The Korean Restaurants of Annandale, VA

Annandale, VA is a small beltway suburb 13 miles from Washington, DC. It is also a Korean enclave with dozens of authentic Korean restaurants. The competition among these restaurants is very strong because there is a large Korean clientele.

When I grew up in the 70’s, every town had a Chinese restaurant. In the 80’s I watched Thai and Japanese cuisine become more mainstream in the eastern US. Korean food, however, has yet to be well-known in the US, outside of the areas with large Korean populations.

So in the Summer of 2022 I teamed up with my daughter’s boyfriend Louis. We dove in with the goal of visiting every Korean restaurant in Annandale! Every 2 or 3 weeks we would meet for lunch on a Saturday. We took turns choosing the restaurant, doing rigorous research beforehand, and we began rating our favorites, the dishes we liked the most, and the little distinctions that made each place special.

While saving the cost of a trip to Seoul, we would learn about the cuisine, take advantage of this cultural gem just 6 miles from my house.

This year, as we enter 2024 Louis and I have decided to do a blog series on our findings. I should say vlog series as we will also include a brief video of each one and discuss our thoughts.

My goal is to review one each month. I hope you like the reviews and I hope it leads you to find Korean food in your town.

TT