Lunch with a Friend (and a Mini Review of Yona)

A few weekends ago while C was away, I made the three of us a decadent bacon breakfast (at the strong request of DD) with strawberries, chocolate croissants, and coffee (for me).  We headed to the farmers market for the last of the summer produce.  I found delicious plums, tomatoes, eggplant, broccoli, corn, and squash.  I had made a lunch date with a friend so the boys headed to Grandma's house for some homemade grandma food and quality time.

We tried out Mike Isabella's Yona restaurant in Arlington.  I had read Tom Sietsema's review and was excited to give it a go.  Everyone is doing "steamed buns" and Yona is no different.  We ordered the tuna poke buns, which I had to clarify - was the tuna poke raw?  Yes, it's tuna poke (with a nice seasoning) but served on a steamed bun.  Pretty tasty.  I then had the Miso Porky ramen (recommended by Sietsema) and my friend had the Char Siu Banh Mi with Szechuan fries.  Nope, no good.  The ramen was a tiny portion for $15.  The broth was not rich, which is what I'm after.  The pork belly was not tender at all.  It was a fail.  My friend said the banh mi was ok but they used unripe avocado and it ruined the whole thing.  The Szechuan fries are nothing but shoestring fries with a somewhat spicy dipping sauce that was mayonnaise based.  I ordered an iced green tea that had a soapy taste.

To salvage the meal, we went across the street to Wired for cupcakes and coffee.  I hate to pan a restaurant here, and I usually hold my tongue, but Yona was truly a disappointment.  D.C. was relatively late to the ramen-game, but with the likes of Toki Underground and Daikaya (and its progeny), you can't serve ramen like I had today (and at that price) and be respectable.  I never liked Isabella on Top Chef and now I can say his food is no good either.  I also have to call out Sietsema on this review - really?