"I'm conflicted about this place. On one hand, I have a lot of fond memories coming here with my parents when I was growing up. The atmosphere is about as authentic as you can get, considering you still need to meet fire and food safety code. But... boy was it expensive for food that just wasn't quite what I remembered. I say this as a bit of a peanut soup snob. If you've never tried Virginia peanut soup (not African, but it's good in its own way), do yourself a favor and find a place that serves it and give it a shot. I'm hooked. Anyway, I've had enough of it to know what it looks like when it's fresh vs. reheated, and I'm 99% sure this was refrigerated and reheated. Is that a problem? For a restaurant like the Surrey House (sadly no longer open), where you could get a big bowl for less than $10, it would probably suffice. But I expect more from the King's Arms at $9 per small cup. Likewise the rest of the food was OK, but nothing spectacular, and I suspect that if you took away all the ambiance, the low candle lighting, and the traditional music, it wouldn't pass the smell test for a fine dining establishment. So why 4 stars, then? Because really, you don't go to the King's Arms for fine dining. You go there to suspend disbelief for just a moment and live the life of an 18th century traveler. The lighting, the colonial garb, the feel of the dishware, the little ditties wafting from other rooms... all adds up to a 5 star feeling that you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else outside of the historic district. It more than makes up for what I would consider to be just so-so food at French cuisine prices. Parking: You have to walk a block unless you have a handicapped tag. Kid-friendliness: Surprisingly kid friendly. They do have a kid's menu and the entertainment is enough to occupy them for a little while."
