After an unsuccessful attempt a few months back to enjoy some
Mexican food on NW 21st (is Taste of Mexico still in business?), I
decided to give the strip another shot and hit up Cha Taquería
and Bar, a new, relatively upscale venture from the folks who own the
burrito chain Cha! Cha! Cha!
I don’t share the popular hatred of Nob Hill—I’m actually kind
of nostalgic for the pre-Pearl days when NW 21st and 23rd comprised our
yuppie district (remember that?), and as a dining destination, the
region undeniably offers some of the city’s high-end highlights
(Paley’s and Wildwood leap to mind). Cha, though, has some work to do
before it lives up to its locale—or its own menu, for that
matter.
Now that we’re all such conscientious consumers, restaurants are
increasingly inclined to announce where their meat and produce is
sourced, and Cha has their bases covered (Painted Hills this, Draper
Farms that…). You’ll also find seasonal vegetables and fruit salsas
rounding out a menu of entrées that hover in the quite
reasonable $8-15 range. The menu highlights seafood offerings like
salmon tacos and crab enchiladas, while ceviche flights provide an
opportunity to try a selection of marinated seafood, from Pacific ono
to wild-caught salmon.
Cha serves lunch and dinner, lunch being just an abbreviated,
cheaper version of the dinner menu. Lunch, in fact, is quite affordable
given the fancy digs: A veggie burrito and a seafood empanada ran $14
for the both, and were supplemented nicely by chips and a tasty dip of
pureed avocado. The veggie burrito offered no surprises (the vegetarian
options are limited, and feel like token concessions); the usual
grilled veggie setup served with guac and a pico de gallo had seen
better days. My empanadas de tampico contained a generous portion of
crab and prawns—but the crescent-shaped pastry itself was dense
and heavy, topped with a wan tomato-based sauce that tasted like it
came out of a can. I ate half of it and took the rest home because I
felt guilty about wasting it, where it sat in the fridge for a few days
until I finally gave up and threw it out.
Dinner didn’t fare much better, save for the addition of
surprisingly good cocktails: A cucumber margarita was crisp and not too
sweet, while a martini combined jalapeño-infused tequila and
vodka to spicy-yet-drinkable effect. The food, though, was just…
fine. Totally edible, not gross, but certainly nothing to get excited
about. The chicken in my enchilada was on the dry side, and the sauce
seemed on the shy side, unwilling to engage with my taste buds. The
campechana (cocktail of prawns, oysters, scallops, and mussels,
served with crackers), on the other hand, was so aggressively marinated
in lime juice that the seafood was totally overpowered by the onslaught
of tanginess (“Good thing I don’t have any cold sores,” my dinner date
observed).
Sometimes you can tell when a restaurant is going to fail: There’s a
palpable air of defeat from day one. Cha is not one of those
restaurants, and there is potential here: It’s a great space,
high-ceilinged with huge windows, not to mention well-orchestrated
outdoor seating, and the added appeal of a huge tequila bar and
well-made cocktails. Given some time and some serious attention to the
menu, this place could be quite good; here’s hoping it happens.