Jolene Eats Here: M Café de Chaya

July 22, 2007

Just two blocks away from Necromance (my favorite shop on Melrose!) is my newest “healthy” restaurant discovery: M Café de Chaya. M Café de Chaya is known for serving strictly macrobiotic cuisine, but you don’t have to be on a macrobiotic diet to eat here and love it.

My bf and I arrived at around 3 pm, and the place was packed. We spent a good amount of time salivating over the beautifully presented salads, sushi and desserts on display before placing our order at the counter. After paying for our meal ($26 for two), we chose a table outside.

In about five minutes, our meal was delivered. First, I tried the sushi: Ahi covered Inari ($1.50), Hijiki covered Inari ($1.50), Spicy Shrimp Rolls ($2.00) and Spicy Tuna Rolls ($2.00). The sushi is made with “organic heirloom varietal whole-grain brown rice” and came with a complimentary side of Japanese pickles.

It looked better than it tasted. I should have known better; the sushi isn’t made fresh. It sits in the display case all day. This made the rice chewy and a bit hard.

Next, I tried the 2-salad combo. Ah, much better. For only $6.95 you can choose two of the salads in the deli case. And just look at how much they give you!

We chose the kale salad (with peanut dressing) and the lentil salad (with arugala, tofu “cheese” and candied walnuts).

The lentil salad was very good, but the kale stole the show! The kale was crisp and tender, covered with a light coating of sweet, mild peanut sauce. We devoured it.

I had my usual Pellegrino with my meal and my bf had hot dark-roast Mate ($3.75) that tasted soooo good; like a blend of earthy green tea and mild coffee. With more caffeine than most teas, it makes for a great coffee substitute.

To finish up, we split two miniature cupcakes. After tasting them, I wished I had gotten the regular sized versions! How something could be so decadent yet healthy is beyond me. The cupcakes were sinfully buttery (but I’m sure that wasn’t butter they used, right? ;) ).

The pistachio cupcake was my favorite:

It had such a subtle pistachio flavor that you wouldn’t guess it unless you were told. The strawberry cupcake was good too, but not as buttery and moist as the pistachio.