ARIA Korean Restaurant l 아리아 — Restaurant in Ridgefield

Some foods look beautiful, and food for the eyes. Some smells great, food for the aroma. And some food tastes out of this world, food for the taste pallet, the best! I don't review every restaurant I visit. I do review when I find one that deserves blasting accolade for a restaurant I wish they do well because they do shine overall, but something is off, and they could definitely do better. This place's been opened for appx 6 months, but it feels like it's still in their soft opening. Not quite organized, everyone's running around including the manager, but we were all waiting and waiting. Food looks pretty good in most parts, but I could tell the pumpkin in the sweet pumpkin gambi jjim wasn't cooked all the way just by looking at it as it was being delivered to another table. The whole-galchi jorim had the look 'cause it's arranged on a long stainless shaffer, spread out topped with very well appointed accompaniment but the main thing, the fish was way too small and thin for the price. And what really killed it for me was the Seol long tang. The broth was almost brownish but still tasted watered down rather than milky, boney, and rich in flavor that of typical seol long tang. This was one lone standing menu item in the category that would have been better if it wasn't on the menu. Let's say it was wiping out all the points earned by all the other foods, which in most part was "the food for the eyes, not for the taste pallets. I am not saying that they weren't good, rather not as good as they looked. If I were the owner or manager, I would really think about that in depth as I believe this could be "The place." Clean, good service and beautiful presentation, If they made some minor tweeks. I really mean that. I was a former F&B director for the Marriot chain, and I do know what I am talking about and care about what I said.

Revisited to follow up on my fervent hope of improvements as it pained me to have written a negative review being a former F & B professional and having owned & operated establishments myself, but was with high hopes of being able to witness a positive turnaround. THANK YOU, ARIA!, in that token as you have totally turned the place around. Food was delish & plentiful, beautifully presented, and the service? I don't know what you did in such a short time, but it was impeccably outstanding! Much KUDOS to the management for fantastic turnaround, of course, but first, hats off to you for listening to what customers have to say. Too many establishments take the valuable adviadvice as an insult and actually let you know of their disgust, which most of those places are out of business much sooner than "predicted." If you know what I mean! Will definitely be your regular for a long, long time. GOD...

The restaurant was clean and the food was delicious. It seemed to be a family-run place, with the mother and her son working together. The son helped with serving while the mother seemed to take care of the kitchen and other details.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the son’s service. When we (2 adults and 1 child) ordered two portions of the braised cutlassfish set menu, I asked how many bowls of rice were included. He said two, so I mentioned we’d order more if needed. Later, the mother brought out three bowls and kindly said the extra one was on the house, since a child shouldn’t be left out. I appreciated that and thanked her.

Among the side dishes, the braised tofu was especially good, so I asked the Mexican server if we could get another serving. He said yes, but it never came. After a while, I noticed the son speaking rather harshly to the server — though I couldn’t understand exactly, it seemed related to the tofu not being offered as a free refill. However, no one came to explain anything to us.

At the end, I noticed we were charged $2 for what was supposed to be the complimentary rice. I debated whether to bring it up, but decided to just pay and leave.

This might seem like a minor issue, but from a customer’s point of view, it gave the impression that the service wasn’t handled very professionally. Everything else — the food, the cleanliness, and the price — was great. But the son’s customer service was disappointing and could really use some...

Overall 3.5/5 Food 4/5 Service 4/5 Ambiance 4/5 Value 3/5

Finally tried ARIA, a new spot that's taken over what used to be a gamjatang place. Their dishes and even banchans has a classy presentation. Parking feels spacious but has limited actual parking spots. It was full when we went and had to do street parking.

The food looked amazing, and some of it tasted great, but the portions were surprisingly small. For our group of four, most of the dishes were about one bite / piece each.

What we ordered:

Bulgogi Hotpot 2.5/5: This one fell a bit flat. While bulgogi is sweet, this was too sweet for my preference.

Seafood Pancake (3/5): I was hoping for more seafood and a crispier pancake.

Pumpkin Short Rib 4.5/5: The highlight here for sure! Flavorwise, it was fantastic, but the portion was minuscule about one piece per person.

Kalbi 4/5: Tasted good, but like the short rib, the portion size was smaller than expected

ARIA has style and some standout flavors, but be prepared to order a bit more if...