Cho’s Garden

Lunch buffet is worth it for $ 15. Not ordering from the menu though.
I would suggest going here for the buffet only.

So how far can you drive into Fairfax from South Riding when your first choice for Korean food in the neighborhood is closed? I can’t figure it out why, but Seoul House is closed and no more. I thought they had decent Korean food in the area if you weren’t keen on driving to Annandale. So in an effort to appease me, hubby says break out your Unilocal and see what you can find. And we see all the fast take out options for Korean food, but nothing I want. I want KALBI at a table!
We get here to Cho’s and it’s mixed feelings as we drive into the lot. First, the stack of plastic lawn chairs in the corner of the building — unattractive. Not the best first impression. The rest of the building? Meh, doesn’t wow me at all. And honestly it doesn’t get that much better when you get in. It looks like a fire went off. There’s smoke streaming everywhere. I’m thinking, «OH great, my friggin clothes are gonna stink for SURE.»
We get sat, its already pretty late for us — 830p but we sit down to order. It takes the servers a bit to get unrattled and come to our table. I tell the server in Korean what we’d like to drink and what we’ll order. And then I sit back and watch the festivities.
There is one server running around like a chicken with her head cut off. But she’s being barked at by this tiny grandmother who is mad at her for not putting the grill things down for the dish to sit on. She takes her to the back, but you know she’s getting a talking to! And there is mayhem everywhere as I notice for the first time, the restaurant is using ONE table to cook all the meat. Kinda odd, kinda makes me wonder if we got all the food we were supposed to.
The banchan (side dishes) were decent. Still, nothing compares to what they provide in LA or even Chicago. The Kalbi was as good as Seoul House, but eh, for the chaos that we endured, I think I’ll stop being lazy and just make my own. This place isnt the worst– though their restaurant could use a little clean up both on the inside and out. And it didnt make me squirm, but it also didnt over excite me or hubby. He hasn’t said let’s come back! So perhaps we’ll just drive some more to Annandale…

We had an awesome time here. Came in after reading some Unilocal reviews and me trying to show my partner that Korean food was not comprised of some exotic rodent. After living in every corner of South Korea for an entire military tour, I fell in love with the country, its people and food. And Cho’s was a great place for an American introduction. The number of Korean Americans enjoying their food and having fun was a clear indication we had found the right place. We tasted their tasty Bibimbap and had some Bulgogi. Then we were still hungry and shared a plate of yakimandu. All portions were more than generous.
The service was both courteous and efficient. And despite that it isn’t the cheapest joint in town, it nonetheless was a wonderful evening meal. We’ll return…