Ariake Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Merrifield

I really have to take a moment to write this review. This restaurant is the one on my list. It’s the place where family and friends come for big celebrations or important days. I’m Asian and I always love Japanese food but my husband is not into Japanese food. He finally surprised me and take me here. Jacob walked up to check on us and Napoleon were really welcoming and attentive, this man deserves a raise. Despite the fact that those two names mentioned are not our server. Lisa is the name on the receipt. First, she came to get our drinks and walked off. I had to call her that I was ready to order so she took only my order as my husband were not going to eat. I ordered two drinks she came with one then I told her again she had to walk back and get it. My food came, she never checked on us. I flagged her because I told my husband the food was good and he wanted to try his then I ordered his entree. Napoleon came to ask if we need straws, more water or anything (He is not our server). We asked if the tip would go to him because we didn’t like our server attitude. He said something but basically it’s shared. The whole time she didn’t come to our table. We looked for her, she was on the phone or giggled with her co-worker. I flagged her again to get the check. She took some time. Napoleon came back i told him I forgot I needed a dessert while were talking she slapped the check on the table and walked off AGAIN!!! He had to call her and told her we wanted order dessert. Later, she took the card when she came back Napoleon was at the table taking our empty plates, she left the card passed my husband face so close almost hit his face. That’s when we asked him where Jacob was we needed to talk to him. We also tried to tip him cash but he refused. My husband said he doesn’t want to come back so he didn’t care about her but I left tip just from a kind of out my heart. Alright now we don’t know if she had a long day or is racist but her attitude!!! As we left another lady in glass was more engaging to us than our server!!!!! She needs to be trained again. I leave one star for now I’m definitely coming to give this place...

Ariake is truly a hidden gem.

Located quietly between Fairfax, Annandale, and Merrifield, I was surprised by how busy it was on a Friday night, and for good reason. Very good food, excellent service by the entire team, and prices were reasonable. Nothing more I could want from a restaurant experience.

I would highly recommend the “Katsu Curry” on the specialty menu. Easily the best katsu curry’s I’ve had in NoVa. It tasted exactly like the tonkatsu curry’s I had in Japan. The curry had a rich flavor and the pork cutlet was very well breaded and cooked. It brought back a lot of memories! Will definitely be coming back just for that.

I could not commend the staff more, especially seeing how busy they were during a super packed dinner rush. Our waitress was attentive and friendly. The host (who might’ve been the manager/owner) was very warm and gave outstanding service. I wish I could’ve gotten his name. He even asked us how our meal was at the end as we were walking out. I told them that they needed to put the katsu curry from the seasonal specialty menu to the real menu permanently, because it was THAT good. Sure enough, he said they were planning on doing so. You’re welcome, everyone.

I even tipped the sushi chef that served us our sushi plate at our counter seats. You could see they were hard working and dedicated. Even with an army of around 4-5 sushi chefs, they were constantly busy. Our sushi came out great as well. We got the salmon, unagi, yellowtail, and salmon roe. They were very well presented and tasted great. No complaints.

We came impromptu at around 8pm and only waited about 5-ish minutes for two bar seats. Let me tell you, the place was packed-packed. Even when we pulled up to the parking lot, we couldn’t find a spot for a couple minutes. If you have a party larger than 4, I would recommend getting a reservation. Even though it was busy, service was still decently quick!

9/10, this would definitely be a place I’ll take friends, family, and even coworkers...

I would not recommend this restaurant solely based off of the owner . Let me explain... My boyfriend and I have visited this restaurant 4 times. The first time was exceptional, sushi and the waitress. Unfortunately, the second time was such an awkward experience that we opted for a pick up order for the 3rd visit. The second visit we were really hungry and we were treating ourselves so we got a large order. It got weird when the owner visited our table as our sushi was dropped off emphasizing how much money we were spending that evening . A few minutes later, one of our servers came over and was letting us know we got some of his favorite sushi, but as he was letting us know he was pointing to each roll about an inch away from touching it. That made us really uncomfortable. We paid, but left a small tip compared to what we would usually leave. When we went back for our pickup order there was a mistake in charging my card for someone else’s bill . It was a pick up order and I did not leave a tip. This most recent experience and final one we didn’t even end up ordering. We walked into the restaurant and was met by the owner at the hostess stand but our greeting was a conversation about how we didn’t leave enough tips in our 2 previous visits. I was confused With this conversation but I explain to him what are our last visits were like. He was not apologetic, but kept insisting that we need to leave bigger tips. He then said verbatim and chuckled “I don’t pay the waiters so they count on your tips”. I understand that most restaurants force their waiters to rely on tips, but to verbally express, not paying your waiters, and making it a joking matter to your guest, I can’t understand that. Sushi isn’t cheap, pay...