Wat Mongkolratanaram — Attraction in Berkeley

Wat Mongkolratanaram, A.K.A. Thai Buddhist Temple, is a refreshing Thai brunch Berkeley has to offer.

They usually open up at 10am; I recommend coming at 9:45am so you can at least get your tokens and look at what is there to offer. How it works is you get tokens and you get tokens the same way you would go to an old-school arcade. There is a booth to give your money [CASH ONLY] to someone and in exchange you receive tokens, one dollar to one token ($1 = 1 token).

I saved myself 10 seconds because I had left over tokens from the last time I went. Today I went really early, 9:30am and the lady said they opened up early today. I got:

2-item combination (includes rice): Beef panang and pad Thai = 7 tokens Curry Puffs (4 in a box) = 4 tokens Thai Tea = 2 tokens Fried taro (2) and cinnamon Kanom Krok (6) = 6 tokens TOTAL: 19 tokens = $19

This was a lot of food, really made for sharing; I say go big or go home. The beef panang has basil, has coconut milk, and is spicy which went super well with the rice. The pad Thai wasn't as flavorful as I remember last time and also compared to last time they didn't fill my box all the way. The Thai teas was on point as well as the fried taro. The taro was perfectly fried and it was the perfect ending to my meal. The kanom krok was still goopy when I got it, they barely opened, and I don't know if it's suppose to be like that or cooked all the way; it was still good.

The curry puff is an overlooked appetizer which I feel people need to give it a chance. Of course it can't beat the egg roll right next to it. The curry puff has potato, carrots, and I think onion mixed in with curry. It was a hearty -Thai - empanada appetizer. I'm super glad I tried it, reminds me of a masala dosa. There is so much to choose from like curries, vegetarian options, and soups.

It's a nice breakfast/brunch to start anyone's Sundays. If you do come around noon and later expect to be patient with parking. Since the temple is near a residential area it can be hard to find parking, especially since they have a service before they open, that is my guessing because it was already packed when I pulled up. I also want to emphasize it's CASH ONLY. If you want to eat you need tokens, to get tokens you need money and when I mean money I mean CASH. It's tokens because from what I heard it's because what they serve cannot be exchanged with money so they have this loop hole. Anywhoo, worth the experience and the amount of yummy-in-your-tummy food....

I visited Wat Mongkolratanaram, a Thai Buddhist temple in Berkeley, on a Sunday morning and I was amazed by the beauty and tranquility of the place. The temple is located in a residential neighborhood, but once you enter the gate, you feel like you are in a different world. The temple grounds are filled with colorful flowers, statues, and flags. The main building is a Victorian-era house that has been renovated to fit the temple style. The temple offers meditation classes, chanting services, and cultural events throughout the year. But the main attraction for me was the Sunday public brunch, which is a feast of authentic Thai food prepared by the temple volunteers. For a small donation, you can get tokens and exchange them for various dishes, such as pad thai, curry, soup, salad, dessert, and more. The food is delicious, fresh, and spicy. You can eat at the tables outside or inside the house, where you can also see some Buddhist artifacts and paintings. The brunch is very popular, so be prepared to wait in line and bring cash. But it’s totally worth it. Not only do you get to enjoy amazing food, but you also support the temple and its community. I would highly recommend Wat Mongkolratanaram to anyone who loves Thai food...

Food here is incredible!

I recommend arriving early to avoid the line.

First you will need cash, it is a cash only establishment. Then you get in your first line to exchange your cash for chips, 1 chip = $1 different colors have different values.

Once you have your chips you can get into 5 different lines, one rice with vegetarian curry options, one with meat and veggie curry options, one for mango and sticky rice, one for fried chicken and sticky rice and one for beef noodle soup.

All mains are 10 chips, curry you can add on up to 3 curries on top of rice for 12 chips.

You can also get various sides and snacks at a few of the booths for ~5-7 chips.

We got the rice plate with yellow chicken curry, pumpkin tofu curry and pad thai (12 chips) mango and sticky rice (10 chips) and the beef noodle soup with the thin noodles (10 chips) all in my attached photo.

If you are in a hurry you can add 1 chip to most items to make it “to go”.

I felt the other reviews did the food here justice, it’s absolutely amazing and I have nothing monumentally new re that aspect, just wanted to give more info about how it works!

By 10:20am it is VERY busy and the lines are 20/30 people long easily so if you are easily overwhelmed,...