options" when usually it's what can I eat? With a full vegetarian menu, it's a great spot for those who like an Asian cuisine but suffer from the oh it's not vegetarian. Luckily the whole menu is vegetarian. The waiter/server also said they are doing great and planning on opening a second location in Chantilly soon! We ordered the vegan clam dip, shaky beef, and the fish (vegan) soup. Delicious food all around, I always prefer the clam dip and shaky beef. Really good flavors and a great combination. We definitely ordered too much food, so I would say if it's just two, two dishes is enough. Shaky beef was a little different this time around but still good flavor and you can taste that it's vegetarian or some other meat, but it's pretty darn close to beef. The flavors in the sauce and other bell peppers and onions elevate the flavor profile. The fish soup was a new dish, and definitely had a fish flavor but was a little overpowered by the tomatoe. I probably wouldn't go with that one again, but the others were still amazing.