Undecided and picky eaters will meet their match at the Block.
The Block is an Asian food court located in Annandale that contains five different food vendors and a bar, all within one small area. With so many delicious options, I was eager to try all of them, but sadly my stomach could only take so much delicious foods until it was about to burst.
The plain and unassuming exterior of the Block barely hints to the food lovers paradise contained inside. I entered into a room filled with vendors against each wall and was immediately attracted to the menu displayed above a vendor called Pokeworks. I am an avid lover of Chipotle, and what I had just stumbled upon was the Asian version of Chipotle, and to say that I was in food heaven is an understatement.
I, a salad lover, naturally picked the Poké salad off the menu, which is a create your own salad. The employee behind the counter ushered my salad down the counter as I pointed to the ingredients I wanted. A scoop of tofu and seaweed salad, a sprinkle of macadamia nuts, a drizzle of classic salt dressing later, and my salad was ready to go.
Behind me my mom was ordering a Poké burrito, which is the customer’s choice of food wrapped up in seaweed and rice, so it’s basically a giant piece of sushi. Now, dear audience, let me tell you the magical part about this burrito. They print rice onto the seaweed that they wrap all the yummy good food up in. Yes, they print it. It is a magical and mesmerizing process to watch as you see this mysterious machine print a perfectly flat tile of rice onto a piece of sea glass green sushi.
After devouring my delicious salad, I then moved on to eating chicken nuggets from Balo Kitchen, which turned out to be nothing less than the most scrumptious chicken nuggets I have ever popped into my mouth. I cannot put my finger on what made these the best chicken nuggets that have ever reached my mouth, but all I know was that these chicken nuggets blew all other chicken nuggets out of the water. The chicken nuggets and salad were then followed by sips of Boba from Snowcream, which is a vendor that caters to every customer’s sweet tooth.
The Boba was sweet, but it didn’t strike me as being hands down the best drink ever. Its taste resembled a sweat tea, and wasn’t very unique, however I only tried the Boba that a random women handed me, so the other flavors could be more appealing. After lunch, my little brother got a Snowcream, which is basically just ice cream under a different name with your choice of toppings. Now, there is only one size that you can get Snowcream in, and that size with all the toppings and Snowcream, contains more sugar than should ever be handed to an energetic four year old boy, so needless to say my brother left the block a happy child with very high blood sugar.
The block may sound like a magical food filled place, but it was not without its flaws. I cringed when the cashier at Pokeworks wiped his nose with a tissue and then touched the rim of my salad bowl, resulting in me spending the next fifteen minutes playing a game of keeping the piece of salad I’m about to place in my mouth from touching the rim of the bowl.
Another moment that made me question the training of their employees was when I asked the women at Snowcream whether the Snowcream had dairy in it, to which, after consulting another employee, she replied “no”. After checking Snowcream’s website and feeling off for a couple hours, I can tell you that Snowcream, in fact, does have dairy in it and it is really ice cream.
The only vendor besides the bar that I didn’t get the chance to sample was Roots, which sells rice and soup dishes. However, based off of everything else I ate that day I’m sure that the food they offered was nothing less than delicious.
All of the food sold at the block is ten steps above the fried Asian food found at restaurants such as Panda Express. The block provides the best of both worlds with foods that are both fast and delicious. Decent prices, fresh options, and a unique set up are what make the Block a place that every Springfield resident must visit at least once.