Kristen K.
Yelp
I've tried Chiko two times in the past couple of years since living in VA. My first experience was at the Capitol Hill location, my second experience was takeout from the Dupont Circle location, and eating at this Shirlington location was my third experience with Chiko.
I really like how they opened a location in Northern Virginia and Shirlington is a great spot for a restaurant like Chiko. Lots of parking, other restaurants around, and pretty convenient in the Arlington area.
I came with two other people around 6pm on a Monday night. There were only a couple of other tables with people eating - not too full. When you sit down, you scan a QR code which takes you to a toast tab link to order right to your table. It was pretty convenient and you could close your tab through the app or order more food as you go.
Food came out really quickly and service was great. We got a lot of water refills (especially because of that spicy cumin lamb). It's a pretty chill atmosphere more similar to fast casual than a full-service sit down restaurant, but we were able to sit and talk and eat for a couple hours which was nice.
Food (in order of preference):
- Cumin Lamb Stir Fry - spicy wheat flour noodles. I've had these the past two times and they are my favorite dish here. I love cumin lamb anything and the spice in this dish is excellent with decent chunks of lamb mixed with mushrooms and bok choy with noodles.
- Half-acado-salad - citrus soy, breakfast radish, crunchy almond slivers. I had this my first time at Chiko, but didn't really like it. However, it really grew on me since then. It was really fresh and there were different textures of vegetables that made it enjoyable. Definitely a good dish to mix with the more heavy and rich foods.
- Soy Glazed Brisket - soy brined soft egg, furikake butter, rice. The brisket here is really tender, but the texture was very unexpected to me. I thought it would be more like pull-apart brisket, but they are in little cubes that are flavorful and soft.
- Full Monty (assortment of banchan) - napa cabbage kimchi, sichuan spicy vegetables, turmeric pickled daikon, korean style potato + egg salad, chilled shrimp + apple kimchi salad, steamed rice with furikake butter. The full monty was a little overkill for us with all the other dishes, but I am a big banchan fan so it is fun to try the little side dishes in between. I liked the chilled shrimp and pickled daikon the best. Most of them are not super unique compared to normal banchan at a Korean restaurant, but just good sides.
- Chiko Brussel Sprouts - furikake, green onion, gochujang aioli. I didn't eat so much of the brussel sprouts, but they were pretty decent. Not a fan favorite, but a decent vegetable appetizer.
Overall, really great experience at the Shirlington location of Chiko. I am glad they opened this spot in Virginia and would like to come again for more soon.