My boyfriend and I ventured into KAYA last night . We had been in there before, but now we were reminded just why we hadn't been there in over two years. We would have gone to Wabi Sabi on Abbot Kinney, which we absolutely love, but we weren't in the mood for valet parking, bright lighting or a trendy atmosphere, and Sakura on Centinela (which is another one of our faves is unfortunately closed on Mondays :( Having said that, we walked into KAYA last night, attempting to make our way to seating at the sushi bar, which only had one couple sitting at it, but the remainder of the chairs at the sushi bar were being taken up by a family with kids leaning on them waiting to be seated in the dining room. That annoyed me since the restaurant does provide a bench by the entrance for folks to wait. First annoyance. Second annoyance was the techno-like music playing aloud throughout the restaurant. We finally sat down at the sushi bar and a waiter arrived to take our drink orders. I inquired about the wines, asking for a Cabernet. The boy pointed to the white wines... I laughed it off; he's just young and inexperienced I thought. Not a big deal. My boyfriend asked if they had a dark beer available, and they DO NOT: a big no-no when we go out, especially because several Japanese beers companies do offer that option.
After deciding on our drinks, the waiter disappeared for quite a while, leaving us at the sushi bar completely unattended, even through there were 3 guys behind the bar. Not only can you NOT see the fish in front of you, which is part of the experience of sitting at the bar in the first place, (this was the third major annoyance,) but the final straw for us last night was the fact that all 3 of the men behind the bar went without giving us eye contact or even a simple hello or welcome, I'll be right with you. We sat there for almost 15 minutes without a single word or eye contact from any of them, STILL! Finally, my boyfriend literally started waving his hands in the air. They kept their heads low, almost on purpose as to not give us any eye contact. We said, "HELLO! HELLOOOO!" Two of them scurried out from behind the bar, and the one who remained was EXTREMELY rude to us! We told him that neither of them greeted us, told us they would be right with us or anything, &no eye contact. We told him that almost 15 minutes had passed and that we have been waiting to order and were hungry.
HIS RESPONSE TO US: " if you don't like it, too bad. That's the way (I) do things." We were annoyed and appalled! To say the least. I mean, who DOES that??? Finally, our drinks came... And he said, "so are you ready to order or what?" My man looked at me, almost to ask what I was going to order but also with an aggravated look on his face... And that's when I said, " screw this, let's get the hell outta here!"
(If I was a manager at KAYA, or one of the owners and found out he acted like that, I would have fired him on the spot!) NOT COOL.
We were craving sushi, nevertheless and it had been way too long since we had sushi, so we were still on a mission to do just that. We were just about to head over to Wabi Sabi, since Sakura was closed... But then, about a block and a half away we saw a place across the street on Washington blvd. we had never been there before, but it was right there, so we gave it a go.
This restaurant is called: HAMAKAZE.... AND IT WAS AWESOME! A complete 180 from our recent experience at KAYA. The moment we arrived, we were greeted by the two sushi chefs... From across the restaurant, and also greeted by each of the waitstaff. It was a warm welcome and very pleasant... ( and the dining room was full, ) unlike KAYA , where it was dead and we still got crappy service there. The yellowtail was amazing there, the server had knowledge of their wine list, aaaand, they offered "black beer!"
The staff was attentive and polite, and even had a refreshing sense of humor. Also, the music wasn't club like or overpowering.
In closing,I guess it took a terrible experience to have found a new place to go regularly. And when I said earlier that I was reminded why I hadn't been back to KAYA Ina very long time ... I meant it. Later, I recalled that the last time I was there before last night, I had fishy albacore tuna, and got very ill.
I will NEVER BE BACK TO KAYA on Washington blvd. The music sucks, they have a crappy beer selection, they are overpriced, and rude... The service altogether is terrible.... And you may even get sick if you eat there.
I do, however highly recommend HAMAKAZE, it's a block and a half away across the street. Wabi Sabi is great, too... Just a little too brightly lit, valet parking... And twice the price... But the fish is ALWAYS fresh there. And besides being closed on Mondays, SAKURA on Centinela is great! read more