Love this place! It started out as a frequent boba stop for me but I finally got to try their food and I'm so so impressed!
First off all, anyone who has ever lived in Arlington knows that this used to be Grand Asian (Chinese Food). This restaurant is close to Jacksonville University. I remember really enjoying the Chinese food then and I'm glad this restaurant features Asian Fusion options which includes Chinese food favorites. I appreciate that this new restaurant doesn't take away the options available in this area, it just adds on to the existing familiar fare. Merrill Road has its fair share of Chinese food places but I love how there's much more variety here in one location.
DRINKS
Boba - while I typically omit boba from the milk tea and slush drinks now (avoiding the extra calories), their boba is actually made quite well. It's well cooked, not too hard or extra squishy.
Their taro slush is perfect. I tried the Kumquat with lemon as well and it's such a great alternative to plain lemonade on a hot summer day. This comes with lychee and I added popping boba (different from regular boba) which adds another layer of citrus burst in my taste buds.
Drinks featured in the photo include: Mango sweet dew, strawberry, Thai tea and jasmine green tea. I was NOT a fan of the Thai tea. It tasted a bit watered down. (I will attempt to order Thai tea at a later date because I cannot let it affect this review of otherwise amazing drinks and food)
FOOD:
Poke
I ordered a poke salad with spicy salmon x2, marinated tuna. Delicious! The poke bowl size is very generous. Price depends on how much protein you get but pretty much unlimited toppings until you get to the avocado and crunchy toppings (max 3). Sauce: teriyaki, spicy mayo and eel sauce. Yum!
Ramen (Tonkatsu)
This was so good!
Presentation threw me off. I later realized that we were given the "to-go" bowl of ramen so everything was not submerged. Makes sense why it looked dry at first. Since we were eating in the restaurant I would have loved to see a real ramen bowl with real chopsticks but these details are insignificant. The ramen broth is so rich in flavor. The tonkatsu pork hit the spot and was well made! The noodles, once soaked in the broth, had a nice smooth texture and absorbed so much good flavor.
Pictured but did not try (was told it was good) include Takoyaki (octopus :))
Seating: there's plenty of it! The cushioned seats were much appreciated. Anyone with back pain would definitely appreciate longer conversations & hanging out without feeling like their spine is locking up.
Other features: Kiosk for self check out. I really like this! read more