Kayao

Food: 5/5 seafood is fresh. Amazing flavors and shake up your taste bud. Portion size is very very small. Be prepared to order multiple dishes. I would rank my top 2 dishes below. I can live without the sushi and the tartare.1: Pulpo a la Parrilla (octopus)2: civiche kayao. (Amazing fried calamari and sauce is a great balance)Drinks: the Parchilcano is delicious. Fruity and taste delicious! The non alcoholic, Maltida is amazing. Taste like a mojito! Service: amazing service and the host was attentive. Always making sure we have fresh plates for our next dish.

It takes a lot for me to get excited about a restaurant and I'm excited about this one. We had reservations and I suggest you get them too because this place was packed on the inside and the outdoor patio. Our reservations were for 8:30pm on a Saturday and we were about 20 minutes early. We decided to sit at the bar versus waiting for our table. The hostess and everyone were super accommodating. I had a Manhattan and let the bartender pick the bourbon and it was DELICIOUS! My friend and I shared the tartare appetizer and it was soooo flavorful. I highly recommend.For dinner my friend had the short ribs and kept mentioning how tender they were and basically melted in her mouth. I went with the filet mignon and it was good as well. They served cut up pieces of filet mignon underneath seasoned and sauced fries with a bowl of rice on the side.The restaurant decor was stunning and we had an overall great time. I will be definitely be back to try their happy hour.

My friends and I recently visited Kayao, eager to try out this new spot. Despite hearing mixed reviews, we decided to give it a go. We opted for an early dinner, and the place boasts a romantic, dark vibe that's perfect for a nice dinner or date night. However, our experience started on an awkward note when the hostess gave me a once-over, which made me feel a bit uncomfortable.Once we were seated, our waiter promptly attended to us and was nothing but pleasant. The menu had its highs and lows. Let's start with the highlights:Hits:ROLL ACEVICHADO (Fish of the day tartare, shrimp tempura, yuzu acevichada sauce): This was a great start, with a good hit of flavor, making it one of the better dishes we tried.SHORT RIBS (36 hours slow cooked, chicha morada nitsuke BBQ, mashed potato): This was my favorite dish of the night. The flavor was truly amazing and left a lasting impression. The only downside was that it was not enough to share among three people for $50.Misses:BOK CHOY SALAD (Yuzu tonnato, edamame, pumpkin seeds): This dish was the biggest letdown. The green leaves of the bok choy were served with a dip-like component that had an odd flavor and consistency. I would pass on this one.Guacamole: The dish was served with half-prepared guac and a piece of avocado that the chef mashed in front of us. It seemed unnecessary and overdone. The guacamole itself lacked flavor, although the tuber chips served with it were excellent.Overall, while the ambiance and our server were great, the inconsistency in the food left us disappointed. Due to this, I probably won't be returning to Kayao.

Holy moly. Came here for my birthday and my boyfriend and I were blown away by the food. We ordered the ceviche Kayao, roll acevichado, and the branzino. Our server brought out lucuma sorbet as a finishing touch to the meal. Starting off with the ceviche, I absolutely love the aji amarillo tigers milk - I could slurp that stuff up any day. Vinegary and lime-y, it was a nice contrast against the buttery and fatty tuna and calamari. I love chocla (Peruvian corn) and was happy to see it interspersed throughout the dish. The roll acevichado came as a set of six pieces. The tartare was fresh but I did think the creamy acevichada sauce overpowered some of the more delicate flavors of the dish.The branzino. WOW this dish was 10/10. Flaky, buttery melt-in-your mouth I've never had fish prepared like this. The butterfly cut was set upon a sauce that was slightly spicy and had plenty of umami flavor. This dish was a home run for me and probably some of the best fish I've ever had. It also came with rice which had some chocla in it as well which was nice. The lucuma sorbet was also absolutely delicious. Creamy & intriguing with notes of butterscotch and maple each bite had me wanting more. How has lucuma never been in my life? I need more of it, especially manifested as a sorbet with crunchy bits on top. Kayao doesn't have a dessert menu and I'm curious if this dessert is something that will continue to be offered; I certainly hope so. The sorbet was unreal. Ambiance was romantic and cozy and service was great. Will be back.

Actually obsessed with this spot. They just opened on Wells a few weeks ago & I was pumped to try it.‍ LION'S MANE -- Grilled lion's mane mushroom, aji panca, sunflower hummus --This was unbelievably good. So flavorful & tasty, it was actually unreal. SHORT RIBS -- 36 hours slow-cooked, chicha morada nitsuke BBQ, mashed potato -- Hands down, the star of the night Unmatched in taste, easily the best thing on the menu. CHICKEN -- Airline chicken, panca BBQ, endive salad, house fries -- So good! The spices on the fries were unreal, & the chicken was super tender and flavorful Lucuma Ice Cream with Chocolate Sauce -- Yum! Surprisingly good. It took a minute to get into, but it was so worth it Lychee Pudding -- Super sour, surprisingly so, but paired really well with the lucuma ice cream Service -- Amazing! Fernando & the rest of the staff was super friendly and attentive, which made the experience even better. Vibes - great, the space is beautiful & the table settings were so nice. PS - The couple sitting next to us loved the oysters & the ceviche - so don't be afraid to give those a try

Kayao is my favorite new restaurant opening in Chicago! The menu is innovative and interesting, and all the flavors worked together beautifully in each dish I tried. I ordered the ceviche kayao, roll acevichado, and pulpo parrillero. I couldn't possibly pick a favorite! the ceviche had a very unique flavor from other ceviches I have tried - slightly sweet and fruity. the roll was delish and decadent tasting. and the octopus (pulpo) was so tender and had a slight kick. I absolutely loved the marinade and red sauce on the side! the drinks were great too (and strong)! our server did a fantastic job at explaining the dishes and giving his recommendations. the ambiance is an 11/10 - very ~vibacious~ with chic decor and groovy music. I definitely want to return to try more dishes!

Extremely good! All hits. And the little sushi rolls we already ate. Probably the best rolls I've had.

When starting to plan our dinners for last weekend's trip to Chicago, I was struck by how many highly-rated Peruvian spots were in the city. Peruvian food is one of my favorite cuisines, so it's not a surprise that I found it nearly impossible to deliberate. I ended up going with Kayao for two reasons: one, it's new, and I like to discover things before the masses do, and two, Kayao's chef is also the chef of a very well regarded Peruvian spot in New York City, the city I was visiting from. Plus, virtually all reviews (though there aren't many reviews between Yelp and Google at this point) were raves. Overall, I think Kayao has lots of potential but they seem to be ironing out the kinks. The menu is dynamic and exciting and there are some real showstoppers on there, you just need to know which direction to go in. Overall, and inconsistent experience, but four stars for inconsistent means the product is still pretty damn good.We came here at 8:30 on a Friday night. The place was pretty packed so it was fortunate that we made a reservation beforehand because we sat fairly quickly. The space itself is beautiful, very sophisticated, chic, and trendy. *Loved* the music. Maybe a little higher energy than the overall vibe of the space but I didn't mind, hard to beat a well-curated playlist. We both love pisco so it was a given that we'd both start with pisco cocktails. I ordered the Sohoul (Caravedo Acholado, Tenjaku Vodka, Soho Lychee, Agavero, Lime) and my partner ordered the Chicha Sour (Caravedo Mosto Verde, Chicha syrup, Lime). My drink was delicious, floral and fruity, like a cleaner lychee martini. My partner's drink was a bit less exciting -- not bad, but not memorable. We hoped that what they described as a pisco sour variation would be as good if not more interesting than a pisco sour, but oh well. We then each had a glass of wine -- I had a white and he had a red -- and both were solid. Generally the wines here are pretty straightforward. Food-wise, Kayao is predominately Peruvian with both Japanese and Chinese influences. Generally, I'd say proteins are better executed than the veggies. We had two standouts, one decent dish and one dish that was more meh. The standouts are enough to keep this review in four-star territory, especially because I have faith that Kayao will sure up the other elements over time. Eats, below: Ceviche Kayao (Fish of the day, octopus, calamari, aji amarillo tigers milk, peruvian corn): A+This was an outstanding start to our meal. Fish of the day was mahi mahi and that was delicious, all of the seafood was super fresh and yummy, aji amarillo is always to die for, and the corn multiple ways added some nice texture to the dish. Easily once of the best ceviche preparations I've had to date, and it got me very excited to go to Peru next year. Bok Choy Salad w/ Yuzu tonnato, edemame, pumpkin seeds: B-The ceviche was obviously a hard act to follow but still this dish was the biggest letdown for us. The dressing/sauce was a strange consistency and the presentation was a little sad. It tasted pretty good but it is definitely skippable. Also one of the staff "mixed" it for us beforehand which was a very awkward, halfhearted flipping of the leaves which made it more strange. Short Ribs (36 hours slow cooked, chicha morada nitsuke BBQ, mashed potato): AOur other favorite dish of the night. Really flavorful and moist, combined flavors of the meat and mashed potatoes in one bite was fantastic. My only gripe with this is that it was $50 for not that much food. I understand $50 for a steak but this was not that. Lion's Mane (Grilled lions mane mushroom, aji panca, sunflower hummus): B+We were already kind of ready to leave by the time we got this because we waited like 20 or 30 minutes after finishing the steak before it arrived. Also a little strange to serve a veg after what's clearly a main course. I had really high hopes for these because the preparation looked great plus a lot of the online reviews mentioned it, but they were only decent. The flavors were a little too muted and the mushrooms were a little too overcooked but the potential was definitely there. Service efficiency was inconsistent. It took quite a while for our second two courses to arrive after we finished our first two. We also received the short rib long before we received the lion's mane mushrooms which seemed like an odd decision, so the end of the meal was a bit strained. It's a relatively new restaurant so I imagine they will work out the kinks soon.

Came here yesterday with some girl friends for an early dinner. We ordered the guacamole, tartare, acevichado, bock choy, short rib and drinks. While the presentation of the food is beautiful, I would not come here again. The portions were SO small, the food is expensive and overall (tbh) it tasted fine. For the guacamole for example, they put half an avocado on the plate and then mash it up infront of you for aesthetic and to make it look cool. Personally, I'd rather have an entire avocado mashed already and no one touch it. Same for the bok choy... 10 pieces of lettuce on a plate. Overall, for how much this place costs per dish, we all agreed we could've gone to Gibsons, for example, for a much better meal and bigger portions. I'm honestly not sure why this place has gotten such raving reviews? It wasn't what my friends and I all expected but I guess different strokes for different folks. We will not be back.

This was one heck of an experience. The flavor profile is so unexpected and harmonious and simply delicious! It is known the high end of dining but if you are in the mood for something different, this up and coming place is totally a vibe!