My friends and I had been craving sushi for a while, so we ended up going to Soya. We went on a Friday for their happy hour (4 PM-7 PM). I highly recommend making a reservation, as wait times can get long. Before coming, I did a bit of research and found a link to make a reservation (I couldn't find a direct link on their page, so I had to look it up online).
When we arrived, we were greeted by the hostess, who asked for our reservation confirmation. Once confirmed, we only waited about five minutes for our table. Our server, Hani, was really nice and attentive throughout the night.
Starting with drinks, they offer 2-for-1 specials. Hani recommended the passionfruit margarita with a Tajín rim, which I decided to try, while my friend opted for the coconut margarita. I have to say, I loved my drink It was flavorful, and you could really taste the passionfruit. I also tried the coconut margarita, it was okay, but the coconut flavor wasn't as strong. I might try the coconut mojito next time. My friends agreed that the passionfruit margarita was the best.
I also asked for more drink recommendations, and Hani suggested the guanábana (soursop) madness, which includes coconut rum, rum, guanábana purée, and pineapple. For some reason, I expected it to look like a piña colada but it came as a cute drink with a red purée on top that tasted more like strawberry. I wasn't entirely sure what it was, but it was good! It wasn't very strong (maybe it could use a bit more rum), but I'd still order it again. If you like guanábana, I'd say go for it. Lastly, I tried the tamarind margarita with a Tajín rim, also really good. If you're not in the mood for cocktails, they also have $2 glasses of wine and prosecco, which is a great deal.
For food, we started with steamed gyoza, fried shumai, and sushi pizza. I have no complaints, everything was delicious We ended up ordering another round of gyoza (this time fried) and shumai, that's how much we liked them. For rolls, we tried the Doral roll, which has shrimp tempura, krab salad, avocado, and cream cheese, topped with salmon and eel sauce. It was sooo good definitely try it!
We wanted to try more, but there's only so much we could eat Even though we shared everything, the portions were filling, especially with drinks included.
For dessert, we ordered the Oreo roll. We were debating between that and the fried ice cream, which I low key regret I thought the Oreo roll would be a whole deep fried cookies with ice cream on top, but it turned out to be Oreo crumble wrapped around what seemed like frozen cream cheese and strawberry. I wasn't a fan, the texture wasn't creamy, and it was too frozen, so we had to chew through it. If I could revamp it, I'd keep the whole cookie, deep fry it, add ice cream on top, strawberries, and a drizzle of Nutella, now that would be the I definitely regretted not ordering the fried ice cream or even their brownie
The ambiance was good, the usual noise level of a busy restaurant. We sat near the front, so it didn't feel too crowded. It's a great spot for friends or a date night. There's parking in front of the restaurant and nearby since it's in a shopping center.
Our server consistently checked on us, and other staff members also came by to clear empty plates and glasses, which we appreciated.
Would I come back? OF COURSE I have to try more dishes (and drinks) that I didn't get to this time. A table near us ordered the Coquitos Crunch (I'm assuming it was good because it looked amazing), the volcano roll, and the dynamite salad, all on my list for next time! I'll definitely keep this spot as one of my go-to places for happy hour with my girls read more