Shilla Bakery & Cafe - Tysons Corner — Restaurant in Virginia

It's worth a visit, but I'm not sure if I'd come back here again...I usually LOVE Korean bakeries (and bingsoo even more), but something about this particular Shilla Bakery spot just didn't hit quite right. They have less selection than the Annandale location, and everything just felt a bit...less fresh than I'm used to? You can definitely still tell that they used high quality ingredients, but it feels like many of the baked goods they were selling had been sitting out for one too many days and many of their boba teas felt like they had added a touch too much sugar. Overall, all of those things were fine, though...I think that my greatest disappointment was in their bingsoo. I ADORE bingsoo, love ice cream, and have a strange obsession with fruit, but something about the way Shilla Bakery combined the three just made none of them particularly enjoyable. They used plain shaved ice (as in literal ice made out of water), which is not really how bingsoo should be made, so it felt like I was just eating icicles. The ice cream was tasty, but just didn't go well with the ice crystals, and the fruit was all clearly frozen or from a can. I was incredibly disappointed by their bingsoo, and would honestly boost this spot by a star if they simply removed it from their menu altogether.

I did really appreciate the ambiance of the store, however. It was really peaceful and well-decorated, and it was a great place to just sit and relax after the hustle and bustle of the Tysons...

Took my cousins from out of town here over the weekend as my sister and I couldn’t stop raving over their brown sugar bubble tea latte. Our first visit there we had one of our best bubble tea experiences ever- we were able to order the brown sugar bubble tea with a 50% sugar level, no problem. We ordered at the register this last trip and the barista was confused as to why we would ask for a 50% sugar level. As an establishment that serves bubble tea, I thought this was a normal request. Most bubble tea places ask what sweetness level you’d like your tea to be. She eventually took our order, and a few minutes later four drinks came out that consisted of basically milk and bubbles. There was no brown sugar in sight. It ended up being 0% sweetness. We tried mixing all the drinks a few times to see if it just all fell to the bottom but alas, nothing. The consistency was still all milk. My family and I didn’t want to be difficult as we’ve all been behind the counter before and it was quite busy at the time. However, we won’t be coming back to Shilla in the near future after these extremely disappointing drinks and unapologetic response from the owners. Also, the bingsoo was not good. Head to Manoa Bakery Cafe in Annandale or OneZo Bubble Tea in Fairfax if you want...

Atmosphere and service was great but did not make up for the pastries! The pizza was soggy and I could not stomach to finish it. Thankfully the coffee was done right. Not many people know how to make a flat white properly!

I came in over the weekend and unlike a few reviews had said, the cafe was pretty clean! This young female barista that made my coffee was also cleaning tables and sweeping then their brother was rushing to take out these two huge bags of trash. Props to them! The only thing that did disappoint me about my service was the younger cashier not really striking up a conversation. She had asked me about my day and I did tell her it wasn't the best. She responded to that by frowning and saying she was sorry. Nothing more lol. Otherwise, she was very quick with her bagging and had this bright bubbly personality. She also complimented my haikyuu shirt which kinda made up for the shyness

Now I do know that this is a family owned company so I'm sure not much will be done about the pastry quality because no one wants to fire family, but I think they need to change bakers. Maybe switch them out or something because even the sample of the Madeline that the cashier gave me was dry.

Overall 6/10 experience. Just stick to the coffee and...