Jang Won Restaurant — Restaurant in Centreville

After doing some grocery shopping at HMart, we decided that we didn't want to cook that night. It was freezing outside! He looks over and asks, "Want to go here?" Naturally, I agreed. I love Korean soups!

We ordered the Fried Dumplings. These were nice, crunchy and piping hot dumplings. They were bursting with flavor. I ordered the Jjam Bbong 짬뽕. The broth was rich with the perfect spiciness for those who love spice. Tender noodles with perfectly cooked seafood. You could even taste the light char of the seafood being on a grill. I haven't had this taste since Busan. It was the type of soup that was made for a fireplace, a heavy, cozy blanket, and endless Kdramas! He ordered the Crab Meat Fried Rice. I was impressed. We have had great crab meat fried rice, and some bad crab meat fried rice. This used real and imitation crab meat. However, the imitation crab meat was shredded and tossed into the rice with the seasoning and char from the pan licked every grain and strand. It was the best crab meat fried rice we have had yet. They served it with black bean sauce on the side. I will have to go back for their Jjajangmyeon because the sauce that accompanied his rice was very good.

Overall, not too expensive for Northern Virginia. The serving size is super-generous. I couldn't eat all of mine, but I made sure to eat all the seafood and veggies. We spend around $20-30 each because seafood dishes are more expensive than land meat dishes. Plus the portion of each dish was enough for two people.

The service is wonderful. They saw me tucking a napkin into my white sweater to prevent stains. She gave me a bib and it was very welcomed as soup and white clothing tend to clash. When my soup was served, he used his chef scissors to cut my noodles at the table. The entire staff checked on us often. The experience was great.

Pros: Not just soups. There were numerous dishes to choose from. Location. It's in a strip mall so there's plenty to do if there was a wait. Parking was plentiful. Portions are huge! Price was perfect for the portion size and deliciousness.

Cons: This isn't a $2 egg drop shop. Stop being cheap. Crowded a little Having to drive all the way to Centreville from Loudoun. But if it were nearer, I'd just move in to a storage closet at the place.

Overall: It's a great bowl. If you like the flavors of Korea and China, this place is for you. If you like the flavor of grilled meats and veggies, please visit. Love spice? Get in there! It was hearty meal that warmed every essence of being a foodie. The service was great. The seating was good for plus-size people. We really enjoyed...

TL;DR: Food doesn't taste good. Go to Kangchon.

Monday dinner. Not very much people. Walked in around 8PM and we were the last customers to leave around 8:30-40 ish. Although it is stated that they are open until 9 and their kitchen closes at 8:30, the employees were closing down while we were dining.

The food is pretty bad.

Context: Korean living in NOVA for 15+ years and been to this restaurant countless times. After a couple of ownership changes, the restaurant has gone terribly downhill.

I ordered the following dishes: Pork Tangsooyook Medium (돼지 탕수육 중짜) Jjampong (짬뽕) Samsun Gan Jajang (삼선 간짜장) Sachun Pork Gan Jajang (사천 돼지 간짜장) Beef Fried Rice (소고기 볶음밥)

Pork Tangsooyook Medium (돼지 탕수육 중짜): Half of the dish was lukewarm, half of the dish was hot. Everyone knows what that means. Could be that they just gave us extra portions since we were the last ones to order it. Who knows. Taste was meh.

Jjampong (짬뽕): This one was a wild one. The soup tasted like water. No taste in the soup whatsoever. The noodles did not retain the soup. It tasted like I was eating only noodles with no soup. One the worst jjampong that I've ever had.

Samsun Gan Jajang (삼선 간짜장): I used to really love this dish here. Now it tastes like nothing. Very bland and it tasted like I was just eating the noodles without the sauce. At least the seafood was cooked well. No complaints in the other stuff in the sauce, other than the taste of the actual sauce.

Sachun Pork Gan Jajang (사천 돼지 간짜장): Very very spicy as the name implies. Better than the one above but the sauce is still bland.

Beef Fried Rice (소고기 볶음밥): The fried rice here used to be one of my favorite menu here. Now it has not much taste. It's not terrible if you eat it with the provided jjajang sauce, but it used to taste really really good even without the sauce. Now it doesn't. It's not terrible, but it's not good either. It's just meh. For comparison, the Kangchon fried rice is a banger by itself without any sauce.

Conclusion: Although I am not a chef or someone highly regarded, but I would confidently say that I have very good taste buds. It seems that the chef here just doesn't have it together. It could be that the previous chef left after the restaurant was bought out, but I could really care less. It's really saddening to see that one of my favorite Chinese-Korean restaurant in this area turn to this. For the foreseeable future, I will be going to Kangchon. Who knows what Kangchon tastes like, since I haven't been there very recently either. But I'm sure as hell it's gonna be miles...

This place is related to the place in Annandale with the same name but under different management/ownership structure. The word is this is better but hard to tell tbh.

This is one of the places recommended by Koreans if you want to try Korean-style Chinese food. It’s known for having one of the better jjamppong - the spicy, seafood noodle soup dish and a favorite among Koreans. There are other places that make better jjajjangmyun - the black sauce noodle dish.

I had the jjaptangbop, which is assorted sautéed seafood served with rice, another popular dish. The portion was generous with plenty of seafood. However, the sauce was a bit too runny - it should have a thick texture. Perhaps they didn’t use enough potato starch. Also had jjajjangmyun that was decent with good portion. The fried dumplings was also crispy on the outside and moist in the inside. I order bokumbop (fried rice) for carry out and it came with jjajjangmyun sauce. This was the best of the lot. Huge portion and very nice.

Overall a decent place. Friendly atmosphere and the food comes out very quickly.

I would consider going back, but it’s a full 40-45 minute drive, so only if I’m...