Behold: Chaya.
The awesome thing about having a food blog in SF is that it’s no longer necessary to write bad reviews of restaurants. There’s just too much good stuff here to waste time on sub-par food. Chaya is one of the best places I’ve been in a while.
It’s mom’s birthday. More than a pony, she wants a nice meal at an upscale restaurant — preferably with a view of the water — and a fun night with her daughters. Choosing a restaurant is always difficult, but we settled on Chaya, though none of us had been there before.
Chaya is on Embarcadero across the street and a bit south from the Ferry Building. It has large windows that look directly out onto the Bay Bridge. The atmosphere is fancy but not pretentious. The menu is amazing.
Our entrance involved unexpectedly squeezing all three of us into one revolving door compartment. The hostess said she’s never seen anyone do that. Well, we’re from Hayward, so, there’s that. We should not be trusted to act normal in public. Thankfully they still served us.
The food is French/Japanese. Weird, right? Literally everything on the menu looked amazing. They have lots of creative seafood dishes, salads, sushi, steaks, and amazing sides. Oddly, there were no mains for strict vegetarians, though there were a few appetizers, sides, and a small sushi section.
Bottles of wine were half off on Sundays, #win. We ordered a sushi roll starter to share, mom and I ordered the same cod dish for dinner, and sister ordered filet mignon. At the recommendation of the waiter, we could not resist sharing the macaroni and cheese side to share as well. There were literally no complaints about anything. It was all amazing.
San Francisco Roll: crab, shrimp (cooked), avocado, cucumber, tomato, asparagus, soy paper
Soy Glazed Local Black Cod: hijiki brown rice, tempura green beans, baby bok choy
Angus Filet Mignon: fingerling potatoes, creamed swiss chard, black truffle sauce
Fontina Macaroni Cheese with white truffle oil
Particularly ridiculously amazing was the creamed chard with the filet and the rice that came with the cod. I could have eaten an entire vat of either. Yeah, I just made something delicate and delicious sound gross. Sorry.
Dessert was chocolate croissant bread pudding for me and sis, a nice port wine for mom.
Chocolate croissant bread pudding with caramel ice cream
Mains are around $30 each, appetizers in the $12-$20 range. The half price bottle of wine saved us $25, and the whole endeavor was appropriately priced for the quality of the experience. Certainly not an every-week affair, but completely perfect for a special occasion. Ten stars.
“Well, we’re from Hayward, so, there’s that. We should not be trusted to act normal in public. Thankfully they still served us.” Oh god, laughed so much.
And this…”Yeah, I just made something delicate and delicious sound gross. Sorry.”
Mouthwateringly good sounding!
This truly was an amazing restaurant in all the ways you noted. They should pay you for this review and that picture of the restaurant! Magical evening!
I like your mom’s style with the port for dessert. 😉
Hi Angie! I know we are a little late to seeing this, but thank you for your wonderful review! I know it’s been awhile, but we hope to see you back in the restaurant again soon! Best, Rachel (CHAYA Marketing)
Hi Rachel! Thanks for saying hello! I have been meaning to head back to Chaya to try out the happy hour forever — I hope to see you soon as well!! 🙂