Four hours of walking the Miracle Mile can take a lot out of a person. My companion and I discovered this much to our chagrin. After a day of merrily spending way too much of our cash supplies, we really needed a place to sit down and have a good meal to replenish ourselves for the hours-long drive home. Thankfully, we met up with a friend of ours from Indy and the boy she was dating (a local), who had a great suggestion that Liz and I would never have found on our own. Tucked away, about three blocks from the main run of Michigan Avenue, we were introduced to Jia's, a streetcorner bistro specializing in a broad mix of Asian cuisine and fine drinks. We were fortunate enough to get in without a reservation, so I'm not entirely certain if they are necessary, but if you want to check it out, I would recommend calling ahead (I will furnish the phone number soon) just to make sure.
The atrium of the main restaurant is occupied principally by a small bar sporting a small but remarkable stock of high end liqueurs. I was happy to note a few personal favorites amongst the lineup. We were led through the first of two very tastefully designed dining areas to our table in the second section, near the larger bar. The interior design is immaculate and tasteful, taking a modern minimalist Thai/Chinese fusion. Black-lacquered teak chairs and delicate tables were a perfect choice. The wait staff was principally Caucasian (a bit of a disappointment), but very knowledgeable. The place seems incredibly clean and the ingredients of the dishes were obviously ultrafresh..
We started our dinner with drinks. Liz and I opted for martinis while Dan and Laura went the non-alcoholic route. I sampled the Blue Sapphire martini (blue curacao, Bombay Sapphire gin, and vermouth) and Liz chose the Melon Martini (midori and Absolut Black Label). Both very well prepared and reasonably priced at only $7 a piece. For dinner, I went with an old staple: vegetarian pad thai. Laura and Liz split a bowl of udon noodles and Dan sampled some of the ultra-fresh sushi. Our waitress was thoughtful enough to make sure our meals were prepared to our particular specifications (i.e., mine made EXTRA spicy, the girls made very sweet, and Dan's served frigidly cold). The entrées were absolutely delicious and certainly more than I could hold. We tried desperately to split the leftovers amongst ourselves, but three dishes was overly abundant for four diners.
Price-wise, Jia's is definitely not cheap, but it certainly won't break your wallet. The entrées ran about $10-15, non-alcoholic beverages about $3, appetizers around $5-7, and alcoholic drinks between $6 and $9. I think our meal came to about $90 between four of us, so not really all that bad.