Sino’s Inn

We went there for the first time this past Saturday with another family (4 adults, 2 toddlers, 2 infants) and were pleasantly surprised with our experience. Although, we went during lunch time, there was no line-​up and even a couple of empty tables. Normally, you’d think it’s because the place/​food/​service is bad, but this couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Service: Fast and friendly
Price: Moderate. Everything was $ 3 and up. Our bill came to $ 80 before tip (see what we ordered below)
Food: We ordered the following:
(1) Pork Spare Rib with Black Beans — OK, could’ve been better.
(1) Har Gow (Shrimp Dumpling) — Good
(1) Shao Mai — Good
(1) Chive Dumpling — Good
(2) Fried Taro dumplings — Good (these were pretty big compared to other places I’ve been)
(2) Fried Turnip Cake — Good
(1) Sticky Rice — Good
(1) Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf — we couldn’t finish this so brought it home
(2) BBQ Pork Buns — Very Good
(2) Shrimp Crepes — Very Good
(1) Pan Fried Noodles with Pork — Very Good, Large plate
(1) Egg Tarts — Very Good/​Excellent
(1) Egg Custard Buns — Very Good
Cleanliness: Good; Décor is simple and lighting feels a bit dark
For this area, I’d give this dim sum place a 4−5*. The quality of the food is similar to Oriental East and better than Hong Kong Seafood Pearl Restaurant. The service is MUCH better and because it’s not crowded, it’s great for families with young children.
We are so glad that we discovered this place and really hope it stays alive ‘cuz we can’t wait to come back again.

Sino’s Inn serves dim sum until 8:00 p.m. every day (at least for now, may want to call to make sure)! Due to space limitations, they provide a two-​sided sheet of paper where you can check off items that you’d like to order a la A&J instead of wheeling carts around. The food comes out nice and fresh, and the staff are thoughtful and pleasant. Our server delivered our egg custards ahead of time because she was fearful that they’d run out. Additionally, she placed this plate on the far side of the table since she knew we’d eat the savory items first. Happy to see staff who truly care about the customer experience, especially in such a setting.
Besides the good service, we were also very pleased by the tasty dim sum items – my favorite is the shrimp and chive dumpling, a must. We both thought that the skin of the shrimp rice noodle crêpe and har gow (shrimp dumpling) could have been a bit thinner. (Go to Oriental East for the best, thin-​skinned dumplings.) However, they were definitely better than the ones I’ve had at some other dim sum restaurants closer to DC. Hong Kong Pearl (huge selection and great quality) is still my #1 pick for dimsum in northern Virginia, and Oriental East is my top choice for Maryland. Sino’s Inn is great when you don’t feel like making the trip to either of these places and/​or waiting in a long queue. Their selection isn’t the largest, and items range from good to great, but you get the «authentic» dim sum experience, complete with fragrant, detoxifying chrysanthemum (or what they refer to as «flower») tea. We were surrounded by Cantonese speakers last Sunday, which can only be a good thing.

Came around 11:30AM or so on a Saturday for Dim Sum with a friend and the bf. Apparently Dim Sum is served until 8:00PM daily however… it’s +$ 1.50 for dinner.
Not much for décor it’s a pretty small place. We were seated in a back booth. There were 3 menus one laminated paper front and back, a picture menu of the dim sum items offered and a paper dim sum menu to check off items. Now most of the dim sum places I’ve been to push carts so you can see what you want to order. So this isn’t what I am used to Partially because I have to question portion size.
As the BF and I waited for my friend to join us we decided to order water and tea… now we weren’t asked what kind of tea… it was just given. When my friend finally did arrive we decide to try your typical staples the hargao, shumai, shrimp rice crepes, Chinese crueller wrapped in rice crepes, fried taro, and radish cake. Now the surprise on the menu was the Shanghai Meat dumplings… what?! Soup dumplings… here in Centreville… no way. So we ordered an order of these also.
The first few dishes came out first and then the rest did. The Shanghai meat dumplings came with shredded ginger. The dumplings had a decent amount of broth meat inside was very mediocre nothing special broth was good again nothing special. Perhaps if I had eaten it with the ginger it might have enhanced the flavor but overall it was decent for the price. It’s just good to have another option if you want soup dumplings.
The other dishes were also decent… the Chinese crueller wrapped in rice crêpe was a bit over sauced so it was a bit soggy. The radish cake was okay just needed a bit more crusting but flavor was decent. Rice crepes with shrimp were a bit cold for me so the texture wasn’t as soft as it should be flavor was still decent again nothing special.
Of course after dim sum you always have to order dessert so the main staples of course are the sesame balls and egg custard. Both were okay the sesame ball had a nice crispy exterior and the good gooey texture you expect after biting into it. The filling was not red bean I’m not particularly sure what it was but it was a translucent pale yellow. The egg custard had a nice flaky crust and a soft and buttery thick custard. Probably could’ve eat a few more but let’s not be piggish lol.
Overall Sino Inn was decent for what it was cheap dim sum that allows you to have your dim sum minus the annoying wait depending on the time of your arrival a minimal menu which doesn’t confuse you with fancy distractions that will rack up your bill. If you have a dim sum craving and your too lazy to drive to MD or Falls Church here is another option for you. Centreville thanks for giving me another dim sum option when I want to avoid the crowds but I do want dim sum.

Came in for some dim sum with my girlfriend and her friend. We arrived early and was seated immediately. After about 20 minutes of arriving other people started to come and eventually was pretty full.
We started by just ordering tea because we were still waiting for my girlfriends friend to arrive. We weren’t given any choices for tea but I over heard the table next to us order tea shortly after and they were given different choices of tea. A bit odd but not too much of a big deal.
The dim sum order menu is very small what I am used to and it is pretty much cook to order deal. The prices for to dim sum were very good compared to the other restaurants in the area around. The dishes range from $ 3.50 to I believe $ 4 or so.
Overall the food was good for the price and the service wasn’t horrible. I just wish they had a bigger selection of dim sum. I would probably check them out again if I’m not trying out a new dim sum restaurant.

This place is honestly overlooked. It’s in the same shopping areas as Iron Age, Bön chon, and chicken &beer. You can tell its «slept on» because I’ve very rarely seen the restaurant busy. I guess that’s a good thing though because that means you’re always able to get a table.
The pricing is amazing. It starts off with $ 3.00 and up. The menu, though they just started to expand but it doesn’t have as many options as the more larger and more popular dim sum places in northern Virginia. The service could improve just a little but it’s not too bad. They slightly rush you even if it’s empty.
Now onto the taste of the food, I actually really enjoy this place for such a lowkey dim sum place. We tried some of the newer items like the fried shrimp dumpling and it was better than I had expected. They were really generous with the filling and the wrapping wasn’t obnoxious where if you take a bite, you’re left with just fried wrapper. The shrimp shumai looks larger than most places and does come with the typical count of 4. I love the ginger scallion tripe! The ginger taste is never overbearing and the tripe is usually cooked properly where you can easily bite through. The taro dumpling filling has meat inside that my boyfriend was thrilled about. Honestly they’re really generous with filling portions with all the dishes.
We eat a lot of different dishes so to review every individual one would be difficult but I highly recommend this place. For the amount you receive in these dishes for the price, you’re really getting your money’s worth!

Awesome dim sum, excellent eating atmosphere, nice selections, they don’t have push carts, but you can order everything from their dim sum menu, and they will bring out items one by one, so they won’t become cold as you eat. Good service, clean fabric table cloth, friendly staff. We’ll definitely come again.

Great service, reasonable prices, probably best dim sum in the area. Parents are dim sum snobs and they approve of this place!

Went in for Dim Sum– the servers were all super nice. They were out of one or two things that we wanted, but told us right away. It was a little frustrating how things came out very very spaced. Two dishes came out immediately after ordering and one dish actually was brought out to us AFTER our check was brought to the table. After ordering like 10 or 12 different dim sum items, it’s hard to keep track of what was delivered or not. They had to pack that up to go… I’ve had better, but this was good. It will cure the craving without having to drive for an hour or two (or three) for better.

Attentive service, fresh food & descent tasting. I ordered hot tea it didn’t really have flavor. The coke was on point though.
I would come back just because it’s convenient.

I liked it. Have not had dim sum in awhile and pretty solid. We also had another dish or two to compliment the dim sum, also tasty. Typical Chinese restaurant service, quick, friendly and efficient. Nothing fancy here, just good local Chinese food.

I come from cities where I have abundant options for really delicious Chinese food. Unfortunately, my options became very limited when I moved to Central Virginia. My only saving grace is that I visit Centreviile /​Northern VA about once or twice a month to get my Korean food/​grocery fix.
This time on my trip, I decided to ditch the usual Korean food and get some dim sum that I’ve been craving SO much.
Sino’s Inn doesn’t have carts that they push around the restaurant, but instead, you get to choose what you want from a menu and order like you normally would at a restaurant. The choice is definitely limited, but I have no complaints because I only eat what I eat at dim sum anyways, and they had all the ones I like.
The restaurant is pretty well kept, and seemed like they had a good flow of customers coming in. I think I may stop by again next time I’m in Northern VA.

We went here for one of my best friends graduation celebration. We waited a while for the family sized portions to come out but every dish seemed like it was better than the next ! Great food and huge portions. I think everyone left with full bellies :)

Other than limited dimsum menu, everything taste really good and the best is that I don’t have to drive out 30 – 40 minutes to have dimsum!

First time here and it was pretty good! I wanted dim sum but not have to go all the way to marks duck house (even though that is my favorite dim sum place). When we arrived, there wasn’t anybody in the restaurant. We ordered a few dim sum dishes (steamed shrimp dumpling, shrimp noodle crepes, fried shrimp balls, and chicken feet) — all were pretty good. The friend shrimp balls were made a little differently, but was still pretty good. The steamed shrimp dumpling was excellent! It was full of shrimp and very little bamboo shoots inside. The color of the chicken feet were a little more pink-​red rather than the usual red-​orange, but it still tasted the same.
We also ordered a fish dish called filet fish with asparagus. It was lightly breaded sliced tilapia in a sweet, tangy sauce-​very yummy! Lastly we had sautéed spinach. It was ok-​probably could have used more salt. Overall food very good, service was ok, and cleanliness of the restaurant needs work. The tablecloths were gross. Before i sat down, I saw spots on our tablecloth, so I looked at the next two tables and they were even worse.

I am a dimsum fanatic and I’ve been going religiously every weekend for as long as I could remember. And those «top dimsum» places in falls church we all know…, this blows them all away.
This gem needs more recognition in the NOVA area. If you’re looking for some QUALITY dimsum, this is the spot.
— You’ll notice that this place is very clean! It doesn’t have that musky, unidentifiable, asian odor that we all wonder about. Tablecloths, chairs, and floors nearly spotless.
— FRIENDLY. Unfortunately Asian customer service to us isn’t always the best. Their loud voices can sometimes come off as «yelling», and the language barrier also prevents much interaction with the customer. The staff here was incredibly friendly, approachable, social, and helpful! They interacted with the children and us as well, and catered to our every need.
— The dimsum is FRESH. HOT, NEW, FRESH. Not rolling around in a dirty steam cart around the room for 45 minutes. You are given a list in ENGLISH/​CHINESE, yes now we can learn the names instead of looking and pointing. The dishes are all made to order!
Our mom actually didn’t like one of the dishes and they gladly took it back no questions asked! Then replaced it with any other dish we wanted.
This is how a dim sum restaurant SHOULD BE.
CLEAN, SERVICE, QUALITY.
**Also you know it must be good when our Chinese Parents approve!**

The dimsum here is amazing! Compared to larger restaurants in the Falls Church area, this little spot located in Centreville is a precious gem.
The dimsum comes out nice and hot, never oily. The egg tart is nice and flaky with a smooth but not too sweet center.
The same amazing feel and taste, and presentation, applies to the items on their regular menu as well.
Service is excellent.
Drive away from the greasy dimsum you normally get, and eat here instead. It’s worth it.

My family and I really enjoy Sino’s Inn, it’s been in Centreville forever! I believe that they do not deliver, you can either sit down and eat OR call ahead and get take out.
Several things I love:
– The amazingly prices drinks, it’s like HAPPY HOUR no matter what time you go! GET THE VOLCANO!
– The food is always delicious, you can tell they prepare a little more healthier than other Chinese restaurants (less oil, not greasy, higher quality meat, etc).
– THEY HAVE DIM SUM! My family and I never have to travel too far anymore! They have a lot of different dim sum options, but not as much as some of the places in Falls Church. There are no steam carts, and food is prepared as you order. Always hot! Never room temperature like places which have the steam carts.
– Excellent customer service.
Dislikes:
– no delivery :(so get up off your @$$ and pick up your food :)
– if you order Dim Sum during dinner, each plate is an extra $ 1.50. Boo! :(get there during lunch.

I came on Valentine’s Day because I wanted dim sum that was nearby. To my disappointment, they were not offering dim sum! I was so bummed out. The server helping us was really sorry about it but he was told that only that night they were not serving dim sum. I was starved because I waited for dinner so we ended up eating here anyway. Typical Chinese cuisine that I could’ve gotten by my house.
Plain fried rice — Basically veggie fried rice. Just no meat.
Vegtable combo — Mix of veggies in brown sauce. Not bad.
Bean curd family style — Mix of tofu & veggies in similar brown sauce. Tofu was fried.
Again, typical Chinese cuisine that did not pop out at me. I really wanted some dim sum. IF I decide to come back I will call ahead of time to make sure. They said they did not want to overwhelm the cook for Valentine’s day night.

Service is horrible. Completely understaffed. I’m starving –this is so painful. Bathrooms are not well kept. Food was good.

I tried this place for take out today… somewhat disappointed.
I ordered Triple Delight and Kung Pao Chicken and Pork.
In addition I ordered Chicken Fried Rice… all this for $ 37 bucks.
Nothing too exeptional here everything is just OK, about average.
I understand they do Dim Sum… reluctant to go back and try it now.
Park on the Centreville Square side of the street.