Soooo good. This place is great for a quick, casual and supremely fresh meal. My husband and I both got noodle soup dishes and I have rarely seen vegetables coming out looking so fresh at such at casual joint. I couldn't finish my noodles it was such a large portion. Really a great meal for only $11. read more

Cha-Ya - Delicious noodle soup. I think it was called the Yasai. I got it with soba (buckwheat) noodles. - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

I've been here a few times and the food has been pretty good however today I got sick about 20 minutes after my meal! Definitely surprised since I ordered the Agedashi Tofu starter and Wakame Udon, all fried or cooked foods... it could've been the complimentary water they gave me which came with a lemon wedge in it. Seriously, look it up, lemon wedges in drinks are often a great way to consume unwanted bacteria in restaurants. I don't know what happened! Sad to have to give Cha-Ya a bad review but it's been 6 hrs since lunch and my stomach still feels terrible. Not coming back! read more

Excited to try a new vegetarian place. The excitement ended there. The food was so -so...very bland and the service was terrible. Rude, dismissive staff; asked for water and received a dirty look. Had to ask for the check twice and finally had to go to the front to pay. Disappointing. read more

RATING: 4. All 4 of the stars are for the Starlight Roll. Do you guys remember that rhyme from PBS's Dragon Tales? "Star-light, Star-bright, First star I see tonight. I wish, I wish with all my heart, To fly with dragons in a land apart." Disregarding the dragons bit, I do truly believe "with all my heart" that this poem was originally written for Cha-Ya's "Star-light" roll. As a vegetarian, finding vegan/vegetarian sushi is always very exciting. While I realize there's better vegetarian sushi over the bridge in SF, this was a few streets away from my apartment and also my first vegetarian sushi ever! So it has a dear place in my heart. If I did have a dragon, I would treat them with this roll. Plus I genuinely do think it tastes wonderful. I haven't tried much of the other food besides the miso soup (which is also great, but not the highlight! Or should I say...starlight?). I have tried the Eggplant Tonsu which I don't recommend because it doesn't taste like anything. If I had to describe it I'd say it tastes like fried water. Keep in mind, Cha-Ya only takes cash, but even if they didn't have an ATM the Starlight roll is worth robbing one of the nearby banks for. Or you can use your bank card, that's probably fine too. Now if anyone asks if I want to eat Cha-Ya, I say Cha-YAAAAAAA!!!!! MILDLY RELEVANT ANECDOTE: After a really long hot day not having eaten anything, I walked from far to Cha-Ya looking forward to my Starlight roll, but alas it was closed before lunch. So the next day I made an even longer walk for my Starlight roll. The Starlight roll has also been featured in my day after all-nighter foods. read more

This ain't Granny's vegan food. Yummy yummy should be the new name of this place. The place is small so expect to wait for awhile to get fed unless you arrive early. The crowd outside is often cut-throat and bristle is fight mode if you look like you might get seated out of turn. Beware the Berkeley folk. Once inside you will be treated with wonderful smells, warmth from the stove and an intimate setting. The food is always fresh and the service is no nonsense. An extra star for the owner who is very friendly and smiles every time I see him on the street. read more

I liked it. I have a friend for whom it was one of her favorite spots when she was staying in the East Bay, and one night when I was meeting up with someone in Berkeley, decided to try it. There are no reservations. On a weeknight (Tuesday) it was packed and busy; good sign. Although it was full, we didn't have to wait to get a table; one opened up just as we got there, it seems their customer base has reached an ideal equilibrium with their ability to serve people. Nice. The "sushi" (it's Vegan of course) creations I sampled all tasted great. If you're expecting some sort of formed-tofu/wheat gluten imitation halibut, well, it's not like that, don't come here. Just plain 'ol vegetarian sushi, but of a higher caliber than normal it seemed. read more

It's very good...I'd opt for the soups over the sushi. The wait time and size of the space do suck, though...beware. It's a bit expensive, too. Vegans will love it. read more

Vegan Japanese food! It sort of reviews itself. The dishes are well-prepared, and the noodle soups are great (especially on those cold summer nights in Berkeley). It's a little more expensive and a little nicer than most of the other vegetarian places in the area. Not a lot of seating, so you may have to wait to get in on busy nights. read more

this place is amazing!! i came with my family and everyone loved their food (and my dad is a hardcore meat eater so that's saying something). we had all had a hard time deciding what to get because everything on the menu sounded awesome. i had the soba salad which was both beautiful and delicious, and the veggie gyoza we shared were the best I've had! The oshiruko (rice cakes in warm azuki bean sauce) was a little sweet for me but still really good! excited to come back and try more of the menu! read more

Cha-Ya - soba salad- so pretty!! - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Absolutely delicious! Although my husband is a meat and potatoes guy, he loved the different flavors and variety of plates. The shredded salad was perfect to share with everyone. The curry soup had such a light broth which allowed the flavor of the vegetables to individually stand out. The soba noodle and veggie salad was a big hit as well. Even our son loves everything which is great from a 12 year old. We definitely will be returning and introducing this place to our friends. read more

we love this place for family night out. healthy and delicious. we love the mushroom udon noodle soup, agedashi tofu and senroppon salad. also great for take out. other restaurants load you up with salt and oil. you will feel good after a meal here. read more

Love this place, the food is always consistently good and fresh! A real treat. The menu doesn't change that often, but there is plenty to choose from. read more

What happened with this restaurant??? It was used to be a very good vegetarian restaurant. I though there was a Japanese chef cooking at counter. I went with my friend for lunch. People who were working there were not Japanese anymore. Quality of food went way down. Tasted totally different from what it used to be. Actually tasted funny. I do not know about dinner time. Hope it is better. read more

In reality, I would give it 4.5 stars. My favs are the Goma-Ae, which is a cooked spinach with a delicious sesame sauce, the Cha-ya roll, and the soba tempura noodle soup. There are many other delicious things on the menu as well. I wish they would make some seitan dishes! read more

It was meh. But maybe I'm being too harsh. I have a high bar when it comes to Japanese food and this was OK but not so good I'll return. I eat mostly vegetarian so I can say that I am used to light eating, but I actually had to eat again when I got home from dinner! It's certainly healthy and the food was okay tasting, so I guess if you want to eat light on volume and on flavor, this is your place. read more

The best place in town really good service great staff great location is really nice hopefully I can come back again soon

This restaurant is one of my favorite, favorite places to eat. The food is delicious as well as beautiful. When I am done eating here, I feel energized, peaceful, nutrified, and bit like I have some subtle super powers. I recommend the curry noodle soup, the sukiyaki, the special rolls, the barley tea and some delicious dessert with red bean paste broth and rice gelatin goodness. It sounds weird but it is textural magic, served warm and not too sweet. Also, the chocolate cake is totally out of context here, but it is also very, very good. I went by here one night just to get a slice to go. If you get it to go, warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds so the frosting gets all melty and delicious. Finally, if you haven't figure this part out yet, it is a great place to take vegans. read more

Ok so this will be a first for me... (writing reviews) but what a enjoyable dining experience I recently had at Cha-Ya in Berkeley and wanted to share it. I am a sucker for quality. I really love fresh, somewhat firm, bite into them crunchy (at times) but must be flavorful (lavishly at times), tasty type of veggies (and the softer melt in your mouth jiggle type textures too). Cha-Ya restaurant definitely had all that and more. The best part, I had this skewer with this mushroom (don't know the mush type but damn it was good), red onions, and asparagus plus something else?? Really great tasting and looked cool on the plate. Add some of that sauce that it came with and "bang" we had evening delight. I am also a big miso soup fan ... that was delicious as well. Plus the seaweed salad I sampled - yummy can't go wrong. I did not sample the fried spring rolls on our table. It just didn't look right all fried cooked and sort of brownish like on the outside the veggies on the inside looked not good. Hey I eat fried foods... but that just didn't look right; spring rolls fried = not at all appetizing to me and couldn't do it. But oh well can't have it all. The service was friendly/average nothing spectacular. The prices were on the higher side but worth it. The parking sucked but that's just Berkeley. The ambiance was definetly a good vibe. There were many people simply enjoying good fresh food and conversation. I will be back to try something else. read more

Over priced yet very good dishes are always served piping hot (temperature) as they should be, if you don't like it, let it cool before burning your tongue. Presentation is generally good. The recent renovation, while adding more seats could have been done a little better (could have made it a little nicer, artwork, design, something) read more

I enjoyed a few things I hadn't tried yet-shira ae and agedashi tofu. The shira ae was a delectable mixture of flavors and textures- crisp edamame, tender daikon, juicy broccolinni, and a surprising tofu-sesame dressing. I was expecting the dressing to be a bit more acidic, but I know I love lemons more than anyone else. (For real, I would eat lemons EVERYDAY, if not for a silly attachment to my tooth enamel.) The agedashi tofu, with a light ginger sauce was delightful. Although next time, I might ask for the sauce on the side, it did make the last bites of tofu soggier than the first few. read more

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Quality is poor. Service was horrible. Save the trip and go somewhere that's worth your money! Not visiting again read more

let me first say that i love meat. LOVE meat. do i love meatt more than cha-ya? .....no. i'm sorry, but i will pass up meat in exchange for cha-ya any day of any week. first off, the soba salad was colorful and delicious-- perfect soba noodles accompanied with red and yellow bell peppers, snap peas, carrots, mushrooms, tofu, and a billion other delightful things. everything was flavored to perfection, and the sauce was addicting. goma-ae (salad of broccoli and spinach) was so good, the diners next to us had to ask which item it was. blanched spinach pressed into a roll, sweet broccoli (broccoliettes?) served with a potent, refreshing sweet miso sauce. dengaku!! i love you! tofu, eggplant, and mushroom covered in a miso glaze and broiled to transcendent perfection. YUM! this place makes such good food, i'm tempted to bust out with the neo-hippie jargon and deem the food "healing." portions are small (except for the soba salad), but prices are reasonable. next time i'm trying the rolls, the cha-ya delight, and what looks like tempura eggplant. in response to yesterday's cha-ya review: it's cash-only for lunch, but cards are accepted during dinnertime. read more

This restaurant makes vegans, Japanese people, and Berkeley look bad all in one. I really desperately wanted this restaurant to live up to expectations. But sadly, everything I've ordered at this place after going a few times has been flavorless (in addition to being extremely small and expensive for the lack of size and care put into it!). Their rolls are unseasoned, their gyoza basically tastes like dough meant to be dipped in a pure oil sauce, and their noodle soup actually has a decent broth but the substance of the soup is bland, unseasoned steamed vegetables!! I don't understand why people would pay for such a thing, nor why a restaurant would be proud to serve it. They have this one sauce (it might be plum?) that is one-dimensional and extremely overpowering, smothered in gobs over pretty gross steamed eggplant, bland mushrooms, and other vegetables they're trying to hide in this overwhelming sauce. Lastly, the cash only thing is not only suspicious and sketchy, but (assuming everything is on the up-and-up and they just don't want to pay the credit card processing fee) I find it pretty rude to pass on that fee to customers who aren't carrying cash (most people) in the form of a $3+ fee to use the restaurant's ATM. Overall, please consider supporting other vegan businesses in the area and don't mistakenly assume this place represents Japanese or vegan food because it most certainly does not! read more

No one greeted us when we came in, so we just sat ourselves at one of the 3 tables they have. Then, a pleasant woman came over and asked if we were ready. We needed a lot of time because there wasn't one item on the menu that didn't appeal to us. We ended up ordering The Cha-Ya rolls, which were OISHI! (consult your Japanese dictionary.) I also ordered the vegetable tempura and udon, both of which were spectacular! The soup base was so flavorful! Everything here is vegan, so no worries about seafood allergies. Give it a try, you'll likely leave satisfied without feeling like you've consumed the world. read more

We liked the place. Kid friendly. Four of us and we each ordered something different and shared. Liked the kinoko miso, soba salad, agedashi tofu, pot stickers, and deep-fried Portobello mushroom. When in the bay area (we live in the Sierras) we seek out vegan friendly new places to try. read more

wow! wow! wow! one more, WOW! This place is stinkin' a-mazing. I came in expecting a lot since so many yelpers gave it 5-star ratings and yet I was BLOWN AWAY! While I do LOVE my meat, this vegetarian(vegan, actually, I know that word is a little daunting...) Japanese restaurant was incredibly delicious. Every time I found something I wanted to order, I found another thing on the menu. It really was hard to choose. Decor is very homy and cozy, seating is limited. This is officially MY FAVORITE JAPANESE IN BERKELEY(maybe the world? maybe thats a bit much.). Also, it is very AFFORDABLE!!! - -- --- ---- ----- ------ ---Read on for more specifics of review!!!--- ------ ----- ---- --- -- - What they do with their food is really awesome. Their sushi tastes clean and beautiful and sometimes mimics real sushi. It gives me flashbacks of some sort of Iron Chef... TEMPERA is not like generic tempera, it is fresh and crispy and uniquely flavorful. SUSHI is really delicious and you can't go wrong with any of them. They are all epicurean delights. GREEN TEA is authentically Japanese and deep. Also had SOBA noodles with a medley of mushrooms: portabello, trumpet, shittake...-- very impressive. Noodles taste earthy and authentic, mushrooms also amazing. Unfortunately they're only open until 2:30pm for lunch and I think 4:30pm-till something for dinner. Better call in for that folks. And the bathroom is clean and also very stylishly done. I enjoy using it. read more

I've been here several times. As a vegetarian, I appreciate the concept. But, for the price, the rolls have not been very well-prepared (i.e., sloppy and fall apart easily) and the ingredients could be more imaginative. The service has pretty much sucked; never a water refill or a "How is everything?" If I'm going to pay full-service dining prices, I expect more for my money. read more

Getting your daily servings of vegetables cannot be more pleasant than dinning at Cha-ya. Their vegetarian/vegan sushi and specialty rolls are treats to your eyes, palates as well as body. I particular love the roll that was made with soba noodle instead of rice! I only wish they open a branch close enough to where I live so I can go there all the time. read more

This place has too large a reputation. I kept going here because of the reputation, tried something new, wasn't excited, and left wondering what the fuss was about. After four visits and deciding neither the soups nor the sushis were worth ordering, I finally had the Cha Ya revelation: their broiled and fried items and sauces are terrific! I'd certainly endorse the tonchi nasu stuffed eggplant and the robata yaki vegetable skewers. read more

This is our favorite restaurant in the East Bay. The food is so fresh and delicious. Our family is vegan, but we have brought many non-vegan friends here over the years, and they have all loved it. read more

I'm sorry I just don't "get it." We waited for over an hour to be packed in here with a shoe horn. The food was rather boring and very overpriced. Why oh why is there always a line? read more

I prayed that it wasn't going to be all hype. True, the lines are enormous all the time, in part, because the restaurant is so small. But still...I was hoping it wasn't going to be like 1015 Folsom...a ginormous line on a cold night, and you wait and wait...and when you got inside all you see is a bunch of losers moving around like they ain't got no rhythm. Well, friends, rest assured, Cha Ya WASN'T hype! All I could think while eating my meal was, "Man, if all vegan food could be this good, I'd become a vegan!" We ordered the sushi combination (three vegetarian rolls, miso soup, salad), vegetable skewers, this stuffed egg plant dish, and fried banana dessert. The salad and miso soup were delicious. Everything tasted fresh and light...the miso had lots of fresh tofu and seaweed, the salad consisted of vinegared cucumbers and other delicious yummy ingredients. The sushi rolls were also pretty good. I never thought that I could enjoy sushi without fish or meat, but man, my tastebuds were smiling. The stuffed egg plant dish was very good too (stuffed with tofu and other good stuff), and drizzled in a light tempura sauce. The grilled veggies were also very tastey. The secret to Cha Ya is that they know textures in food, make sure that each item incorporates various textures, and they definitely don't skimp on flavor! The presentation is also clean and very appealing. As for dessert, I have to tell you that I was mightily impressed. The fried banana picture on the wall does NOT do this dessert justice. The banana is fried in tempura batter and then drizzled with red bean and green tea sauce (very light and delicious). They also throw on some soy crispies to give the dessert some extra bite! Our bill came out to $40 with tax and tip - that's not dirt cheap, but definitely a decent find since we ordered tea, a sushi meal, two other dishes, and dessert! The only reason I take away .5 stars is because the restaurant is small, there is always a line outside, and frankly, I hate standing out in the Berkeley cold when my stomach is crying out for some food! The parking can also be spotty, but as a Berkeleyan, I find parking in 5 minutes are less...you just have to know where to go (I'd tell you where, but then I'd have trouble finding parking!). Know in advance that there are very few tables...half the restaurant is sitting at this tight little counter. Very intimate, you could say...but also a little annoying. Overall, though, well done, Cha Ya. You have impressed me! read more

I miss Cha-Ya so much! I was obsessed with this place when I was in college, especially since I only lived a couple blocks away. I'm someone who absolutely does not like seafood, but love Japanese cooking, so this restaurant is the most amazing place for me. I've tried quite a few things on the menu: the veggie sukiyaki, senroppon salad, dengaku, cha-ya roll, stuffed eggplant, plus many others! I just love the amount and variety of vegetables they use, and the dishes come out so colorful and flavorful. I can't wait to be back in the Bay Area to come back and eat here! read more

The best. Everything is vegan so you can just order what you want without straining to read ingredients or nagging the server (sorry, but I have to sometimes!). Really good. Really, really good. read more

this place has gotten insanely expensive in the last year. my last meal here was: plain house miso soup steamed rice uramaki roll and with tax and modest tip the total was 18 bux! and i was drinking water! bay area yuppies win again. this place is yours and yours alone now :/ read more

I'm a newly vegetarian (3 months, 24 days--lol, ok, maybe not that exact) and my friends and I tried Cha-ya this past Sunday night (After Bay to Breakers-drunken fest all day) Anywho, I went with my friends to this vegetarian restaurant even though i didn't have the apetite (all the propel/vodka, sunchips, and late Indian lunch food) I still went. I only ordered the Cha-Ya roll and it was delicious! It was tempura battered with vegetables (duh). My friend ordered the spring rolls which was also good, potstickers were superb, but the vegan chocolate cake didn't really impress me-it was too gritty (Cafe Gratitude's desserts are better, but that's a whole another review) So, if you're a vegetarian who miss eating 'sushi', I would suggest trying this place..OR if you just want to try an alternative place to eat for sushi, this would be a good place! read more

I dunno. It's been over a decade, and every now and then over the years, I give Cha-Ya (both here and SF) another try, but it's always kind of a mixed bag. I like some of their stuff, but other dishes are just so-so. As other reviews seem to attest, service can also be problematic at times. We ate here the other day for lunch with our toddler, and thankfully the dishes came out quickly to satisfy the antsy kid, but the check took a little long. After trial and error, I've determined that I like some of their noodle dishes, the Cha-Ya roll, the miso soup, and the agadashi tofu. read more

They have kitsune udon! This is extremely rare for most Japanese restaurants in America, and I really don't understand why. The moment I saw that dish, I knew I had to have it. I'm really excited to go back to try their sukiyaki, but it is a little pricey, especially if you know how to make some of the dishes. I thought the service was just fine, and I'm simply stoked to have found a place nearby that serves really awesome kitsune udon. read more

So I've never eaten here in person, but they were kind enough to sell to me 3 cups of sushi rice for $5 when the chef at Kirala 2 down the street rudely dismissed my request. (I was prepared to pay $10+ since I desperately needed the rice for hand rolls I was making at home.) The rice was nicely marinated, but what impressed me most about this restaurant was the kindness of the sushi chef. read more

A tiny hole in the wall where you can dine in or take yummy vegan Japanese food-to-go. Their soups are great for people who, like myself, don't like fish broth. The kitsune udon & soba soups have become a standard in our house, replacing chicken noodle soup, when someone is sick. read more