Monday, 10 November 2008

• Chaya

  118 Banff av
  Banff, AB T1L, Canada
  403-760-0882

  Have you heard people say that the good restaurants are the ones that look like a hole in the wall?  The reasoning I've heard is if they're so crappy looking they must be good at something to stay in business.  Hopefully that is food.  Well that's the reasoning we chose to come to Chaya which is a very small restaurant with paper menus, plastic tables, and washroom for one.  One of the menus is in full Japanese so we're hoping their ramen bowls are just like my experiences in Japan.

  

  A very authentic looking Japanese restaurant with a full menu in Japanese.

  A very small interior:

  

  You order at the front and pay before they serve it to you.  The staff is all Japanese too!  They had 8 small tables with 16 chairs.  But the amount of space only allows forming three tables for 4 and two tables for 2.  All the chairs and tables were cheap worn out plastic wobbly ones.  When we got there the tables were filled with either people eating at them or left over garbage.  Even some of the chairs had garbage on it like on a busy day at McDonald's.  Not all their serving dishes/cups were clean so beware.

  Included Salad:

  

  The salads were prepared well in advance and sat in a refrigerator.  After seeing the dirty dishes/cups, I didn't eat too much of this.

  Beef Udon:

  

  Countable beef shreds in warm water for $10.50.

  Thai Curry with Chicken:

  

  The rice had too much water so it was mushy and stuck together. That glob on my table to the left of my photo is potato salad.  The curry was very watery.  Although it's yellowy, it's red curry.  It was mostly ginger that favored it and made it slightly spicy.  There were 5 pieces of white chicken meat the size of the end of my thumb.  Also inside was 1 mushroom cut in half, a couple slices of cucumber, and 2 pieces of ginger.  It was really really disappointing for $12.50.

  BBQ Pork Ramen in Pork Broth:

  

  The broth was very very watery and had an instant noodle flavor to it.  The pork was over cooked and tough.  The egg ramen was good though.  Not worth the $11.50 it cost.

  You know when you go to a local restaurant and you know you're getting a little screwed when people who got there after you get a seat before you, there's a different menu in the native language, or certain people get "extras".  Well this is one of those places.  When I was walking out I noticed a Japanese couple that had ordered the same beef udon and they got 3 times the amount of beef.  I wouldn't have been this mad if we got decent food.  This hole in the wall is truly a hole in the wall with no redeeming good qualities to make it worth coming back.  Filthy eating area and dinnerware, ridiculously high price, poor quality and quantity food.  At least I didn't get sick after eating here.  I wouldn't recommend coming here.  Sad to say but the McDonald's right beside Chaya is a much better choice.  In case you do want to try Chaya, they're open 4pm - 8pm.

  Eric Tummy Points: 0 out of 5

  • 9:17 AM
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