Friday Night Downtown
We left work a bit early to head down to the auto show. We got there at about 3pm and was pleasantly surprised to find a very empty show. We got to sit in all the cars we wanted without much of a wait and we took tons of pictures leisurely. (posted on flickr) After about 4 1/2 hours of hanging out, we decided to head to OYA for dinner. I made reservations earlier that week and it's a good thing because the place was hopping.
OYA is pretty trendy, the first thing you notice when you walk in is the chain link curtain separating the entrance from the bar. Then you notice cool white couches surrounding short tables in the bar and lounge area. The bar has a fireplace behind it, which almost gives a cozy feel, but the fire comes up from white stones and the rest of the bar is all in white as well. If the lights weren't so dim, I think it might appear very sterile, but in the dark evening it was a good effect. We were a little early for our reservations so we waited at the bar, noticing how many of the women were clearly trolling and we were slightly underdressed in our jeans and cold weather/car show walking-around clothing.
We sat down and were served cheesy biscuits, well more like brioche than biscuits. They were quite good. The menu is French/Asian fusion, with a small sushi menu, so we decided to each get a "small" plate (aka appetizer) and a couple of rolls to split. I started with tempura tofu with mango and apricot. The tofu was split in half, stuffed with mango, then tempura battered and fried. Lightly drizzled around was a tangy apricot sauce. It was incredible. I can't lie, I saw it on the online menu and it was one of the reasons I picked the restaurant, and it didn't let me down. The mango gave the tofu a nice fruity flavor and the apricot gave a fierce little punch. Quite delightful!
Jason got a mixed green salad with grape confit sauce and a goat cheese timbale. The timbale was light and tasted terrific when mixed with the grape. (the menu actually says that this salad has a different sauce, but we confirmed with the waiter the grape.) Next we split Spicy Crunchy Salmon roll and a Crab Roll. The spicy salmon was wrapped in a thin sheet of soy and tasted very nice and fresh. The crab roll was avocado and crab, rolled in seaweed and rice, then baked in gruyere cheese. It was a little odd and I didn't care for it, but Jason thought the combination was unexpected, but good.
For dessert we split an asian pear upside down cake with amaretto caramel sauce. It was delightful. The cake was almost like a pound cake it was so rich and the caramel was thick and delicious.
OYA also has a nice wine menu, featuring a number of wines that I had never tried. They also have some local wines, like some from Horton Vineyards in Virginia. The menu offers a teaser (2 oz glass) or a climax (5 oz) glass. I decided to get a teaser of Syrah from Idaho and a teaser of Shiraz from Australia. The syrah was really smooth and delicious. The shiraz seemed really buttery to me, but bitter after the syrah. I think I would order a climax of syrah next time.
Overall the food, service, and atmosphere were fantastic and I think it's definitely a place to try. We liked it so much, we'll probably go back, even though there are lots of other restaurants we'd like to try. I could see this place becoming a favorite.