Back in action, Bay Area part 1

Sorry for the absence--we were in Berkeley, CA from the 26th until the 1st, and I was planning to post all the food photos I took there once we got back. The universe had other plans, and decided that my primary photo-taker, my iPhone, would not be returning with me from Berkeley! It was either lost or stolen at some point while I was trying to find a place to pee. Sad, sad news, especially because I hadn't backed anything up since February! Luckily, we do have a few photos from Dan's phone, so I'll share those.  Anyway, read on for more about our trip.


When we arrived to Berkeley on Friday, we went to Herbivore Restaurant for a late dinner. I had a pasta with lemon cream sauce, and Dan had an eggplant sandwich and potato salad. The service was good, but I think I should have gone with another dish. The lemon flavor didn't work for me in this case, and the sauce was a little too rich and creamy. It had tomatoes and mushrooms in it, but they seemed like they were just thrown in rather than really cooked with the dish. Dan's sandwich was so-so, but the potato salad was really great. I'm sure there are some things on the menu that are good, and I do recommend the potato salad, if you like that kind of thing. No photos of this, sorry!

Kare udon! Curry udon soup from Cha-Ya

Saturday, we went into the city for dinner to meet with my friend Katie and her boyfriend. Katie is one of the most organized people I know, so of course she made our plans easy by sending me a list of vegan friendly places in Mission District to choose from. We chose the Japanese vegan restaurant Cha-Ya, which was a great choice! We ordered four dishes and shared--vegetable tempura, curry udon soup, and two rolls (their Cha-Ya roll and a special, "hasami age"). Everything was so good! I especially enjoyed the soup, and the rolls were innovative and better than your average sushi. Our friends also had some great sake. We kind of caused a scene in the restaurant, since moments before we arrived, our friends reported a crime to the SFPD, and the police kept coming in to talk to Katie's boyfriend! Maybe the chefs made our food extra tasty to avoid any more trouble... Anyway, it was so good that we went back to their location in Berkeley later, where Dan took photos of our food, so I'll show you more of those:

Veggie gyoza

Tempura

Kushi-bou, fried eggplant, avocado, and mushroom with almond butter sauce

If you are traveling to the Bay Area, I definitely recommend visiting one of the Cha-Ya locations, and I recommend trying the soup. The prices are reasonable, and I love Japanese restaurants that serve more than just sushi!

We also grabbed a juice from Sidewalk Juice nearby the restaurant in Mission. We had the "JJ's Tropics", which was great.  They had some packaged vegan cookies for sale as well. It looks like they have a ton of vegan juices, and might be able to make vegan smoothies as well.

That's all for our first part of the trip... and almost all of the photos I'll be able to share :( Dan is in Japan now, so I'll write soon with some of his attempts at vegan food in Kyoto. Take care!