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Balo Kitchen

4.2 (423 reviews)

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BALO KITCHEN ATMOSPHERE

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Recommended Reviews - Balo Kitchen

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Austin G.

I popped into The Block for Dan Dan noodles and Balo has them. I ordered it regular spicy and it was ready to go within 10 minutes. The portion is large and the spice was great. Amazing flavors!

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!

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

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!

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.

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.

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

Hawaiian Teriyaki chicken plate.
Eric L.

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

Brussel Sprouts with Fish Sauce Caramel

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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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3.9(559 reviews)
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50 years in business
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I'd been craving a cheesesteak and figured I'd finally give this place a shot. Why I'd never been…read morebefore is beyond me. The place was packed, almost no open seats anywhere, but I managed to grab a spot at the bar. I went with the full OG Philly and some onion rings. The sandwich was massive. I almost couldn't finish half of it, and it turns out they sell them in half portions, which is the move next time. Everything else coming out of that kitchen looked just as good, and I'm already planning to work my way through the rest of the menu. Part of the fun is the room itself. It's a proper New York deli that's been around since 1975, with caricatures of famous faces painted across the walls and a "Barred Conversation List" chalkboard that's worth a read while you wait. I really enjoy places that look and feel like this. Worth the stop.

EDITED (see below)…read more WAY overpriced. Reuben was good, but meat lacked seasoning. Seriously?! At these prices!!! It was scorching hot when it comes out. Never had to wait for a deli sandwich to cool down before eating. Really disliked having to stare at my sandwich at a deli of all places, waiting for it to cool while I'm starving and the lunch clock is ticking. I got places to go. The thin bread falls apart too easily and combined with the pizza-commercial-like cheese pull after each bite with cheese hanging from my mouth to the sandwich, it was functionally very MESSY and difficult to sandwich to eat. I don't like eating sandwiches with a fork. And dont get me started with $10 small sized milkshake. It was an absolutely average milkshake. With a thin straw easily clogged. These prices are INSANE!!! I knew the prices were high going in, but I thought the quality and portions would match. There is a significant disparity between them, and I should be getting twice the amount of sandwich for these prices. Lastly the whole flow is very weird. The interactive website-menu is a disaster and confusing. It took over 10 minutes online just trying to find the menu before I arrived thinking I'd order at front counter and instead was told to take a seat. This really doesnt call for a waitress, an unnecessary markup (tips) to an already insanely expensive meal. Its like pseudo restaurant but its really just a deli sandwich shop. EDIT to owners reply: For a deli sandwich to be piping hot is unnecessary and its not a good thing. It suggests poorly trained cooks. It was a warning for other customers so they don't burn their tongue like I did on a freaking deli sandwich. Instead of leaning into the free customer feedback, they chose to brag about their flaws. So the problems are admitted features, not flaws, and further supports my evaluation. "Tiny portions relative to price." Does that make it more clear? While owner glosses over the huge portion sizes in photos on website/menu that are false advertising, and photos were only reason I thought the high prices might be justified before coming here. I only saw the actual (tiny) portion size when my food was delivered that I realized menu photos online had deceived me and the prices were insane for that reason. $21+ for a 1/4 lb half deli sandwich!?!? Insane! And centimeter-thick bread slices are also considered tiny portions. Nobody disputed weight of meat. Strawman. And it wasnt obvious the weight of meat on the already mentioned difficult to read website. Nobody's reading the fine print on a menu!! If it wasn't clear for me its likely unclear for others. should not have a cheese pull that requires utensils on a sandwich. Should not need utensils to eat a sandwich. Deli sandwiches shouldn't burn your mouth. And nobody disputed your sandwiches weren't "cooked fresh". Strawman.

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