Over the past few weeks, the Scribe embarked on a journey to find Tech’s favorite restaurant. Out of a large pool of responses, while close, Champa Garden came out on top. Champa is a small local Thai restaurant located in eastern Oakland.
From the right angle, the building is indistinguishable from any other home in the neighborhood. And that is a great way to describe it: a home. The vibe is extremely personal and charming. The walls are pleasantly and randomly decorated with a mix of local symbols and framed works. It feels like a food truck turned into a restaurant.
Upon entering, we were greeted by a kind young man who let us pick any seat. We were alone, save for two older women in the other corner. After sitting down, we were given a menu and two glasses of iced water. I ordered a fried chicken appetizer. For our main dishes, we asked the waiter what the most popular was—the Champa Sampler—and what his favorite was—the Pad See Ew. Finally, for dessert, we ordered fried bananas with ice cream.
As we sat and absorbed the atmosphere, I began to feel strangely lulled. It was almost so warm that I could take a nap in perfect comfort, and for some odd reason, it felt as if the building had some sort of soul. I could listen in and hear all of its stories, all of the things it’s taken in and swirled around its mind. The very essence of the food itself had extended and fused into the walls and haphazard decor.
Despite arriving a little before the three o’clock weekday closing time, our first meal took a modest seven minutes to arrive. The Pad See Ew was adorned with leafy greens and sweet rice noodles. The chicken was well-cooked and slightly chewy. The serving size was also massive, easily satisfying us.
The next meal to arrive was the Champa Sampler. It was a mix of fried spring rolls, fried rice, Lao sausages, and vermicelli. The fried rice had an amazing mix of grease and crunch, with a sweet tinge. The spring rolls had a pleasantly crunchy shell with a smoother, softer interior, and the sausage flowed amazingly with the rest of the meal. As I ate, I began to feel more and more that the food tasted and felt like a childhood dish, like a mother’s warm and tender cooking under a warm fire stove. The restaurant did not feel like a restaurant at all. It was not an establishment or anything plastic; it truly felt like an extension of passion.
Second to last came our appetizers. The fried chicken, while less remarkable than some of the other food, was still tasty. The dish’s highlight was the sweet chili sauce. The meat had a desirable crisp shell and a soft, tender inside.
Finally, fried bananas arrived for dessert. They came warm and with a side of vanilla ice cream. The bananas were a highlight of the trip. They had a distinct crunch on the outside, while the sweet middle literally melted in your mouth. We would take spoonfuls of the ice cream and drape it around the banana shell, creating an amazing contrast of hot and cold in our mouths.
Throughout all of this, the service was excellent. Each meal arrived warm and before we could finish the last. The staff was extremely friendly and accommodating. Overall, Champa Garden was an amazing experience, ripe with soul, hospitality, and deliciousness. I felt some pride knowing that Oakland houses such amazing and joyous food, and some disappointment that I did not know of its existence any sooner.