Tara Temple

Sadly, I have to downgrade my rating. I ordered the same tom kha udon noodle soup that I ordered the first time, except this time when it arrived, the soup was in a small container instead of a big one and the noodles were ramen and not udon. I tried calling the restaurant, but they literally took their phone off the hook. Also, delivery last time was 45 minutes and this time it was over an hour. I understand that they are busy, but just not giving me my correct order and not being available to discuss the issue is unacceptable.

Taraible temple is more like it. My girlfriend and I went around 4:00 and were the only ones in the entire restaurant, the server took way too long to greet us and take our order, chicken satay came out undercooked, and was still raw in the middle. Sent it back to the kitchen. When my girlfriends pad Thai came out they gave her chicken instead of the shrimp she asked for. The server never checked back after dropping off the food so I had to go find the manager to get a new pad thai made. Also the food was overpriced and not very good, it had an overall blandness to it. Possibly the worst experience I’ve had in a restaurant. I hope I don’t get salmonella. The sushi was alright but how hard is it to eff up sushi.

Nestled between the Virginia Square Metro and Ballston Metro, in Arlington, Va., this dumpster fire of an establishment serves repulsive meals to unsuspecting customers.
It’s been a long time since I’ve ordered something so terrible from a restaurant that I couldn’t eat it and had to go pick up something else for dinner. This place was just terrible. I can safely say that I could make better pad thai… and I’ve never even attempted to make it before. The sushi was awful. I’ve had better quality sushi at grocery stores. I look forward to this place going out of business so something decent can open up there.

Nestled between the Virginia Square Metro and Ballston Metro, in Arlington, Va., Tara Temple tries hard to create the environment of a Thai or perhaps a Japanese Buddhist temple.
Outside, two ferocious stone dogs stand guard at a metallic double door. Inside a cluster of brass bells hang from the ceiling and several statues can be seen throughout the restaurant. But Tara Temple has too much of the American diner look to really succeed creating that Eastern Zen look and feel.
Nevertheless, I have been at this establishment many times because of its expertise in creating eastern fare. Tonight I had the «tom kha,» which is a sort of coconut broth soup, and the «larb gha,» a salad with minced chicken soup drizzled with lime juice.
Both dishes are rather spicy, which is how I like it. If you don’t like the spices just ask the server to have made without them.
I ended my meaI with a pot of green tea. The waitress was timely and attentive in taking my order. Several minutes after I made my order the food was delivered by a man illustrated with a montage of colorful tattoos.
My one lamentation is that Tara Temple only has one type of hot tea. That’s a crying shame for an establishment with the word «temple» in it.

Ordered takeout
on Thursday. We had the pad Thai and curry. Both were great, the red curry is excellent. Be mindful when you order food from here you go because our pad Thai took the shape of its container so it was harder to serve. Overall I was pleased.

Tara Temple is authentic Thai restaurant in Arlington. It is easily accessible by metro via Ballston on the Orange line. This restaurant has indoor seating as well as well-​lit outdoor patio seating. Inside the restaurant, they had a lot of gold hanging!
I’ll admit that the service could be improved. I understand that the servers were busy but I felt like they could be more attentive. I like how they serve happy hour with food and drink specials daily from 4:30 — 7:30pm. Selected appetizers were $ 4 and selected alcoholic beverages were $ 5. It enabled us to try a variety of items offered on their regular menu. I liked how everything on the menu was reasonably priced.
For drinks, I’d recommend the Thai Iced Tea which has a nice blend of red tea and condensed milk and is served over the rocks.
From the happy hour menu, we tried the Sunomono Salad, Crab Rangoon, and Golden Triangle. The Sunomono Salad consisted of seafood (such as octopus, crabmeat, and shrimp), cucumber, and seaweed over a bed of shredded white radish in a sweet rice vinegar and sprinkled with sesame seeds. I liked the presentation and the variety of seafood offered. I wished that the seaweed had a stronger vinegar taste. The Crab Rangoon consisted of crab and savory cream cheese wrapped in a sweet dough and lightly deep fried and served with homemade spicy mayo. I like how it was sweet, crispy, and savory. It was so good that we had to order a second round. The Golden Triangle consisted of firm tofu deep fried and served with tangy, thick, sweet and sour sauce.
For entrees, we tried the Stir Fried Garlic with Seafood and Ginger Perfect with Chicken. The Stir Fried Garlic with Seafood consisted of mixed seafood (shrimp, squid, and mussels) tossed in a hot wok with minced garlic and sweet soy sauce and surrounded by a ring of broccoli. The Ginger Perfect consisted of chicken, fresh ginger, scallions, shiitake mushrooms, and onions sautéed in a savory brown sauce. I liked how both of the dishes were full of flavor and had a good amount of vegetable to balance the meat.
For dessert, I’d recommend the Mango and Sticky Rice, which consisted of sweet sticky rice drizzled with sesame and coconut syrup, topped with crunchy roasted rice and served with freshly sliced ripe mango.

Pretty decent food and awesome service. The restaurant was really empty when we went so our food was ready pretty quick! But the ambiance was a little awkward. I ordered the drunken noodles hot, sex bomb sushi roll (8 pc) and the spicey tuna roll (8 pc) ! The price was decent! I recommend!

Good food, nice staff, we came in a little late but they were welcoming and kept the kitchen open for us. Recommend

Pretty good Thai place it’s really convenient to where I am for the most part. I like they’re happy hour specials, it’s kind of cool looking inside and the servers have always been pretty good. It’s not like super spectacular but I would definitely go again.

We were in search for sushi and wanted to try a new place. Tara Temple came up on Unilocal and we decided to give them a try. Pretty large restaurant with so-​so décor. The menu was extensive but we still couldn’t decide what we wanted. We came during happy hour and I wanted to take advantage of it. We got the hot totties (tater tots) to share. It was pretty good. I liked the seasoning. My bf got the Angry Salmon Roll. He seemed to think it was alright, not memorable. I got the Chashu on Rice. The meat to rice ratio is off. There’s not enough meat and too much rice. Either add more meat or leave some rice out. I really enjoyed my dish but for $ 14, it wasn’t worth it. The food took longer to come out even though it didn’t seem as busy, we were there for an early dinner like 5pm-​ish. The servers were nice though. We’ll probably stick to our usual sushi spot.

Sorry to say but I have got a terrible experience. They served the food that I never ordered. Price was high and portion was little. They provide opened drinking straw. They touch it and put it in the drink and you could have germs through that way. I didn’t like it. I asked them that do they have unopened straw and they said they don’t understand what is the problem. They served my wife’s dish and made me wait 15 minutes. I was like you should serve both dishes at the same time. Lack of professionalism.

Don’t know about their sushi, but they have the worst Thai food in the world, literally.
They forgot to put salt or any spice in Tom kha noodle soup and it tastes like coconut flavored water. While they tripled the vinegar/​lemon juice in Tom yum soup. The mango sticky rice smells and tastes like some dangerous chemical material — even the mangos are not fresh.
I don’t cook but I’m sure that I can make better Thai food than them even by just following the instruction online.
The only star is for their miso soup.

Really bad takeout Thai. I can’t speak for anything else on the menu, but the seafood salad is terrible and the pork belly tastes like garbage. I would never eat here again.

«Tara Temple
4001 N. Fairfax Drive
Date of inspection: Jan. 28
Insect, rodent and/​or other pest harborage conditions exist on the premises. Mouse droppings observed in right deep fryer.»
stay away from the deep fried rice, I guess.

Not bad! Used to walk by this place thinking it may be a cheesy joint but tried it for the first time and I’m impressed! Had the grilled octopus which was fabulous. And I know some don’t like mackerel but I do and I had it grilled! Loved! The prices aren’t bad and happy hour Singha is only $ 3! Try this place. .we missed the happy hour menu but will try next time!

It as Nam’s birthday recently so we decided that it would be great to hit up a local Thai restaurant. Tara Temple is right up the road from work in Ballston. We got a slew of dishes and drinks and in general it was a great time. I would advise however — to be wary of the chili marks on the menu, as one chili is much spicier than you would suspect.
When you go out to celebrate a birthday it’s always best to make sure you go above and beyond the normal fare. You have to make sure you hit every note with the dishes brought out. It’s not a birthday dinner if you can’t use the word debauchery to describe it.
We all started off with a round of ‘woo woo’ cocktails or beers. Comparatively the draft list was short, but the bottle and cocktail menu more than made up for it. The woo woo was sweet, the peach schnaps really came through. If you’re looking for clear and lethal — I was peachy keen on the woo woo.
Of the appetizers we shared the sun dried beef and potstickers really shined. The sun dried beef was crispy, moist, and the sauce it was served with had the perfect amount of spice. The potstickers themselves were good, but the sauce was mind-​blowing. It was a soy sauce, but it was sweet with notes of balsamic vinegar.
For the main course I enjoyed their fried pork belly (Ka Naa). It was like chant thick strips of bacon cut into cubes, deep fried, and tossed in a spicy broth with perfectly sautéed broccoli. The broccoli was tender but still crisp.
What’s great about Tara Temple is that they take it beyond the food. The service is beyond stellar. Our server was all smiles and full of jokes. The management was friendly and come over on a regular basis to check on how we were enjoying the meal. The atmosphere was dark and sophisticated, but casual and friendly. I really look forward to going back in the future.
If you’re looking for a place to celebrate any special occasion, for a amazing happy hour specials, and has a diverse menu I would definitely recommend heading over to Tara Temple in Ballston.

The only reason I go to Tara is because I live walking distance. The location has a ton of potential, it looks nice, and the food serves it’s purpose (to provide sustenance), but it’s never really that good. I’m always sort of left wishing I had gone somewhere else. The lunch special is a great deal, and they do have a decent happy hour. But with Shiiki sushi so close in Ballston mall, not much reason to come to Tara unless you’re willing to sacrifice quality for price.

Closed for a day in April 2015, «because of repeated violations and a revoked license.»
See the Washington Post article here:

Tara Temple’s sushi is not bad at all for the Arlington area. The lobster roll is a good one to try and they do a good job with all the simple rolls. The restaurant is a little dark inside and the service is typically slow, however. Their happy hour deals are also just ok – Happy hour goes till 7:30pm and includes $ 4 basic rolls such as the California roll and spicy tuna cucumber roll. There aren’t many happy hour rolls to choose from, giving Café Asia down in Rosslyn the edge up on Tara for happy hour specials.
Take-​out has been reliable and fast, in my experience.

This place has OKAY happy hour specials. $ 5 appetizers and $ 3 – 5 drinks. It’s a nice place to check out if the weather is nice since they have outdoor seating. It’s close to the Ballston metro and street parking outside.
The food is average. I wouldn’t expect too much but it’ll be worth the value if you decide to order drinks during happy hour.