Fro-yo Across the Bay: Yogurt Harmony

I thought I'd check out the frozen yogurt craze on my side of the Bay. While on my way to the farmers market in downtown Berkeley today, I noticed this fairly new yogurt shop right on Shattuck Avenue not too far from the downtown BART station.

Yogurt Harmony has all the look and feel of the up-and-coming yogurt shops opening around the Bay Area, with its bright colors and feel-good zen-like name. The space inside, however, lacks the bright and fresh colors of most new places, although it is clean and well-kept. It reminds me more of a cafe than a yogurt shop (it also sells coffee).

They keep it pretty simple at Yogurt Harmony. Plain yogurt is sold at small, medium and large at $2.50, $3.50 and $5.50. The flavored yogurt (there's only a couple of flavors, peach and green tea when I visited) costs $3.25, $4.25 and $6.25 for the same sizes. Toppings are extra.

I ended up getting a small size of the green tea yogurt with fresh strawberry toppings. It was a nice size for the small, and they were quiet generous with the strawberries. But as for the yogurt itself, I was less than impressed. The texture of the green tea was a bit gritty, and not as creamy as the yogurt I had at places like Jubili or Icebee. The green tea flavor was very subtle. I could barely taste it when mixed with the strawberries, but on its own I could taste the definite green tea flavor.

Yogurt Harmony looks like a nice place to hangout and its a prime spot for UC Berkeley students, but at least with this one visit, the yogurt doesn't seem to be on the same level of others I've tasted in San Francisco. On my side of the Bay, I'd probably just end up getting the yogurt at Sketch in the Fourth Street area or stick with Ici ice cream.

Yogurt Harmony, 2259 Shattuck Ave. at Bancroft, Berkeley (downtown). PH: 510.848.5903. Hours: Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. Web site: www.yogurtharmony.com.