Chaya

Recently, I went to Chaya in Downtown for my boyfriends’ birthday. I have herd a lot about this place, and I must say, it is delicious! I am a huge fan. The restaurant has a nice ambience; you can easily enjoy your surroundings. I loved the quiet and calm contiguous. The décor in the restaurant was modern and hip, it was nice change from the “old feel” at nice places. They had a really cool chandelier hanging in the restaurant; I think it was made from recycled, colorful bottles. They had nicely decorated walls and a cute section for the sushi bar. I liked the tall ceilings and atmosphere.

It was nice because we had a large party of twelve and we didn’t have to yell to communicate with our other guests. The service was fantastic for having such a large party. As a waitress, I focus on service to see if I can improve my work skills and the service at this restaurant was great. My drinks were refilled punctually and are ordered were handled rapidly and when we wanted. The waiter was very kind and patient with all of our ordered, and he got everything done properly.

They have a large drink menu so we all got cocktails. I usually don’t enjoy or order cocktails but the drink my boyfriend ordered was really good, not to strong with great flavors. I typically don’t enjoy everything at a restaurant but I must say I loved everything I ate here, from the Kobe Carpaccio to the desert.

They have a great selection of steak or fish. Chaya even has a sushi bar with a fresh sushi selection. I got a California roll for an appetizer, I was going the safe route just in case, and it was really nice and fresh. My boyfriend had the Kobe beef Carpaccio topped with a balsamic salad. It was really good; the balsamic dressing with the Kobe beef was a great combination. Chaya also has a complimentary bread appetizer. Coming from a person who loves bread, let me say that they have really good bread. It has a great crust with a soft, buttery, airy inside.

After we had a few cocktails and a couple loaves of bread, we ordered our main course. I ordered the maple-baked New Zealand king salmon. I ordered the salmon medium, which was the first time I ordered fish like that. The chef recommends the fish to be prepared medium rare, but I didn’t want my finish to be raw in the middle. When I received my meal it was very well presented. The fish was delightful; it was so moist and soft. It came with heirloom potatoes, shrimp, chanterelle mushrooms, and lemongrass essence.  It was a phenomenal meal.

            My boyfriend ordered the rib-eye steak. I had a bite and it was really great and juicy. The steak came with small roasted potatoes and green beans. He ordered a side of macaroni and cheese with rich truffle oil, which was lovely. Everyone who ordered that said it was great, rich and creamy. Another one of our guests ordered a special box with many different little meals inside. It was really cool! I believe it came with six portions of sushi, four portions of tasty sashimi, a helping of braised beef on top of a light red cabbage salad. The box had many more elements I just can’t remember them all. My friend ordered the lamb chops and he said they were delectable.

          After we finished off our meals they promptly cleared the table so we had room to socialize. Before we ordered desert, many of us order hot tea. Chaya has a great selection of hot tea. I loved the presentation and flavor of the tea. I ordered earl gray and another one of us ordered white peach tea. The tea was brought in a small, cute teapot with a portion of honey and a slice of lemon. They don’t give u a regular tea bag like many other places. The tea was an assortment of herbs in a designated section in the teapot. The white peach tea was lovely and soothing. The early gray was blissful and comforting with a rich flavor. The hot tea was a great before dessert.

            I ordered the chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. The dessert was way better then I expected! It was a pleasant hot chocolate lava cake with warm hot chocolate center. As I cut into it, the hot chocolate ran through the cake. It was such a great ending to an amazing meal. My boyfriend ordered a white chocolate ice cream with fresh berries. He also got another dessert with fresh berries when the serves came to sing happy birthday. It was an enjoyable bonus. Our friend who ordered the special box also ordered, “Bananas, Bananas, Bananas,” he said it was pleasing. This dessert consists of a banana crisp cake on the bottom, the size of a normal cookie, topped with banana ice cream with chunks of bananas inside the ice cream, and on top was a scrumptious chocolate covered banana. Others ordered, a banana bread cake and pistachio-chocolate chip cookies. I had a bite of the cookies and they were really good as well. I must say Chaya knows how to do desserts.

 

I understand that this isn’t a cheep place for college students, but it’s a great place for a date or anniversary of any kind. The food is great quality and the flavors are marvelous. Everything I ate was delicious and pleasing to my taste buds. They have many different locations to choose from. They have a restaurant in San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Venice, and Downtown L.A. I would love to eventually dine at all of these restaurants. I dined at the downtown location because it was the closest one to USC. I defiantly plan on returning to this restaurant. I will probably try a different location next time I dine at Chaya. I highly recommend this restaurant!

...Katherine Kaskanyan