Vegan out at Cha-Ya
Summer Green Roll – avocado, cucumber, kaiware sprout, wakame and hijiki. Alissa scooped wasabi like it was green tea ice cream, but I like this one just as it is: plain, fresh and light.
It’s been a long time since I last either wrote about food or ate anything that I could write about. The occasional rainfalls during the drought of takeout Chinese are so-so hu tieu and com suon somewhere in the Ranch 99 complex, and homemade soups, lovely but no hot news. Vegetable intake has been limited to shibazuke from Berkeley Bowl, homemade kimchi, and toasted seaweed (seaweed counts, doesn’t it?). Before leaving for her trip, Cheryl fed me her black chicken soup, brown rice, tau yew bak (similar to thit kho but with soy sauce instead of fish sauce) and, like a loving sister, concerned looks and advice on how I should feed myself healthy meals. I agree with her one hundred percent, but all planned menus for the next day fluttered their wings away as I run from class to class and get home only wishing to relax. Cheryl is married. I entertain the idea that I live like a single guy. A single guy that could not have looked more forward to a vegan dinner with some old friends.
After much debate we decided on a simple kampyo roll, a big fluffy summer green roll (that we each stuffed into our mouth in one bite to prove our manliness(*)), a Cha-Ya roll, a tempura stuffed eggplant, a gyoza and vegetable soup, and three desserts.
Cha-Ya Roll – avocado, yam and carrots, tempura roll with sweet soy sauce.
Tonchi Nasu – tempura stuffed eggplant with setsuma potato, corn, tofu, hijiki, soybean and carrot
Taku Sui – gyoza soup with tofu, broccoli, zucchini, napa cabbage, snap peas, asparagus, cauliflower, silver noodles and mushrooms in a light broth – I like this a lot!
Yellow Moon – tempura banana with a scoop of soy ice cream, drizzled with green tea sauce and red bean sauce
The Yellow Moon is just the tempura banana, the soy ice cream is listed as a separate dessert, but we shameless girls requested a scoop of ice cream with the banana. The Cha-Ya staff is so nice. 😉 This tempura banana is not oily like the deep fried banana desserts at Thai restaurants, the batter is light and plain. It gives you the impression of healthy foods.
Vegan chocolate cake (left) and Oshikuro (right) – plain white mochi in gooey red bean sauce. The red bean is a bit too sweet, but I like it still. The cake is like a soft brownie, not at all dry and lifeless like normal vegan cakes.
(*) In case you wonder, a picture of us is to the right.
Address: Cha-Ya Vegetarian Japanese Cuisine
(North Berkeley)
1686 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley CA 94709
(510) 981-1213
Dinner for four: roughly $90 – Kinda expensive now that I think about it…
I couldn’t resist commenting
1Hey there are using WordPress for your site platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up my own. Do you need any coding knowledge to make your own blog? Any help would be really appreciated!
2I do love the way you have framed this particular issue and it really does give us a lot of fodder for consideration. On the other hand, coming from what precisely I have observed, I really trust when the actual commentary stack on that individuals remain on point and don’t get started on a soap box associated with some other news du jour. Still, thank you for this exceptional point and while I can not agree with it in totality, I respect the perspective.
3I believe other website proprietors should take this website as an model, very clean and great user friendly style.
4I like this website very much, Its a very nice position to read and get information. “What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone” by Bertolt Brecht.
5The subsequent time I read a weblog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as a lot as this one. I mean, I do know it was my option to learn, but I actually thought youd have one thing attention-grabbing to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about one thing that you can fix in the event you werent too busy on the lookout for attention.
6