Chaya Japanese Beer Garden: Why I Need to Spend More Time Downtown
22 Jun
Chaya Downtown
Whenever I find myself needing to kill some time downtown, I usually head to 525 S. Flower St. One address, two awesome all night happy hours: Drago Centro and Chaya Downtown. For the rest of the summer, I may find excuses to brave the 10E and head downtown. The reason? Chaya Downtown’s Japanese Beer Garden is excellent. The beer garden takes place every Monday through Friday from 4 pm to close on the patio. While the dining room is elegant but a bit stuffy, the patio is relaxed, bright, and fun. This beer garden would be an excellent and festive date spot.
Skewers: Beef, Bacon-wrapped dates, Shrimp, and Mushroom
The first thing you’ll notice when you enter the patio is a Yakitori grill preparing skewers made-to-order. The tender beef skewers were a clear favorite, but they were all solid. The mushroom’s had a slightly sweet glaze with a strong umami aftertaste. The mint on the shrimp skewers were dominating, so stay clear if mint is not your thing. Not surprisingly, the bacon wrapped dates were more on the sweet than savory side, so a little goes a long way.
Spicy Tuna & Shishito Pepper Tempura
The spicy tuna & shishito pepper tempura were flavorful, crunchy, and a winner.
Grilled White Corn with Feta Cheese
Although I’m more of a corn purist (a hot grill and a little salt is all I really need), I was impressed with this take on grilled white corn. I described it to my dining companion “as spicy, creamy, and cheesy…just like me,” but alas, she replied, “No, you’re just cheesy.” I would order this again as well.
Coffee BBQ Pork
The highlight of the meal was the coffee BBQ pork. Whenever I start toying with the idea of giving up pork, I have a delicious dish like this one. The red sauce gives it a little spice, which nicely balances the sweetness of the pork’s glaze. This is a must order.
Sushi Special: Shrimp Tempura, Spicy Tuna, with Shrimp on Top
The only disappointing dish of the night was the “Today’s Sushi Roll.” The day I went, it happened to be shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, with shrimp on top. There was nothing bad about it, it just wasn’t too flavorful.
Chaya Menu
"D" LA Blondie
If you’re a fan of lychee, this cocktail is for you. While lychee is the main thing you’ll taste, other ingredients include: leblon cachaça, st. germain, soju, sweet & sour, and mint leaf.
Sake Flight (My favorite is the one on the right)
Seeing Double
I fell in love with this cocktail last year (I ended up recreating it at home several times last summer), and while it didn’t blow me away this time, it is still a solid choice: blood orange and lavender infused Sauza tequila, lime juice, and pomegranate juice.
Banana, Banana, Banana
When I asked for the dessert menu, I was told that this was the dessert to get, and I was glad I skipped the menu and took the server’s word for it. Banana ice cream, banana pie, and chocolate covered banana. The crust was buttery and everything came together to make a sweet, crunchy, and creamy dessert. Beautiful.
Do yourself a favor and make an excuse to head downtown and enjoy a beautiful night on the patio. And if you live or work downtown, consider me jealous. Parking is easy, the music is great (I heard Miike Snow and Cut Copy), and the food is delicious.
CHAYA Downtown
525 S. Flower Street, Los Angeles
Monday through Friday, 4 pm – close
Through September 2, 2011
Disclosure: The meal was hosted.
Hi Nick! Don’t know if you remember me – it’s been a while since you were my RA freshman year
I wanted to let you know that your blog is awesome! I’m a huge foodie but I have a hard time finding new places to eat in the area – I’m always on the hunt for a new great place, but there’s so many to choose from that it gets overwhelming trying to decide where to go. Thanks for sharing – I might try this place next week!