A restaurant chain known for its abura soba noodles has begun serving diners in Idylwood.
Kajiken opened its doors on Monday (Jan. 13) at 7505-D Leesburg Pike as the newest tenant at the Idylwood Plaza shopping center.
The restaurant replaces Bing & Bao, which shuttered in August after four years in the space.
Like Bing & Bao, Kajiken’s menu centers on Asian cuisine. Unlike Bing & Bao, however, Kajiken’s offerings are more of the fork-and-knife (or chopstick) variety, as opposed to the handheld food sold at its predecessor.
Kajiken’s menu currently features 10 different abura soba noodle dishes, which is a brothless form of ramen. The restaurant’s homemade thick noodles instead include a sauce that combines soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, chili oil and other seasonings.
A variety of traditional ramen dishes are also offered, as well as four different options for donburi (Japanese rice bowls).
The Idylwood location is Kajiken’s second in Virginia, following a location that opened late last year at Pinecrest Plaza in Lincolnia, and it’s the chain’s eighth in the U.S.
The restaurant’s opening hours are 11:30 am. to 9:30 p.m. on Monday through Thursday and 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, according to an Instagram post announcing its soft opening this week.
“Kajiken has officially arrived, and Falls Church will never be the same again!” the chain said in the post. “Get ready to experience authentic, umami-packed goodness like never before.”
The addition of Kajiken is one of many recent and future changes to the Idylwood Plaza shopping center.
Chicken Salad Chick, a chain offering a variety of different chicken salad dishes, is among the new tenants to have opened their doors in the shopping center in recent months.
Quickway Hibachi, which recently opened a restaurant in Burke, is targeting May for an opening inside the shopping center, where it will replace Astro Doughnuts. Breakfast-and-brunch restaurant First Watch is also expected to open an Idylwood Plaza location early this year.
Meanwhile, Idylwood Plaza’s Whole Foods store is currently preparing to close in early February ahead of a relocation to Falls Church.
