New Tosokjib — Restaurant in Annandale

I have never felt as relieved and overjoyed as I did when To Sok Jip finally reopened its doors! Home to some of the DMV area's best Korean food, To Sok Jip's new location continues to feature a rockstar menu of traditional Korean fare, including stews, grilled fish / meats, and so much more. I visited their new location with a group of six, the perfect size for one of their booths! We got a giant spread of food to share, including their bossam, hameul pajeon, grilled squid, fried yellow croaker with doenjang jjigae, and maeuntang.

The group couldn't stop raving about their bossam -- the pork was perfectly tender and packed with flavor, and it paired beautifully with the delightfully crisp napa and fresh kimchi. The cabbage, garlic, and jalapenos were all super fresh, and the ssamjang and saewoo jeot were the perfect complements to the already flavorful pork. Bossam is one of those dishes that looks simple but can be challenging to execute well, but To Sok Jip crushed it!

While the bossam was certainly the centerpiece of the table, the rest of the dishes were outstanding and equally deserving of praise. The hameul pajeon came out next, and...wow. This perfectly crispy pancake was absolutely loaded with seafood! The green onions helped to cut through the dough, and it wasn't overly greasy or heavy, as many pajeon can be.

The rest of our seafood dishes came out together, alongside a few sides of perfectly cooked purple rice and another round of banchan. The squid was grilled, then stir-fried with a gochujang-based sauce and green onions that added a great savory, lightly spicy punch. The squid was perfectly cooked -- it had a good bite but wasn't too chewy or tough, and it had a great layer of smokiness from the grill.

The yellow croaker was fried to perfection, with an amazingly crispy skin but tender, succulent interior. It had a pretty light flavor, but that made it the perfect accompaniment to the umami-packed, soul-warming doenjang jjigae.

The maeuntang was equally umami-packed and soul-warming, with a great level of spice and a ton of tender cod. This is generally a less popular soup choice and a few folks in the group were originally hesitant to order it, but I think To Sok Jip may have successfully converted them into maeuntang promoters!

All in all, I can't say enough good things about To Sok Jip! Their food is delicious, authentic, and warms the soul -- you truly can't go wrong with a single thing on their menu! To top it off, the staff is super friendly and give this no-frills, traditional Korean restaurant some extra charm. Stop by To Sok Jip the next time you're in Annandale or on the hunt for some traditional...

This place used to be better before they moved locations. I need to share a bizarre experience I had with the waitress, this middle-aged Korean woman.

I went with my husband and we ordered the bossam and doenjang jjigae. She asked if we wanted white rice or barley rice, and then quickly stated after that they only had white rice. I didn’t think much of it as she came over with our bossam quickly after and handed us one white rice.

Soon after a group of three older Korean women walked in and sat behind our table. I could hear the waitress taking their order and asking them what kind of rice they wanted, to which they answered barley. She proceeded to reach into the rice warmer and hand them all barley rice.

The next time she came to our table I asked her for one barley rice. She came over and handed me white rice. I didn’t want to make a scene and ruin our dinner vibe, so I didn’t say anything and was just very confused why she lied to me about the rice. I also spoke to her in Korean the entire time, so there was no chance she didn’t understand what I was saying. It was a bold lie and unfortunately made me think that she probably discriminated against younger customers and likely those that didn’t speak Korean, thinking they wouldn’t know any better. I’m not sure what her deal was with the rice. At the end of the day, I don’t care that much about the rice but her lying about it was so strange and unnecessary.

She also ended up charging us two dollars for the white rice I didn’t ask for. Kind of ridiculous because the bossam and soup together costed us over fifty dollars. You would think for two people ordering two dishes that cost that much we would each get our own rice complimentary. Keep in mind that this is not by any means a fancy or nice restaurant, it’s a very simple and no frills type of place, so the fact that she charged us two bucks for the wrong type of rice I don’t ask for was just absurd.

My family used to come to the OG location when I was growing up and the quality of the food is also not the same. The blatant discrimination in service provided by the rude waitress is unacceptable and we will not be...

The service provided was unacceptably HORRIBLE!!! My parents first brought us to this restaurant in the early 2000s, and we have visited intermittently since then, during our visits and while we lived in the area for three years. Their service was never good, but the food quality has consistently met our expectations. However, I have never experienced service as disappointing as this, prompting me to consider writing a negative review. This past Thursday, I dined with my mother and her two friends, who are in their late 70s and early 80s. They live in Maryland; however, as it was my final evening in the area, I accommodated their dining preference by driving nearly two hours through DMV traffic to reach the restaurant. We arrived around 5:30 PM, and the restaurant was relatively empty. The unpleasantness begun with the younger female server carelessly tossing stainless steel rice bowls onto our table. One of the orders was a "croaker fish" plate, as two of the ladies had expressed a preference for it, and the dinner order includes two pieces. When I requested an additional plate, the same server yet again tossed a small plate that could barely hold a quarter of a fish. Naturally, I asked for a larger plate that would adequately accommodate the fish. The server then responded, "We don't typically provide our customers with a large extra plate, so you should be grateful," and brought out a bigger plate. This remark was infuriating, and although I was tempted to respond aggressively, I managed to remain composed. I simply pointed out her lack of basic courtesy and chose to let it go so that the ladies could enjoy their meals. That server, possibly an owner, has never been a decent at her job, yet her exceedingly rude and disrespectful behavior is not acceptable! We will not be returning to this establishment, EVER; it is simply not worth it. I strongly recommend that others avoid this...