THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Chaya Downtown Awards

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Chaya Downtown Restaurant Review:

Chaya Downtown sports a bar area that’s decorated with Moroccan-style mirrors and a grand colorful chandelier made of flotsam and jetsam hanging on strings. There’s also a marble-top sushi bar, dining room and an outdoor patio, which hosts an annual summer beer garden with a special robata station cooking up various skewers. The menu draws inspiration from around the globe, often blending in Japanese influences and ingredients. Appetizers feature salads and crudo --- raw seafood infused with flavors like garlic-jalapeño ponzu --- alongside tuna tartare, a true house classic. Inventive small plates dot the menu with sea urchin ice cream monaka, and fried venison and Fuji apple chutney. Main dishes range from a grilled Niman Ranch pork chop to miso-marinated sea bass on bok choy, eggplant and rice galette in wasabi soy broth. The sushi selection might include daily specials such as a soft-shell crab and spicy tuna roll. Finish off with the warm milk chocolate croissant bread pudding topped with ice cream and caramel. The wine list offers some three hundred labels, plus a dozen sakés. A wide array of imported bottled beers is available, too. Cocktails are inventive and well-crafted, using fresh Asian ingredients like yuzu juice, shiso and ginger.