Taya – Asian Restaurant in Kadima

Taya Restaurant in Kadima is a nice surprise in the culinary scene of the South-East Sharon area. Taya serves excellent fusion Asian dishes for fair prices and is suitable for the whole family. Not a must to go to Tel Aviv for good Asian food, and perhaps even worth coming to the area especially.

When I drove from Kfar Saba to Kadima to eat in Taya, especially after looking at the menu and seeing the reasonable prices, ones that I usually see in the popular Asian chains, I did not expect much and I was taken by surprise! I found a high quality restaurant with varied-menu, and fresh-tasty food! It looks like something good is starting here at the South-Eastern Sharon area, and Taya is part of it!

Taya’s décor is current and modern with black-grey and red touch with Asian drawings. The atmosphere is informal and during the day and early evening you’ll see here many families with children. In addition to the restaurant itself, there is also a garden that becomes a greenhouse during the winter.

The cuisine at Taya is modern- Pan-Asian. The menu combines different cooking techniques with classic and creative fusion dishes. There’s an emphasis here on Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese kitchens. Some of the inspiration to the dishes here comes from leading New York restaurants, brought here by the chef Yaron Shnabel (who learned in the French Culinary Institute).  The menu includes starters such as soups and Gyozas, noodles, rice and a world of Sushi. There are also vegan dishes, children meals, and desserts.  There are business deals and they make deliveries.

Taya - Sushi and Deliveries

The plates at Taya are nicely presented. This is part of what Taya does – a lot of attention to the details and high-quality fresh ingredients. We ate chicken and vegetable starters and beef with rice and noodles in the mains.

Starters

Sweet Potato Gyoza

Dumplings with mashed sweet potato, soy, coconut milk, scallions and cucumbers. This Gyoza is fantastic! Not only the filling, but the dough is made with sweet potatoes, making it orange color. Very soft and yummy! While Gyoza is Chinese, it is served here with coconut milk (Thai/southern Asian cuisine) and is layered on green vegetables. It forms an interesting combination of flavors, something that is outstanding in many dishes here and makes eating here an experience, not just another banal expected meal!

Saigon Chicken

Gyoza stuffed with Vietnamese spiced chicken, coconut milk, green curry, carrots, button mushrooms and onion. This is another tasty starter that demonstrates fusion of kitchens. This dish is marked as for two. While the plate and serving looks bigger, the number of Gyozas is the same as the sweet potato Gyoza plate (4 pieces).

Tempura Chicken

Tempura fried chicken with sesame seeds and tōgarashi and spicy sweet chili sauce. Well prepared. The tōgarashi sauce ‘stole the show’ from the chili sauce!

Main Courses

For the main courses we had two beef entrees, we asked to have it without cilantro, and we were told that all the dishes can be served without the peanuts or cilantro.

Broccoli Beef

Egg noodles, beef, broccoli, green beans, onions and cilantro in tamarind chili sauce. I heard that this is one of the most popular dish here, and after tasting it, I understand why. It is a very good, classic dish, gently and tasty. The noodles are made ‘al dente’, the broccoli is crunchy and the meat soft. The plate is huge and not spicy and it is very comforting food.

Bo Lok Lak

Seared filet of beef in soy and ginger marinade with onions, scallions and Vietnamese dipping sauce. This plate is a little more expensive than the rest of the plates here, but I think it justifies it. The filet is so yummy! The meat has great texture, nice to chew easily and soft and with the sauce it is excellent! The vegetables are seemingly not interesting (onions and scallions) but with the sauce it is delicious! The rice was anis flavor, which I don’t like, so I left the rice to my husband and concentrated on the noodles.

Desserts

Coconut Passion fruit bomb

Coconut bomb with a passion fruit sauce center on ginger cookies with Green Tea Tuille. I loved the presentation and the taste! Very refreshing!

Brulé layers  

Layers of crème brulé and puff pastry. The dessert is good but it was somewhat too cold.

In summary, Taya is a very good restaurant, a nice addition to the area’s developing culinary scenery. 

Taya has a free customers’ club called TK Friends, on Sundays after 5pm, members receive 1+1 on all noodles dishes.

Information

Taya, 1 Haofe, Kadima, not kosher

Disclosure: I was a guest of the restaurant