Oya (** Two Stars)

I struggled a bit with how to rate Oya. It's really a lounge that happens to serve food -- some very good -- in a "hip" setting with lots of people out to be seen. One of the matre'd's looked like he just walked out of a Ralph Lauren ad, another one was confused about whether our party was two or three people (three), so there was some moments of panic as they tried to find out where to seat us. And this was at 9pm on a Saturday night. It describes itself as an Asian-French Lounge and Restaurant, but I think the emphasis is much more on the Asian than the French.

First off, the cocktails are quite good -- a new take on the dark and stormy (known as the "darker and stormier") was delicious, not too strong, and definitely not too sweet. The sushi is excellent as well. I love unagi (eel), and theirs was some of the best I have ever had. The hamachi (tuna) and tempura tuna roll were both excellent. The menu is flexible and one can put together a meal of smaller plates (which are still substantial enough), or go with a traditional entree. We opted for the smaller plates. Most of these were good, but not great, and often had some, er, interesting flavors. The short rib was a bit dry and stringy, and the sweet potato puree underneath was just strange -- too much vanilla or some other flavoring made it seem like marshmallow. It didn't help that it was served barely above luke warm. The lobster dumplings were not very flavorful, in fact I couldn't really tell that the filling was lobster. The scallops were wonderful, but the mushrooms accompanying it were not very warm and unadorned, so lacking in flavor.

My advice -- stick with the sushi.