K'ya Bistro Happy Hour

Monday,  September 17, 2018

Took a drive down the coast to meet Susan at the K'ya Bistro in the La Casa del Camino Hotel in Laguna Beach.  www.kyabistro.com.  Traffic was decent at 4:00 in the afternoon. Took about an hour to get there.  The ocean was perfect today, blue and green and not that dingy, dirty color it is at times. Emerald Bay was gorgeous.  I have not been down this far on the coast in numerous years. Traffic is usually the biggest issue.

The hotel is very old . At least 60 to 70 years old or more. Mainly a "Spanish" style. Needs a lot of updating. Had a great rooftop bar where you could get hard liquor. The bar downstairs was strictly beer and wine.

Happy hour is from 5:00 to 6:00 everyday. 50% all food purchases. This was Susan's selling point.  Very limited wine list. The list in the restaurant was much smaller than the online list. They need to update their website.

I ordered a White Sangria and it was a nice drink. Nothing on the wine list appealed to me.

I started out with Salmon Toast. Two came on the plate. Sourdough toast with a nice thin piece of cured salmon with capers, shallots and Dijon. Also had the obligatory micro greens on top which I proceeded to get rid of. They look good in a picture but a real pain to eat. This was very good but I am sure happy I only ordered one other dish. Very filling.

Next I had Steak Tartare with capers, shallots and Dijon Aioli.  Came with 4 small slices of sourdough. The tartare was nice but not spectacular. Nothing wrong with it but.  Any way too much bread. Between the salmon toast and this bread it is overkill for me.

For dessert I had a "Bite". One chocolate truffle, about the size of a very large walnut. Too big to handled with your fingers (also messy) bit it was difficult to cut into fork size pieces. It was good but I have had better. Maybe I should have opted for another dessert, Perhaps sorbet. 

But the pricing was great.  The Sangria was $12. The salmon toast came to $3 and the tartare was $3.50. The "bite" was .50 cents. A real bargain. Too bad it filled me up otherwise I was interested in trying their short rib taco.

Susan outdid me in the food department. She had the Avocado Toast,  Warm Brie with berries, almonds and Pita bread, Tapenade with feta garlic and Naan bread, Citrus salad with orange, cranberries, fennel, parmesan cheese, almonds and white balsamic. She topped it with a peanut crunch bite. 

It was a trek to drive here. I might do it again but not on heavy traffic days, which leaves out the summer time.  I am not much for driving the coast highway too much past Newport blvd. Roads narrow and traffic is obscene.