Passion Fin is a Japanese restaurant in Gainesville, Virginia, on the Gateway Promenade. The restaurant serves all sorts of Japanese cuisine, such as sushi, hibachi, and other Japanese entrees. The restaurant is new to the area, having opened in late 2019 prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. Passion Fin is included in a chain of restaurants, but each location has creative liberties regarding menu items and the décor inside and out of the restaurant.  

This review gives Brentsville students exposure to different restaurants in the area to try. In the poll, 90 percent of students had not eaten at Passion Fin before, and 75 percent noted that they would be willing to try it out.  

Passion Fin is open from 12pm- 9pm daily with some variations on weekends. They offer lunch, dinner, curbside pickup, and catering. The menu also offers a wide variety of options to choose from even for fussy eaters. While visiting Passion Fin, I talked to the hostess/ co- owner of the restaurant, Ellie Kim. Kim and her husband own the chain and handle day- to day operations of the restaurant. She offered a great insight into the struggles of owning a restaurant, especially through the ongoing pandemic. Her staff consists of 3 skilled sushi chefs, 4 lineman cooks that specialize in freshly cooked entrees, and many waiters and waitresses. Her most senior chef has been cooking for 20 years now. Passion Fin has been especially busy lately, Kim mentioning, “Fridays are the busiest days; usually there is a line out the door”. 

While visiting, I had what Kim claimed to be the most popular items: the California roll, crunchy tuna roll, and the hibachi entrees. Both sushi rolls were full of flavor and tasted very fresh. The plates were also brightly decorated with flowers and different sauces and made the experience more enjoyable. Next, the hibachi entrees were flavorful, but the steak was slightly overcooked and tougher than anticipated. Fortunately, the flavor made up for the slight error in the cook of the steak. Overall, the star of my meal was the sushi offered at Passion Fin. I would go back to try the many rolls available. Results from students who have eaten at Passion Fin were also largely positive with an average 4- star rating.                                                                           

The service at Passion Fin is also a big star; the waitresses were attentive to making sure our drinks were full and that we were taken care of. Although, the price can be slightly steep for anything other than special occasions with the price reaching $100 for 3 people. Passion Fin, in my opinion, would be a great spot, special nights such as dates, and birthday dinners, but not so much an everyday thing.