Phil H.'s Profile

Came here for the lunch buffet and was very pleased.  I don't remember the names but everything I tried was very good: various chicken dishes, chickpeas, vegetable dishes, dosa (those crepe-like shells), and especially the goat curry and the naan.  Nothing was a showstopper but quality was consistently high.  They had peanut, tomato, and coconut chutneys which I had never tried before (I liked the tomato), but no mango unfortunately.. which I was craving.  Anyway this place is a contender for my favorite Indian buffet in Fairfax, the other being Bombay Cafe which I haven't been to in a while.

Went for a birthday dinner in a group of about 16 people.  I'm not so much into sports so am reviewing it as a restaurant.

I had the smokehouse chicken sandwich which was basically a huge chicken breast topped with cheese, bacon, and fried onion straws all inside a bun.  It looked delicious when they brought it out, but with one bite I knew I had made a horrible mistake.  The chicken was dry and too thick, the bacon was dry and hard, and the greasy mass of cheese and onion straws was the only source of moisture in the whole thing.  I tried my friend's chicken pasta salad and it was overpowered by vinaigrette - she didn't even eat half of it.

The service was pretty slow and a lot of our party's food was cold when they brought it out.  Someone in our group complained to the manager and he knocked off 38% of our bill.  Yes 38%, I don't know why he picked that amount.

Anyway I'm guessing you won't go there for the food, so I'm giving 2 stars because it's filled with televisions and has a good selection of sports-related arcade games, albeit pretty expensive.  It was still a fun evening since I was with good company, and I'm sure this is a decent place for watching sports with a large group.

I went there on a tip that they had some good sushi but this turned out not to be the case.  There are four restaurants in the food court serving Korean, Japanese, and Chinese cuisine.  We got a regular sushi tray and a teriyaki chicken bento and neither was great but they weren't too bad either.

The sushi consisted of a small california roll (good) and 10 pieces of nigiri: 2x unagi (good), 2x tuna (ok), 2x white fish (not good), 2x salmon (ok), 1x fake crab stick (blech), and 1x shrimp (ok).  There was also miso soup (ok).

The bento had teriyaki chicken (bland), tempura (batter-heavy), 2 pieces of cali roll (ok), a tiny baked potato (interesting), salad (ok), miso (ok), and kimchi (good).

If you eat there, I'd advise steering clear of the Japanese cuisine and perhaps trying your luck with the Korean.

Our food was low quality and overpriced.  We started with the Aztec chicken soup which was a tomato based chicken with rice soup topped with avocado slices.  Fresh avocado can't be faked but the soup itself tasted like Campbell's: salty and preserved.  For the main course we ordered chicken tamales and a marinated chicken sandwich.  The tamales were tiny and covered with a very salty mole sauce.  On the side were mashed pinto beans and rice which were nothing special.  The sandwich was better but still not that good.  The marinade was weak and they used guacamole instead of fresh avocados which the menu listed among the ingredients.  The accompanying fries were low budget supermarket freezer fries.  At the end of the meal I felt like we got robbed.  You've been warned!

This is damn good pizza, perhaps the best I've had.  The dough is well taken care of: crispy crust and bottom, softer middle, just thick enough to take satisfying bites but not detract from the toppings.  The cheese is also good - not too oily and with a nice dusting of herbs.  The toppings are where's it's at.  Each topping is $2 or $3 regardless of the size of the pie, which seems like a lot but they're super fresh - chopped right when you order.  We went for the garlic, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts and were very happy with the result.  If you're in the area I would definitely recommend trying this place - it's well worth the trip even from Charlottesville.

This place seems to have changed ownership since I was a student in 2006.  The sign on the front is less artsy, the name appears to have lost the "Twisted Branch" prefix, the lunch specials are more expensive ($6.50 instead of $5) with smaller portions (the salad used to be like twice as big), the staff seem less... subversive, and it looks like they've opened a location in Staunton.  Is Tea Bazaar selling out?  Maybe but it's still a winner in my book.  I would have given the old Tea Bazaar four stars based on the lunch salad alone.  We're talking mixed greens, tomato, red onion, cucumber, candied walnuts, feta, spices, pear slices, and toasted herb-and-oil brushed pita bread.  Do yourself a favor and go order this salad - they serve the specials until 2pm.  I've also had the mezza platter which is an assortment of Mediterranian things - decent.

As for tea, I'm no connoisseur but I've been pleased with the selections I've tried, especially the dessert teas.  At $5 a pot (which serves 2 comfortably and 3 if you don't need much), it's a pretty good deal.  The chai is too mild for my taste but I like mine super spicy and sweet and I haven't found a place yet that's as good as home made.

Atmosphere-wise, this place is hard to beat.  I think it tries a little too hard to be hip with religious icons and such adorning the walls but I like the intimate lighting and variety of seating options - comfy couches, low tables with kneeling mats, regular tables, high tables with stools, and benches outside on the deck.  It's a nice place to chat with friends or bring your date after dining at the downtown mall - maybe she'll think you're cool.

This place is outstanding - an oasis of spicy goodness considering the dearth of good Asian cuisine in Charlottesville.  Best to go with a large group and order a variety of dishes to share.  They don't have grills in the tables but for some of the dishes they'll bring out a propane hot pot and cook it in front of you.  I've been a few times and my favorite dish is probably the spicy rice cakes (forgot the name).  The bibimbap, kalbi, and bulgogi (staples of Korean dining) are all solid, as is the chap chae (potato noodles).  The little pickled dishes are delicious, probably as good as any I've had at numerous other Korean places.  Barley tea flows freely and the staff are friendly.  I just wish I had known about this place earlier in my time at UVA!

To preface, I came here to eat sushi.  I didn't even try most of the other dishes because in my opinion if you're going to drop $25 a person at a buffet, you shouldn't be eating fried noodles and chicken wings.  I did try the lobster and it was small and tough and covered with a cheese like substance, plus it only comes out like once an hour and runs out right away, so it's not a factor.  Let's get straight to the point: the sushi is terrible.

Tuna - the faded color is a dead giveaway that this is far from fresh.  Fresh tuna should be deep red.  Harris Teeter seriously has fresher tuna (I used it to prepare poor man's sushi in college).

Salmon - not as bad as the tuna but not great.  I think it's easier to get away with less-than-fresh salmon because it's fattier and richer than tuna.

Yellowtail - worst I've ever had.  They must have used cuts from the back instead of the belly because it's super tough.

Rolls - I'm going to lump these into one summary because they were bad across the board.  Almost every roll had either fake crab stick or a fat lump of cream cheese as cheap filler.  Unbelievable.

Nigiri - mixed results.  Nothing stood out as great but the mackerel and unagi weren't bad, perhaps because their flavor is inherently stronger which could mask lower quality.  The roe (salmon I think?  I always get them mixed up) was sickeningly sweet - unlike any other roe I've had.

I've been to two all-you-can-eat sushi places on the west coast with comparable prices ($24 and $26 per person for dinner) which were infinitely better.  At both places you order from a menu and they make it for you right then, and the fish is far fresher and there's no crab stick or cream cheese nonsense.  If you just want to fill up on sushi and you don't care that much about the quality, save your money and go to some $13 Chinese buffet - there's at least one in Charlottesville whose sushi quality is comparable to that of Todai, and I'm sure they exist in northern VA too.

It's soulless corporate Mexican fast food, so to be fair let's compare it to other fast food joints.  It's an obvious step up from Taco Bell but a significant step down from Baja Fresh.  I've only tried their burritos and didn't find them especially flavorful.  Unlimited pico de gallo and pickled banana peppers would have helped (it's the little things!).  I'd only eat here again for convenience.

I had somewhat high expectations after reading some of the other reviews, but I ended up not being too impressed and would not go back.  The menu is more extensive than most Japanese places I've been to so perhaps there are some gems that make this place worthwhile.   I had the chirashi as a full meal with soup, apetizer, and dessert.

The soup (forgot the name) was a light broth with spinach leaves tightly rolled up into two little cylinders and presumably boiled in it.  I like that I was able to finally try a Japanese soup other than miso, but I actually still prefer miso.

I had calamari as my apetizer and it was definitely among the lesser renditions I've tried.  Too oily and not enough flavor.

The chirashi (regular not deluxe) was possibly the worst I've ever had.  The rice was too sweet, there was no roe, there was way too much of this marinated chopped mushroom mixture, and one of the pieces was a fake crab stick.  The nerve!  The fish pieces were decent but not great.

I had ginger ice cream for dessert which they obviously didn't make, but it was quite tasty with lots of flavor and actual bits of candied ginger.