Oya Restaurant & Lounge

Even among the McDonalds and the Dunkin Donuts and the other tourist-trap chains, the Chinatown area manages to maintain quite a bit of class on the western side of 7th St. Slightly unassuming on the outside, the inside of Oya is plush, chic and very on the Miami glamor side. It may look like a lounge and may certainly feel more like one once the happy hour time hits, but Oya serves great food as well. I'm a fan of their lunch and dinner pre-fixe specials, where for $19 (lunch) or $29 (dinner) you get a choice of an appetizer, entree and dessert. The food has an Asian influence with a lot of seafood dishes; think curried sea bass spring rolls and scallop pad thai. The portions aren't large but definitely satisfy - the sea bass spring rolls, for instance, are packed with sauteed vegetables and plenty of sea bass and are complimented with a small noodle salad and sweet soy glaze. Desserts are also single-portioned but also dense: their banana bread pudding really bursts with banana flavor and is sticky sweet; their molten chocolate cake is thick in both the cake and the soft chocolate in the middle. If you plan to go here to schmooze and mingle in your best finery, maybe avoid a full meal and just go sharezies on sushi (which I hear is excellent). But come for lunch when the wait is short and take advantage of their good, filling offerings. Pros: great decor and atmosphere, good Pre-fixe and HH deals Cons: heavy and filling dishes, some are pricey solo more

Stopped by here for a glass of wine and to check it out. I have heard so much about it! The all black and white decor is amazing. Love the waterfall covering the kitchen and the white leather couches. Definitely an upscale place. Didn't get a chance to taste anything from the menu but I can't wait to go back! Pros: Decor, atmosphere, not crowded Cons: pricey more

I am in love with this place. Why? Because every part of the experience of dining at Oya is breathtaking. The decor features this all-white, super contemporary set up that plays with various lighting techniques and various fabric textures. If the atmosphere wasn't impressive enough, the food is also excellent. First off, Oya offers $10 ""bag lunches"" to go. You can choose from sushi, salad, entrees, and they all come with desert. It's awesome. Second, I can't say enough how good their regular menu is. I love their sushi, and their scallops and tuna pizza are also great choices. THIRD! (yes there's yet another reason) Oya offers a prix-fixe lunch and dinner menu for $19 and $20 respectively, which is basically their restaurant week menu, year round. Oh, and the service is great. Pros: Chic, stylish, cool atmosphere; AMAZING FOOD more

Many items on the menu are hit or miss. The sushi doesn't taste bad, but it's barely a grade above your local sushi hold in the wall. Pasta is ok, but about as tasty as anything you'd get at the Whole Foods hot bar. BBQ sliders are fine, but not any better than sports bar food. Bottom line though is that it's pricey - at least $100 a person if you're having drinks too. For that money, not only should the food be amazing, but the service has to match as well. At our dinner the service was spotty and frantic, at one point we had several empty dishes and glasses on our table that for some reason weren't being sweeped. The setting is amazing, just wish the food and service would match the decor. more

Oya caters to the self-consciously hip. It's the kind of place where a little black dress and heels are standard, and the faddish menu offers gnocchi, sushi and a soup called Ginger Butternut Squash Cappuccino. All in all, it's not the kind of place you'd think of for a quick, affordable meal. And yet last month, Oya started offering to-go $10 lunch bags in three categories: sushi, salad and sandwich. Some of the options are from the regular menu, such as the restaurant's popular Spicy Crunchy Shrimp Roll and the Smoked Turkey Brie Sandwich. But there are also to-go specials, and each lunch bag includes a choice of three mini-desserts. Our first pick was the nine-piece Spicy Crunchy Shrimp Roll. The maki was a little starchy, but the soy-paper wrap was an elegant touch. So were the small side portions of warm edamame and crunchy seaweed salad that accompany all four of the sushi options. Even without dessert, you'd be hard-pressed to find an equivalent sushi bargain downtown. We also liked the Chicken Mai Thai salad. The kitchen is a little heavy-handed with the rich sesame dressing, but the mix of sliced chicken, green papaya, julienne peppers, bean sprouts, cilantro, mint and crunchy noodles is still a refreshing choice on a hot summer day. Sandwiches, which come with a bag of vegetable chips, were less successful. The generously sized pulled short-rib sandwich was a lump of flavorless braised beef -- something that should be a contradiction in terms -- cloaked with melted cheese that had congealed. The fillet on the teriyaki salmon sandwich was tender and flavorful. But it was topped with just a smear of mayonnaise and chopped lettuce; a gingery slaw or some fresh herbs would have made all the difference. Oya's kitchen should know better. Desserts are a nice little bonus. The banana bread pudding, a regular on Oya's menu, was comfort food defined. Carrot cake, though a little too sweet, was just the right size to satisfy a midday craving for dessert. The tiny fruit-and-granola parfait was a nice idea, but the chef should forgo the orange slices that taste canned. That is anything but hip. --Jane Black (Good to Go, May 2010) more

Haven't gone here for dinner, but the menu looks interesting. We were in the neighborhood and decided to... more

Haven't gone here for dinner, but the menu looks interesting. We were in the neighborhood and decided to grab some drinks at the ultrahip red bar.... more