Kaya Sushi Restaurant

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  Upon entering, I was greeted with. "no sushi.  Korean spicy only."  I love spicy Korean food, so ... yes yes yes!  
  
  I asked about the pork with vegetables, but was told 'no vegetables'.  So I got the pork with kimchi (jaeyook kimchi bokum). The dish was bright red from Chili Pepper Paste, served on a big serving plate, pork sauteed with kimchi over tofu.  Delicious and gigantic.  It didn't seem spicy at all, but I was sweating at the end.  Brown rice complimented this dish perfectly.  I couldn't finish the whole dish, but I tried.  
  
  The appetizers (banchan) were very good, but there were only 5 dishes.  The cucumbers in vinegar was so good.  
  
  When I was done, I couldn't find my waitress, so I flagged someone to get a check.  After leaving the money on the table, I did see the waitress on the sidewalk outside the restaurant chatting with someone.  
  "thank you", I called to her.  
  "did you pay?" she responded.  
  
  I get the feeling this is a small restaurant that caters to the local Korean population.  
  
  A Korean food guide in North Jersey could probably get many free meals by accompanying us non-koreans to different restaurants.

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  Posted on 04.26.13 Greg B.

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  Notice the bad reviews are from non-koreans and the good ones are from Koreans?  Yea, this place is good.  Its not fancy dining but its kick butt small restaurant turning out high quality food for discerning Korean customers.  There's only a few Korean restaurants in the Pal Park Leonia strip that I would consider to be worth my money and this is one of them.  If you want fine dining and clothe napkins, this place isn't for you.  If you want an authentic, seasonal Korean food with Southeast Korean regional flare, do yourself a favor and check it out.

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  Posted on 11.23.12 Andrew L.

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  went here for quick dinner before going to King Sauna. wasn't very impressed with the spicy beef stew i had ordered. Friend enjoyed his sushi/salad/rice dish. I think the next time I come here, I will get the BBQ that other reviewers raved about.
  
  the banchans were good and varied, but mostly veggies. The steamed egg was yummy.
  
  service was decent but didn't refill water at all.

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  Posted on 10.24.12 Camy C.

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  Possibly the worst sushi I have ever had. The rice tasted foul, the fish was old and tasted horribly fishey, the soy sauce was peutridly sweet. Luckly the portions were small so you don't have to suffer to much. Also if you don't speak korean have fun miming out your order.

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  Posted on 07.22.12 Josh B.

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  Kaya is this little hidden gem in Leonia. Although I'm Korean I honestly prefer Italian, Japanese, Mexican, and American restaurants more than Korean ones... unless it's Korean BBQ or it's KAYA. Kaya is a Korean restaurant that actually gets me excited.
  
  Why? You may ask. Well, it's a combination of things. First, unlike many other Korean restaurants, Kaya's food quality is consistently good and each item holds its own. Even little side dishes have good thought put into them - they're good. A lot of subpar Korean restaurants try to wing it by making like one main dish good enough and everything else is just thrown in... hoping to just get overall OK. Kaya doesn't do that.  Second, Kaya is what you would call a to-sok (traditional) restaurant, featuring many traditional and more unique & authentic Korean menu items. Obviously the ge-jang (soy sauce-pickled raw crab) comes to mind.
  
  On to the actual review - decor is nothing to write home about, it's just homey and serves its function. Place is a bit smallish, but that's how Kaya does well. If it's too big, quality will suffer. For all you veggie-loving ladies out there - or all you health-eating fanatics - knock yourself out by ordering their "Ssam Bap" jungshik. Literally means "wrapped meal main course" in loose terms. It's $24.99 and can stuff 2 or feed 3. You get spicy pork bulgogi on big round earthen sizzler, and a basket FULL of mounds of greens. And I mean MOUNDS of greens. And you get their traditional homemade bean paste to dip the veggies in. It's sublime. Meat lovers can feel good taking in all that antioxidant greens. I just go Elephant on those... picking big pieces of unknown greens, dip, and shove. You feel awesomely good since those greens cleanse your blood and turn into alkalic ash once digested, which fights all those aging acidic ashes produced from ingesting meats, grains, and fat. Eat meat yet get green. It's a beautiful thang.
  
  Gejang from what I remember was even better but on my recent visit I was a tad bit disappointed since it wasn't as well-seasoned (it should be quite salty) probably due to not sitting in soy sauce long enough due to popular demand. But it was still fresh, so no complaints. Their spicy bean stew (dwenjang jjigae) is one of the best around the town IMHO. They also serve up other BBQ's like the ever-famous pork-belly bbq and spicy squid dish which I have yet to try.
  
  So whaddaya waiting for... if you want something other than the typical Korean bibimbaps, soondooboos, and bulgogis.... head over to Kaya and get yo grub's worth. You are sure to love this gem of Korean joint.

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  Posted on 02.06.12 Eric K.

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  Food used to be better but on my recent trip, I felt that the quality of food has gone down a bit.  The tripe stew was pretty decent but other things we ordered were just ok.  We ordered bulgogi mushroom jun gol(any Korean person can make this far better), sauteed pork(dry!!) and stirred octopus dish.  
  The one thing I really hate about this restaurant is their service.  Out of all the Korean restaurants I have been to, this restaurant probably has the worst service.  I asked one of the ladies, do you have a menu, she said, they are basically written on the wall...I'd ask something and they usually don't even respond and no, I am far from one of those demanding customers.  
  Now that their food quality has gone down, I have no reasons to visit this place anymore.

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  Posted on 12.20.11 Monica K.

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  This is a hidden gem in this crowded area of Korean restaurants... it's a small hole in the wall type of restaurant that has a small sushi bar and enough seating for probably 30 people at max... at any night, you can find older men and women eating and drinking to the awesome taste of Kaya style GyeJang (soy sauce dipped raw crabs), SsamBop (authentic vegetables and meat unlike MomoFuku fake fusion crappy food), and sizzling sound of Pork BBQ on stone grille... top it off with some SOJU and you are good to go...
  
  I have missed this place to avoid my crazy EX but i might have to make a triumphant return... here we go!! BOOM!!!

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  Posted on 11.09.11 Mark R.

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  90% of my family has lived in Bergen County for the past 15 years or so and I don't exagerrate (ok, maybe a little), when I say that we have dined at almost every single Korean food establishment in all of Northern New Jersey.  We have our "dangol-jibs" meaning, "place where we are regulars" but a bit of time ago, our favorite samgyupsal (krn pork bbq) place closed down.  My parents faced the arduous task of finding another dangoljib and there you have it.  Kaya in the morning Kaya in the evening Kaya at suppertiiiiiime~~~
  
  Menu Musts:
  
  1) Samgyupsal.  So thick so juicy so perfectly cooked... it's love.  They actually cook it for you on the side, rather than in the middle of your table like most places, which I preferred.  And afterwards, they cook kimchi for you and that is just the icing on the cake!
  
  2) Gye-jang.  This is soysauce marinated raw crab that you eat with hot rice, and it is BOMB here.  Some places make it too salty, some places make it not salty enough, but Kaya has their gyejang down PAT.  It's usually a slightly pricey menu item (they have a lunch special that's cheaper), but with our dangol status, comes free plates of this stuff!
  
  3) Sengtae Maewoontang.  This is basically a spicy fish soup and a regular on any menu in a typical Korean restaurant.  Usually, if you want really good maewoontang, you wanna go to a real Korean sushi restaurant (this place is NOT a sushi rest...Yelp, please correct yoself!), but Kaya has got places BEAT when it comes to maewoontang.  The "sengtae" part means they used fresh fish instead of frozen, which makes the broth and the fish meat oh-so-dericious and rich and the fish just melts in your mouth and the broth is insanity.  
  
  4) Gopchang Jungol.  This is intestine stew.  Sorry, I just couldn't figure out a graceful way to put it.  A lot of people have been telling me lately, to stay away from intestine stew, but lemme tell ya something.  If it tastes the way it does at Kaya, it'd be hard not to GULP it all down nevertheless stay away from it!  Dayam!  Nice and spicy with ricecakes, veggies, noodles, and tofu inside.. this intestine stew is definitely worth trying if you're a risk taker!
  
  5) Last but certainly not least, as many reviewers have mentioned before me, their freaking SSAMBAP JUNGSHIK.  This is a special that comes with a MOUNDFUL of various wrapp-able veggies (cabbage, lettuce, sesame leaves, pumpkin leaves, seaweed, etc.) and a huge steaming hot stone plate of spicy pork and a bowl of their homemade ssamjang (sauce).  You basically put a bit of rice, a bit of pork, and a bit of the sauce, and you wrap it all up with the veggie of your choice, and wa-la! SSAMBAP! (literally translates to wrap-rice)
  
  I don't think a weekend has passed where I DON'T eat here after golf.......... that's the only negative about this place though.. many a Korean man/woman come here after Saturday golf and drink many a soju bottle and get wayyy too loud and wasted for my tastes.  Blech.
  
  Waitresses/owner are friendly too!  :)

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  Posted on 10.07.11 Cheryl K.

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  Came here with my family after my brother's graduation on a Thursday afternoon.
  
  We ordered the ssam special (which comes with a huge amount of bbq and a side of dwen jang jjigae and rice for everyone. We also got the soy sauce gae jang special (omg I love gae jang, and this is their specialty here, apparently). I also got the baby octopus dolsot bibimbap, which came with miso soup.
  
  All of the food came out promptly (we were one of the only diners here at this time, so service was very quick). All of the food was really good. The gae jang was seasoned well, but a little bit on the salty side. The dolsot bibimbap was a bit too sweet for my tastes and the sauce really overpowered a lot of the dish. The octopus was really good though. The bbq was also good and the portions of all the dishes were humongous.
  
  The price wasn't bad given all the food we ordered.
  
  Definitely come here for the crab. Well worth it.

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  Posted on 06.27.11 Gina K.

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  I went here a few years ago with Korean speaking ppl,  the service was great and they gave us lots of complimentary dishes.  One of which was a fish that was so over salted i ended up puking (i managed to make it to the bathroom first).  that being said i have never been back...  My cousins family tried to go and weren't even seated because they didn't speak Korean.  they ended up leaving after standing there for 20 min of not being seated when there was plenty of open tables.  and other ppl coming in after them were being seated right away.  From other reviews it seems like they have become more accommodating towards Americans.  maybe its time for another visit.

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  Posted on 01.22.11 Chris D.

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  Consistently delicious.
  
  Eating at Kaya is ALWAYS on the itinerary when I'm visiting NJ.

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  Posted on 11.28.10 Diana K.

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  We've been to this restaurant a few times, and highly recommend the Korean BBQ (Kalbi). Usually we've gotten very good service with someone who can speak passable english, and the BBQ is awesome.
  
  I am giving it 3 stars because this last time, our waitress was quite abrupt and almost rude. She slammed items on our table and would disappear quickly. The meat was undercooked as well.

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  Posted on 09.04.10 Haris H.

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  Don't let the restaurant name fool you... it is a great Korean BBQ restaurant, my mouth is still watering thinking of the kalbi I've devoured last night.  
  
  If you are like me, when I see a restaurant that is Korean SLASH Japanese, Japanese SLASH Chinese, Chinese SLASH Garbage Food... then you will frown upon the stigma of the "/" in food establishments.  There is no such thing as a good fusion.  If it was so good, I'm sure a word would just be associate with it.  I digress...
  
  Kaya is an excellent example of a local fare in the town of Leonia/Fort Lee, also known as a small metropolis of all things Korean(town).  I would definitely come back here if I am ever driving through NJ or stuck through bridge traffic with the fistpumpin' Jersey-ians trying to look their best for their B&T party in "The City" on a Saturday night.  WOOT WOOT!

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  Posted on 03.07.10 Emma L.

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  It's a small typical korean restaurant but the food is so good. HEHE.
  Try their ssam. GAH. its expensive and huge so go with at least two other people. But the price for the other foods is do-able.
  
  Their selection of food is wide enough to go back there often. But i think most people go with something in mind.
  
  We ordered baek sae ju (the white-ish soju that tastes like wine kinda).
  
  They have such typical waitresses. You know the ahjummas (ladies) who act really cutesy and have the guy customers call them "ah-ga" (literal translation: baby..... gross i know.) or "ah-ga-ssi" (missy). Anyways that part with the gross customer is not what I wanted to hear during my meal but other than that, if you're hungry and on broad ave~ try this place. :))

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  Posted on 07.20.09 Minah L.

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