Not more than a few weeks ago, after a co-worker asked about restaurants in the Disneyland area, I recommended K'Ya, highlighting their Bistro menu, which featured items such as a hanger steak with mashed potato and sauteed veggies for around $10. I checked their website to confirm that it was still in effect and it was.
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But then, less than a week later, there came reports that K'Ya has ditched that menu for a complete overhaul. And I do mean complete. There are no longer lists for appetizers, main course, et cetera. Instead, it's all street foods, categorized by city. Although I have not tried it, the list looks quite promising. Admittedly, most are just rearrangements of what they previously offered, but others dishes are completely new. There's falafel, Korean mandoo and Mexican corn with chili, lime, and butter.
All are played fast and loose. For example, I am not sure if seared miso butterfish is a common street food in Tokyo (doubt it) or why fish and chips are in the Miami Beach category (London is not represented). But the fact is, the effort seems born out of a genuine need to please and have fun. Nothing is priced over $10. Never mind that a lot of it sounds borrowed from Susan Feniger's Street in L.A.
If anyone's tried K'Ya since the change, chime in. I'd like to know what you think.
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.