Gom Ba Woo
7133 Columbia Pike
Annandale, VA 22003
703-642-1577
Neighborhood: Annandale
Cuisines: Korean
Opening Hours:
Open daily 7 AM to 11 PM.
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Nearby Metro Stops: Van Dorn St., Dunn Loring-Merrifield
Price Range: Moderate
Dress: Informal
Noise Level: Intimate
Reservations: Not Needed
Best Dishes:
Steamed dumplings (mandu); seafood pancake; oxtail with green onions; pork-belly barbecue; soondubu; sul leung tang; grilled short ribs; pork with red-pepper sauce.
Price Details:
Appetizers $8.95 to $12.95; entrées $7.95 to $27.95.
Special Features: Wheelchair Accessible, Kid Friendly
Why go: An anomaly in Little Korea: a ten-table mom-and-pop that boasts no signature dish or theme and steers clear of any entreaties to the much-coveted youth demographic. It’s content to let its quiet excellence speak for itself.
What to get: Steamed dumplings called mandu; seafood pancake, a scallion-veined frittata studded with octopus and shrimp; soondubu, spicy tofu soup with oysters; spicy pork-belly barbecue; sul lung tang, the Korean version of Vietnamese pho—long-simmered beef broth garnished with chewy rice cakes, egg, and scallions.
Best for: Anyone intent on giving Korean food a try. Or another try.
Insider tip: Appetizers and entrées are large, so splitting is the way to go. Take advantage of the panchan, the array of small dishes that precedes a Korean meal; it includes some of the freshest, liveliest kimchee around.
Open daily for lunch and dinner.
>> See all 2009 Cheap Eats restaurants here