Cha-Ya Great Vegetarian Sushi in Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto
Written: May 26 '03 (Updated May 27 '08)
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Pros: Great vegan food, fast service, good prices.
Cons: Small dining room may produce long waits. Then again, perhaps not...
The Bottom Line: An excellent addition to the Gourmet Ghetto neighborhood. My first visit was enjoyable and I certainly intend to return.
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| lyagushka's Full Review: Cha-ya |
This relative newcomer maintains a low profile on the southern edge of Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto. It takes some audacity to open an eatery in this vaunted district and some sound culinary chops to remain in business, what with all the stiff competition. Unlike many other restaurants in the neighborhood, Cha-Ya is open only for dinner, which is a shame because there's so much foot traffic in the area at lunchtime.
I first heard about Cha-Ya from a friend who lives in the area; I believe the restaurant opened just after I moved away from the bay area at the end of 2001. Although I was disappointed to find the restaurant closed when I first tried to eat there for lunch, I was rewarded nonetheless with a whiff of the stock that the cook was preparing for later that evening. I took the delicious smell as a promising sign and resolved to come back for dinner.
Ambiance/Décor
From the street, Cha-Ya blends in with the other businesses on this block that all share a single building and a large terra cotta-colored awning. The interior is unassuming and practical, but the warm greetings from the staff go a long way towards making the small dining room seem friendly and comfortable.
There was a sign-up waiting list when we arrived, but nonetheless we had almost no wait at all. It couldn't have been more than a couple minutes. I don't recall if those signed in ahead of us wanted a table or if they had larger parties, but we were shown to seats at the sushi bar almost right away. Even though the dining area is quite small, when seated I didn't feel cramped because the seating is rather generous for such a small space. By my estimate, the dining room and the bar have room for only 25 customers at a time. The patrons in the restaurant seemed very much like Berkeley locals, based on their casual dress and demeanor. The noise level was quiet to moderate during our meal.
The Menu and the Food
Although Cha-Ya bills itself as a vegetarian restaurant, all of the Japanese food served here is in fact vegan. I had to ask a waitress to confirm my impression from reading the menu, because the word vegan does not appear anywhere on the menu. The range of choices here is not limited to sushi. In fact I would say that the sushi constitutes a minority of all the food they serve.
I ordered a combination dinner that included miso soup, a house salad, an order of vegetable tempura and taku-sui, or gyoza and vegetables in broth. My husband ordered the miso soup as well and the agedashi tofu and Cha-Ya futomaki.
Our impression of the miso soup was that it was tasty, but had too much seaweed in it. On the other hand, the small but unusual house salad piqued our interest and our taste buds. It contained peeled cucumber and radish slices, soy nuts, sesame seeds, cold silver noodles and something chewy and sweet that I initially took for jellied ginger. I liked this last ingredient very much, but wasn't entirely sure it was ginger. When I asked the waitress about it she told me it was dried persimmon.
Next, our agedashi tofu and vegetable tempura arrived along with separate sauces to accompany them. The agedashi tofu was garnished with finely sliced scallions. It had a very custard-like texture and absolutely excellent flavor. The mixed vegetable tempura arrived piping hot and not at all greasy. The dipping sauce was rather mild, as I prefer it; I like to taste the vegetables rather than the sauce.
Before we had finished these dishes, the waitress brought the Cha-Ya roll and the taku-sui. Surprisingly, the Cha-Ya roll was not served with any wasabi. But I found I didn't miss that taste at all because the roll itself packed plenty of flavor. The roll had an ephemeral gingery flavor and it contained a tempura-fried asparagus along with avocado, yam and carrot. It was really delicious - we devoured it. The taku-sui turned out to be our least favorite dish we ordered. The gyoza dumplings pretty much disintegrated when we tried to pick them up out of the broth, which didn't have enough flavor to please me. The vegetables in the broth were nicely cooked, but a bit bland. I was getting full by this point, so I did no more than sample the noodles. To my mind, they lacked distinction and had too limp a texture. My husband dumped all of the dipping sauce into the taku-sui bowl in an effort to make it more appealing. It must have worked to a certain extent, because he finished off about a third of it. The taku-sui wasn't actually bad, just a bit boring.
We stuck to green tea and water with our meal. But since we were seated at the bar we did notice an impressive array of sakes, both domestic and imported and including an organic, locally made sake.
Prices
Cha-Ya asks a very moderate amount for the quality and portions of their food. Their 2-piece nigiri are all priced at $3 or less, while their 6-piece hosomaki and uramaki cost between $3 and $4.50. The most expensive of their futomaki price out at $6.25. Appetizers, soups and side dishes fall into the $1.75-$5.75 range, while the noodle and vegetarian main dishes are all priced no higher than $7.50. The menu also offers several combination dinners - a good value at $13.50-$15. Our dinner for two came to about $29 before tip, and we couldn't even finish all the food.
Service
I noticed that almost the entire staff at this restaurant was female; both the chefs and the waitresses. Only the dishwasher was male. I wondered whether they were all part of one extended family because they all seemed to care very much about the restaurant. The service at Cha-Ya was extremely quick and efficient. This meant almost no waiting for us even though the restaurant was full and that our food came just about as fast as we could eat it. I was pleased with our attentive and knowledgeable waitress's service.
Final Thoughts
Although I'm giving the food at Cha-Ya only a "good" rating, that's because I think it takes a little exploration to know what to order. The things they do well - the items I'll order again and again - merit higher praise than merely "good." After my next meal here (and there will be another) I may upgrade my rating. Certainly, Cha-Ya represents an excellent value for your money. I didn't miss the fish or the meat at all.
I would recommend this restaurant for a casual evening out with your significant other or a small group of friends. As usual, showing up early or on a weeknight will ensure quicker seating, though even when there's a waiting list, the efficient service ensures that waits aren't too long.
Details, details…
Address: 1686 Shattuck Avenue
Cross Street: Virginia
Phone: (510) 981-1213
Hours: dinner only, 5pm - 9:30pm, Tuesday - Sunday
Closed Mondays
Reservations: none taken
Smoking is not permitted in any restaurant in California.
credit cards: all major credit cards accepted
Parking: free after 6pm behind the restaurant
I can also recommend a meat at any of these restaurants:
East Bay
• A Coté - lively pan-Mediterranean tapas in a sleek but fun atmosphere
• Café Rouge - best choice for steak or high quality meats in the East Bay
• Chez Panisse Café - Alice Waters' sumptuous fare at about half the price
• Lalime's - superb New American fare in an intimate setting
• Manpuku - a cheap and simple ramen bar in the Elmwood
• Nan Yang - fantastic Burmese in north Rockridge
• Oliveto - exquisite Italian in Rockridge
• Pho 84 - paradigm-shifting (really!) Vietnamese in downtown Oakland
• Rick & Ann's and La Note - both offer excellent choices for breakfast
• Shen Hua - great Chinese in Berkeley's Elmwood neighborhood
San Francisco
• Boulevard - hands down, the best restaurant in San Francisco
• Woodward's Garden, which is almost as good as Boulevard
• Betelnut - highly recommended for a fun night with a group
• Helmand - little known but excellent Afghan place and a great value
• Suppenkuche - unpretentious German bierhaus charm in Hayes Valley
On the other hand, I can't recommend Cafe Cacao, which is part of the Scharffen Berger chocolate empire, nor Pizzaiolo which features pretentious, outrageously priced pizza served by hipper-than-thou servers.
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: No
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations I highly recommend the agedashi tofu, the Cha-Ya roll and the vegetable tempura.
Best Suited For: Friends
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