Kaya, a Malaysian/Southeast Asian Bistro located on Broadway & Oak, had their grand opening yesterday night. During the previous week, they invited everyone to come in and enjoy complimentary tapas and wine tasting. I booked a table at their first dinner service at 6pm and the place was filled already by the time I arrived with W and K.




There was complimentary red and white wine tasting at the front of the restaurant though my friend, who booked for the 9pm dinner service said they had run out by then.

I tried the Yalumba Viognier white wine from Australia. It smells good and has a fruity taste. Yeah, I'm not a wine expert.



There was a lot of Tapas to choose from though we decided not order any since there was going to be complementary ones given to us. There was a few that stood out that I wouldn't mind going back to try:  mini soft shell crab, whole wheat roti, and satays.

We were given a sampler platter of tapas. Nyona Fried Spicy Calamari, Vegetarian Curry Samosas, Vegetarian Spring Rolls with a sweet (and sour?) dipping sauce. I liked the calamari the best. It was very flavourful and it didn't taste like any other calamari I had before. The batter was different, I don't know how to describe it, but it was delicious. The spring rolls and samosas were ok. They didn't really stand out. The samosas didn't have that much of a curry flavour.

Their popular Roti Canai is really delicious. Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Made fresh daily!

It came with a yummy coconut-y curry sauce. The Roti was definitely my favourite dish of the night. I was looking forward to eating it all week since I saw a photo of it! Kaya also serves a whole wheat version of the Roti.

To supplement our tapas, we ordered two dishes to share: Pad Thai ($10) and Seafood Fried Rice in Pineapple Boat ($13). The Pad Thai was delicious. A little spicy but nothing I couldn't handle. I could see myself getting this again.

The Seafood Fried Rice in Pineapple Boat was a little of a disappointment though. There were no actual pieces of pineapple in the rice (ok maybe only 3 tiny pieces), and the menu described it with having raisins & sunflower seeds, both were not present. It was also a little bland but had some kind of spice or seasoning taste. Cumin? We weren't able to identify it.


We were also giving a complimentary shot glass of mango smoothie, which was the best! Perfect to counter the spiciness of the Pad Thai. Really really yummy!

Because it was very busy, and the 7pm people were waiting in line, we were asked to give up our table for a smaller one. And for our trouble, the manager gave us complimentary dessert! They brought us Kuih Dadar which are hand rolled crepes flavored with pandan juice, filled with grated coconut steeped in Malaysian palm sugar. It is pretty good but is a very sweet dessert. Just one was enough for me. We did want to try the Warm Mango Durian Puff but since we already had the Kuih Dadar, our waitress soon brought us the bill (The line for the 7pm round was getting really long by this time).

Overall, it was a great dinner. The restaurant has a nice cosy atmosphere to it and the food was good. Still a little room for improvement but I loved most of what I had tried. I wouldn't mind going back for a second round to try some other dishes. The 8 course tasting menu, which is only $28 per person, particularly interested me.

You can check out their full menu on their website kayamalay.com.