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Reviews and approves every story published on IVEA before it goes live. 6 stories.
Kanpai BBQ & Hotpot, IVEA's restaurant at 1701 Rockville Pike in Rockville, MD, brings two Southeast Asian ways of cooking at the table together under one roof, and holds 4.7 stars from 751 Google reviews.
IVEA co-founder and Noodle Master Chef Zaifu "Jerry" Li trained under soba master Shuichi Kotani, made every noodle by hand at the first Akira Ramen in Rockville, and went on to create Wasai's hand-pulled noodles in D.C., Kajiken's house-made abura soba and Gyu San's wide flat udon, all in service of IVEA's mission to enrich local dining with more variety.
Chef Junzo Miyajima led the BiteMe Charity Festival for the Maryland Food Bank in 2025 and Tomodachi Food Fest, the DMV's only anime food festival, with its cosplay runway in 2026. Both had free admission and took over the square in Rockville Town Center, and here is what each one offered.
Izakaya after izakaya, plus yakiniku, shabu-shabu, a soufflé pancake café and the relaunch of the first Japanese-Brazilian steakhouse of its kind: one chef, Junzo Miyajima, is behind them all. How IVEA's Executive Master Chef redefined what a cozy, friendly Japanese restaurant should be, with the best-quality food at prices a whole family can enjoy.
Apprenticed under a Sichuan cuisine master in 1988, chef at Chengdu's Chen Mapo Tofu in 1990, a national gold medal in 2008 and more than 20 restaurants opened across southwest China: the most decorated Sichuan chef in IVEA's kitchens, now Executive Chef at Lao Sze Chuan.
Rated 4.7 stars from 1,818 Google reviews, Genki Izakaya at Scout on the Circle in Fairfax, Virginia serves torched sushi, binchotan yakitori, A5 Miyazaki wagyu and what Washingtonian called some of the most stunning highballs around. The most popular dishes, hours, reservations and online ordering.