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Authenticity is not their forte, but their food is clean, fast and satisfying. They offer a "fusion" of Asian dishes, including Thai, Japanese, Chinese styles. It's a good place to hit when you're not sure which Asian style cuisine you want that night!
I also like the decor of Cafe Asia as it's simple and modern. The bar area is very lively on weekend nights, and as you may have guessed, the scene consists mostly of Asians. What I love about the place is their fast and friendly service, and wide variety of choices.
Recommend the spicy Chinese dumplings from the appetizers, the pork ramen, the spicy shrimp salad, and other noodle dishes. I don't recommend the sushi there, it's just okay.
Before I moved to Cali, Cafe Asia was one of the places that my friend Chantal and I would get together for drinks or lunch on Fridays.
The food is good, but not the best. I always stuck to the sushi and noodle dishes.
The service is usually pretty slow, however, the atmosphere is pretty lively, so for me it really wasn't that big of a deal. Definitely not the place for a quite dinner date.
The parking situation is a beast. However, living in the DC area you learn to expect that. If you do decide to drive to Cafe Asia, be prepared to circle Wilson a few times. Otherwise, I recommend taking Metro.
I live in DC, but prefer going to the Rosslyn location usually for one reason. They have my favorite wine (Malbec). Sushi isn't the best, but during happy hour, it's okay. I like that sake is super cheap during happy hour as well. Some of the apps are discounted as well (mm, crab wontons). I haven't gotten any of the entrees; I usually stick to the fried rice (Indonesian one is quite yummy) or the noodle soups (curry laksa is FANTASTIC!!) I also like their agedashi tofu and the mango with sticky rice is delicious too!
The space is HUGE, but it's always really noisy, unless you manage to get a table in the back area. It's kind of a separate room back there with dj spaces and a separate bar. Service can be a little slow at times, but once I have my soup, I don't really care that much.
The restaurant also partially validates parking in the garage below. I think it's $3 for the evening with validation. So not too bad.
A solid 3 stars. I've been here before but never ate and it was never for HH. Today was for HH and I got the opportunity to sit at the bar, interact with the bartenders and order from the HH menu! The nigiri is not a bad deal for 1.25 & their $4 special cocktails are good---note: they tend to make their HH drinks very watery (aka not enough alcohol, too much sugar) but if you ask, they (or this particular bartender) makes it SOOO STRONG you can leave the place feeling good after this one drink.
Their sushi rolls which aren't on the HH menu aren't expensive and they're def not bad for the price. In addition, their spicy ravioli (really just wontons in spicy soup) is good for $3! =) yumyum overall a fun place for HH and great service as well!
I'm going to give Cafe Asia 4 stars for tonight because my takeout dinner was so good. And overall 3.5 stars.
I have been there on several occasions for dine in dinner at the restaurant and the food is usually on a meter of OK- Good. Tho,
If you know what to order, Cafe Asia can be really good place to eat.
Here is what I've learned:
SuSHI - I've never found sushi to be real good to excellent so I try to avoid ordering sushi at all. Sushi just has to be made of really fresh fish, and really fresh rice. Just haven't had good luck with sushi here so I'd suggest if you want sushi, go to a sushi restaurant.
THAI - Don't order Thai food at Cafe Asia. If you are craving Thai food go to Sawatdee in Courthouse. They are pretty authentic for around here. It's about a 3 block walk from Wilson Blvd location Cafe Asia.
NOODLES/ FRIED RICE - noodles in general are good here, and so is the various types of fried rices. The curry laksa is good. Meegoreng is good. I would say anything in the Malasian, Indonesian, or Singaporean type foods, Cafe Asia does well in. At least, it tastes good to me!
If you stick to those general rules, you will really enjoy food at Cafe Asia.
I like going there for the outdoor atmosphere because there is plenty of outside seating. No matter what, this place always seems to be hoppin' regardless of how early or how late it may be.
Staff seems to be okay. I think there are just so many people that work there, and the place is loud, its tough to be super intimate with the people you serve.
SCENE - I have noticed that a LOT of asians go to this restaurant. People of all ages. Perhaps its the international school that is below the restaurant. I don't know. This is a big happy hour place in Rossyln as well. I always see people dressed up in suits and such when walking by.
DECOR - Contemporary/ Asian mix? I'm not really sure.
TAKE OUT FOOD - Cafe Asia offers free delivery on orders over $12. I love living a block away. It is perfect for those lazy work week nights like tonight. Tip is suggested.
I just ordered some dinner from Cafe Asia in Arlington... this is what we got:
Curry Laksa with Shrimp
Singapore Fried Rice with Chicken
Gway Tio with Pork
Believe it or not everything was delicious! Maybe because I ordered a little earlier around 6pm before the restaurant got busy. It took about 25-30 mins before I got the food, which is not bad considering it includes delivery time.
Check it out!
Pros: Back room is great for groups & functions. The dishes are delicious.
Cons: Noisy atmosphere.
Landlord: There is this amazing sushi restaurant. It's just like New York! Beautiful decor, delicious food, just fabulous.
Me: Wow, really? I want to go! What's it called?
Landlord: Its just down the street, its called Cafe Asia!
(I go try Cafe Asia. Spider Roll = tastes like old grocery-bought sushi. Questions landlord's food tastes. Subsequently dismisses landlord's other claims.)
Coworker #1: I love Cafe Asia!
Me: WHY!? I had the sushi, it's awful.
Coworker #1: OHH! Don't get the sushi, you should get the cooked food.
(Goes back for a work lunch. Gets a curry. Picks at food.)
Coworker #2: I love Cafe Asia!
Me: WHAT, why? Their sushi isn't good and neither is their cooked food.
Coworker #2: Oh, yeah yeah I know. Their HAPPY HOUR is good.
(Goes back for a social event. The lychee martini isn't bad.)
SETTING: Weekday night.
ENTREES: Standard Avocado roll & Edamame order from me.
STAFF: Quality service.
DRINKS: Free refills on $2 Pink Lemonade.
DECOR: If they work on the acoustics and add drama/decor in the ceiling and here and there a bit more to liven it up then it would be a touch better. Oh, and loose the table by the double doors on the long wall. Was a private table, but the handles right there made for a bad impression.
I can understand each and every bad review in the lot here. But I've come up with a way to have a "nice" experience at Cafe Asia.
Step 1: Arrive early. This will ensure your ability to complete step 2
Step 2: Sit at the bar. Not in the bar area but actually AT the bar. Being in the bartender's face gets you faster and more attentive service
Step 3: Eat cheap fish. Understand that the sushi here is not going to rival higher priced locations (its middle of the road sushi). For HH, I'm pleased with $1.25 nigiri and $3 gyozu/edamame. Last night I polished off three nigiri, one roll and two beers for $15
Step 4: Look around. The Clarendon/Courthouse/Rosslyn hot youngins do tend to drift toward this location like mosquitos to a bug zapper
Step 5: Leave early. It starts to get crowded and super loud after HH. If you're still up for being out, head over to Four Courts
Interesting restaurant in the Arlington area. I was expecting the worst with this place because I was afraid it would be a "jack-of-all trades, master-of-none" type of an Asian restaurant. Surprisingly the dinner was very generous and tasty (chicken teriyaki) and sushi was good. Not outstanding, but not as bad as you would think. A little noisy because of the bar on the other side of the restaurant.
Cafe Asia has one of the best happy hours in town. $2 Kirin and $1-3 apps. Sushi is good, but I'm not a huge fan of the asian fusion stuff...
You have to get here early to find a seat and parking can be a pain (like everywhere else in NoVa/DC) but I would recommend parking in the garage behind the restaurant. You can validate your ticket after a certain time and will save you from running back and forth to the meter which has a short time limit.
It becomes a party place after 10:30pm on weekends, and it's great people watching. The Halloween party, in the back room, was really fun last year.
Mediocre restaurants deserve mediocre reviews.
Is the sushi terrible? No, but I've had better. Is the service crap? Not really, they're pretty friendly I guess you could say. What the hell then?
You know what it is? The place is just too freaking big. It's just...too big. I think it could benefit from a large giant coming over and squeezing the entire building so that the back room is now part of the front and the side bar is more, like, in the middle. Then you lower the ceiling by about 20' and dim the lights down so that it doesn't feel like a middle school cafeteria. You then could give the menu an overhaul by making it much smaller and cutting it into a cool shape, like a circle or an octagon. Finally, you change the whole concept and it's no longer a sushi bar but rather a trendy nightclub with DJs and you only serve ten different kinds of vodka and a few microbrews in bottles. Yeah, then I'd probably give it 3 stars.
The sushi rolls are pretty good for Arlington, though.
Cafe Asia is just decent. I've had a number of lunches here, all sushi and dinner a few times. The service is hit or miss; can't say I've ever had great service. The sushi is predictable, but that's not a horrible thing.
Friends who order off the menu seem to enjoy the menu items, lemongrass chicken is a big hit among my friends.
There's a nearby parking garage but street parking is a tough one in that section of Rosslyn so you'd likely be better off taking the Metro and walking the 2 blocks up hill.
I like the spaciousness and the size of the portions. The noodle dishes and curries are good.
Outdoor seating is nice during the summer time, and the back area is good for big groups or special events.
The vibe is young and trendy. It does tend to get noisy and isn't the best place to go for an intimate dinner. It's best for group outings or HH.
I went here for a birthday lunch with colleagues. They had no problem taking a reservation for 9. We arrived, were seated and served pretty quickly for what seemed like a busy lunch hour. I got the wonton soup and the grilled Vietnamese salad. The sushi looked amazing, but I was really hungry, so I went for something a little more filling. I would definitely like to come back for the sushi. Oh, and they brought out ice cream and a brownie for the birthday girls. A nice touch!
Eh. I come here for happy hour occasionally because someone else suggests it, and I get excited all over again about the cheap nigiri. Problem is that I still feel like I'm paying too much, because afterwards I'm not actually satisfied. Some of the cooked appetizers are good (and also on special during happy hour) -- I really like the gyoza.
If you're looking for a sushi dinner, go elsewhere. If you're looking for a decent happy hour, give Cafe Asia a shot, but don't get your hopes up too far.
I have only come to this place for dinner.
People seem to have a lot of different experiences here, but there is one thing that is consistently good - get a noodle dish and you cannot go wrong
I've been here a few times. I'll try to put everything together.
PROS:
They host a lot of charity functions. I'm sure they do get some of the profits, but at least SOMETHING is going to charity. The atmosphere is great. It's a very contemporary restaurant. After hours it turns into a small nightclub. Food is pretty good. Sushi seems fresh.
CONS: a bit pricey and hard to find parking. Be careful if you park in a nearby parking garage late at night.. they often close around midnight or so.. and your car might be stuck in there overnight (didn't happen to me thankfully).
Not sure why I come here as often as I do. But that goes back to not sure why all my friends still celebrate their birthdays here. I guess its just a good old standby. I haven't had food here in ages, but from what I remember, its nothing special. I do like the fact that they have a huge room in the back for large parties, and plays pretty good music. But here's the catch... I can't stand the 21 year old girls that are freaking each other in the middle of the floor. Way tacky. Way played out!
I did notice that they added more outdoor seating in the front, which is really nice.
I used to come here all the time when I lived across the street for a few years. Portions are filling and the menu offers a good selection...some items are bad, some ok, some great....you just have to know what to get. If I have a hankering for some meaty goodness, the Satay Combinasi fits the bill nicely. 8 skewers of beef, pork, and chicken chunks topped with a yummy peanut-based sauce, along with a mound of Indonesion (slightly spicy ) fried rice. Go for the lemongrass chicken if you want something lighter. For sushi, the Lunch Bento ($11) can't be beat in terms of value. It includes 1 california roll (6 pc), 4 pieces of sashimi (tuna and white tuna or salmon), 4 nigiri, and an unusually large bowl of miso soup. If you're extra hungry, spring for the Dinner version for $15 and you'll get an extra 2 pieces of sashimi and a bowl of rice topped with 2 pieces of unagi.
Service has always been average every time I've gone so no complaints here.
I went here for lunch on a workday, it was a farewell lunch for one of the interns. There were quite a few of us and the restaurant easily accomodated us even with several other large groups also being seated.
The prices were perfect, all the entrees were in the $8-13 range and the food was good. I didn't hear anyone at the table have a complaint.
It was a great place to go when you have time to get out off the office and have a nice sit down lunch. The only downside was the service. At our table 2 of us had to leave to go to a meeting, our waiter was no where to be found. After about 10 minutes I got up and walked around the restaurant to find him. I told him that 2 of us needed our bills and had to leave, so about 15 minutes later he showed up at our table with the bill. It was just a little bit annoying. He also never refilled out drinks.
I've been to Cafe Asia a few times (whether for happy hour, dinner or bday celebration) and I've decided that it's somewhere between meh and ok.
The happy hour specials aren't too bad.
$2.50 drafts--sam adams, kirin, bass, some others
$3 appetizers-- spring rolls, gyoza, edemamae, crab wontons
$6 selected cocktails
$1.25 per piece of nigiri
And it's 7 days a week!
Unfortunately, the apps are a bit on the small side... for $3, you get 2 spring rolls and lots of dipping sauce. or 4 gyozas and plenty of dipping sauce. or 6 crab wontons and of course more dipping sauce. And of the couple times I've tried the sushi, the fish did not seem fresh. So I haven't ordered anymore since!
I was here last night for HH and after 2 apps, I was still quite hungry, so I ordered the beef gway tio (Singapore style stir fried flat rice noodles) which was quite good... but for $10, that's kinda pricey for what I got.
Anyways, my overall review of this place is around 3 stars... since the non-sushi food has been pretty good, but I think it's a little pricey for what it is. Plus $2.50 drafts during happy hours is nice
Nope nope nope nope nope... that's five nopes.
Eating at Cafe Asia is like eating in a giant high school cafeteria, but no chicken nuggets here (I wish!). Icky sushi, icky service, lots of noise. The bus boy wiped down the adjecent table with a dingy, smelly rag and left it hanging off the edge of the table in the middle of our meal. This wouldn't have been so bad if the rag wasn't 12 inches from our food.
Skip this one. You'd be better off somewhere else.
This place has terrible service (due to the regular flood of tourists looking for Asian fusion food).
The food here is overpriced, expect to drop at least $30 for a party of 2.
I used to come here for sushi, until they changed the prices while I was eating.
Simple math:
6 pc Sushi roll: $12. Drink: $4. = $16.
Next door Piola:
Brooklyn Pizza + _beer_ = $12
Pros: Projector to watch games.
Cons: Everything else.
This gets the same Yelp elitist treatment as Lauriol Plaza and countless other good, cheap, but "too maintstream to be cool" places. As I alluded to: Cafe Asia is good, cheap, dependable. They have a great happy hour and they're good for groups. I take a star off for merely average sushi- but then again it's not priced to have great, fresh sushi.
"Authentic" or not, I like the food here. The concept of the Asian Fusion food makes my tum tum happy.
I've only been here for happy hour and find their specials completely reasonable, especially given the area. Sure parking is hard to find but drinking and driving is bad so just walk here. It's close enough to the metro.
For food I've had the various types of sushi rolls (yum), calamari plate (huge serving!!! like ihop big!) and the dumping (egh, not the greatest. The drinks are unique in ingredients but vary on greatness based on the bartender. Some make the drink too "booze" tasting and my pallet enjoys not tasting the booze just the effects of it.
A great HH spot indeed!
A wide selection of menu items from across Asia, including some Malay & Indonesian dishes that aren't too common around here. Stick with those or a few of the Chinese dishes. The sushi is mediocre at best with a big emphasis on rolls. Services is spotty; they really just want to change over the table. And $8 for a canned Sapporo? Get real.
One of my favorite Asian places. I used to order or dine in practically every week when I lived nearby. The variety always pleased everyone. What I would recommend for vegetarians:
Sushi - Avocado or Mushroom rolls. cheap, but slightly sub par. Good enough for me and my friends.
Schezwan style w/ Garlic sauce w/ Tofu - excellent! Broccoli is usually slightly undercooked, but the sauce is incredible.
Panang Curry w/ Tofu - creamy with just enough peanut flavor and fresh basil.
Good atmosphere, decent service, but don't expect the best meal you ever had. Just decent food at a decent price.
Cafe Asia has my favorite fried rice of all time, from any other chinese place, take out or not! I've worked next to this place for years and I have to get it for lunch every other week!
Food: Menu is huge. They have asian-fusion of Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, Malayasian, etc...some Korean items. I wouldn't go here for anything too specific. However, for generic things like fried rice, pad thai -- can't go wrong. Another great feature too is that many styles of their dishes can be cooked in different ways. Ex. Fried rice can come with chicken, pork, shrimp or beef and you could get it in Indonesian, Chinese or Thai style. My favorite is Chinese style fried rice with chicken! It's a little on the greasy side, but tastes even better the day after for lunch/dinner! Calamari appetizer with sweet-chili sauce is amazing! Price is reasonable: $-$$
Decor: Keeping with the asian aesthetic, clean and minimal decor. Kinda industrial with their rugged and clean lines. Seating is all wood, modern looking chairs. Huge open space, with floor to cieling windows spanning the space. Seperated into a seating area with table/chairs and mini booths, with a seperate bar area in lower section. During nicer months, sectioned-off outdoor seating is always packed. Abstract and colorful art mural covers sections of walls. Overall really modern and clean looking.
Service: For some reason, everyone I've ever seen working there was asian. I don't mean anything by that, just an observation since I've been gonig there for years! Depending on your waiter, I've had both good and bad service. Usually it's ok and food comes out quick!
I forgot to mention: Thomas = Best Bartender Ever.
Enough said.
Happy Hour deals at the Bar = 4 stars. Restaurant = 3 stars...maybe.
The Happy Hour at Cafe Asia…
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Management is worthless. I placed an order for delivery and they forgot to include the crab wontons. They didn't forget to charge me for the crab wontons though. Not a big deal. BUT the next time I placed an order, I mentioned the incident and asked them to include the wontons at no charge this time. The guy I was speaking to refused. He then spoke to his manager, who said I should have called last time when THEY forgot the wontons. Unbelievable! The wontons are only $4.50, so it would have cost them next to nothing to get me back as a loyal customer. Now I am writing this review. Wake up management...learn some customer service.
Sushi - Bad, which is sad, they used to be good at one point.
Cooked entrees is ok. Appetizers are good. Drinks are not bad.
I've been here several times over the last couple years and figured out that I really like it. The sushi has always been good, the cocktails are tasty and strong and the atmosphere is pretty cool. Plus they have a decent selection of other non-sushi entrees.
So I decided to go here last weekend for my 30th bday celebration. We made a reservation for 25-35 in the back room next to the bar. We confirmed it a couple days before as well. However when we got there, they were like 'Oh yeah, just go to the back bar.' There were no actual tables reserved for us, they just thought we'd be mingling in the back bar. They're lucky that that's actually what I wanted to do and that there were 4 bar tables empty, bc otherwise my friends who wanted to eat would've had a hard time. I was a little peeved with that, but I can let it go.
Overall, we had a great time. The DJ was my friends cousin so of course he played whatever we wanted and their huge projection TV was playing college basketball. Two thumbs up. There was plenty of room to socialize and since we hoarded all the tables, plenty of room to sit and chill. Everyone loved their food and the drinks definitely helped us have an even better time.
It might not be the best sushi, but whatever, it's got atmosphere and music and seems to attract a decent crowd. I'm a fan :-)
I'm utterly confused as to why this place is so crowded ALL THE TIME. It's not that awesome. Seriously. Not even close. Yeah it's a huge space with cruel wooden furniture, but that doesn't mean it's super amazing. They've got sushi, it tastes good and is fresh. They have soup, it's warm and tastes soupy. They have entrees of non sushi, non soup, they're pretty cool too. That's about it.
Oh wait.
The back room is just horrendous. It's ghastly. It's an asian techno stereotype. Swirling lights and I think there;s a disco ball. The huge screen that plays UFC matches. The dj...oh god the dj. Dear Cafe Asia, what is the point of that back room? What? Why? Stop being pathetic and shut it down. P.S. love your dumplings.
Ah, Cafe Asia...you never really fail me.
At least, some of your dishes don't.
Your General Tao Shrimp really hit the spot. Just what I needed on a Friday night.
You reading this should try that too. Yum, yum.
I liked the tempura shrimp. I also liked the crowded-ness and loudness, personally. It's also pretty… Read more »
The food here was very underwhelming. The spring rolls, or whatever the hell they're called, had waaaay too much mint leaf, and the mintyness didn't really go well with the spicy ginger sauce they provided with it (the sauce itself was quite good though). The sushi was mediocre, but was ok for the price.
The only real reason to come here is the happy hour. It runs from 4 to 7:30 on weeknights, and features 2.50 drafts (all the drafts, not just the American urinewater beer... definite plus), and cheap sake of a decent quality, among other things. Location also gets a plus, being very close to Rosslyn and Court House metro stops.
Service was ok. The bartenders were timely, but it took a while to get one to notice you for some reason, even if they were standing around doing nothing... weird.
Overall, with the underwhelming food, I'd say avoid this place around mealtime, but if you're looking for a happy hour, you'll be hard pressed to find a better one.
Trendy (and not necessarily in the good way) but delicious. Great for lunch, but when happy hour hits on a Friday or Sat, make way. Good Pad Thai, other noodle dishes. Appetizers often better than entrees.
I go to Cafe Asia about once every month or two. It's a safe bet to take friends, dates, and co-workers there because the food is pretty "americanized", so it doesn't scare off the non-adventurous. Also, the decor is nice and modern. The food used to be decent, but with my last two visits within the past three months the food and service have been pretty awful. I ordered the sushi and the rice was hard. I didn't send my dish back, but there was a table next to me which did. It was the first time I had bad sushi there, so I figured it was just a bad day. During my most recent visit, I had the drunken noodle. It's nothing like you would expect at any Thai restaurant. The sauce was gummy and thick like gravy and there was no heat to the dish. Also, my table's dishes came out within one minute of ordering them, which makes me think that everything was pre-made and just thrown into a bowl and served.
Finally finished up a 50 dollar gift certificate we got for half price online somehow. When we first started with the thing we used it on 1.00 sushi at happy hour, which, for the quality, was a fair price, not really a bargain. I see now that the happy hour price is up to 1.25, which is too expensive for crappy sushi.
Tonight, we strayed from the sushi, and it was a terrible mistake. I'm pretty sure the Tonkatsu was Shake-N-Bake, and the Panang was clearly made from a paste and didn't have any lime taste whatsoever. The slaw with the Tonkatsu wasn't bad, I guess.
Service was attentive, but they clearly make it a policy to seat people in large clusters so that everybody is afforded the privilege of hearing two other groups' conversations even though there are empty tables all over the restaurant.
Recommended for: Obnoxious groups of loud girls and people that have never had asian food before. It wouldn't be bad if you wanted to watch a bunch of people in khakis walk by during happy hour and you just stuck to the beer.
Edit: I notice the picture for this place is of the Tonkatsu, and I got half as much crappy Tonkatsu as in the picture.
It's over....
After a three year - multiple times a month - affair with the Rosslyn-based Cafe Asia, I've ended it officially.
Don't get me wrong. There were plenty of good times. Mid-week dinners, massive takeout orders, Saturday night pre-bar sushi-fests...not to mention the 3 years of birthday dinners hosted at Cafe Asia. A creature of habit, I went for the edamame, spicy crab roll, cafe asia roll and my ultimate appetizer: spicy chinese ravioli. Sake bombs on the side.
Love is blind and for awhile I tired to ignore its flaws. But I was pushed over the edge and was tried of being treated like crap. So one night...after several negligent servers and too many subpar spicy crab rolls...I had a "determine the relationship" talk with the manager. I mean, how could I not, they even screwed up the ravioli, which offended me to the core. When the manager couldn't even apologize as I removed shards of crab shell from my teeth and my best friend searched through layers of tempura in search of a morsel of crab meat....I ended it right there and didn't look back.
But I do miss the good old days of spicy Chinese ravioli. The night we broke up I promised myself that I would just go into DC and get my fix But unfortunately, I still miss my one-time obsession, perhaps mostly out of convenience. But everything happens for a reason....and now I'm not limiting my sushi options just to stay faithful. Monogamy is overrated....
Washington, DC
Category: Asian Fusion
Arlington, VA
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: Capitol Hill/Southeast
Arlington, VA
Category: Sushi Bars
Arlington, VA
Category: Italian
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