Anchalee — Restaurant in Berkeley

5 out of 10 Thai food, and Thai food is hard to mess up. There must have been something going on in the kitchen that day because mid way through our meal we got the strongest burnt scent coming from it. We quickly paid the bill, held our breath and headed out. Smelled toxic, like burnt plastic.

The Pad Thai tasted caramelized to us, browned in flavor. Weird. I'd usually expect a sweet but brighter, tamarind note in my Pad Thai. Also, no peanuts in there either. Only three prawns, which tasted amazing, which had to be split unevenly between me and my partner.

We also got a special, the Duck Salad, and while the duck was so perfectly cooked, the salad dressing was too salty. And I'm a salt fiend! I normally eat food with too much salt, so it must have been seriously salty. I think the dressing would have benefitted from some lime and more fish sauce, but seeing how salty it was already, maybe that fish sauce would have been the nail on the coffin. Normally Thai dressing requires some of that briney "fishy" taste, which I love and did not find here. Not sure what happened.

We also got an eggplant and beef stir fry, which was extremely watery. The sauce was practically liquid, no sticky thick consistency. The eggplant was undercooked, raw in the center, and completely unsalted. The beef that came in this dish was thin, overcooked and chewy.

I really do think there must have been something going on behind the scenes, because the reviews for this place are normally good. Then again, the entire clientele that night was composed of white folks in their 60s, so perhaps this is the kind of "Thai" that fulfills their palette. Me and my Cambodian boyfriend did not enjoy this place and cringed when we had to pay for something we would rather have skipped. Bummer. Maybe it was...

I've been to my fair share of Thai restaurants and Anchalee is not a place I would recommend to friends.

Although the ambiance is nice, the food and service were not on par with other restaurants in the area. We ordered the papaya salad, special pumpkin curry and ginger chicken. Our meal (for 2) came out to be about $50.

The papaya salad was probably one of the worst variations of papaya salad I've ever had. The sauce was tart and flat. Out of all the veggies on the plate, I enjoyed the lettuce the most. That's saying something.

The pumpkin curry was OK. The seafood was cooked well. The curry lacked any depth or complex flavors. Considering it cost substantially more than the other regular menu entrees, you would think it would stand out...unfortunately no.

I wasn't a fan of the ginger chicken either, although my fiance enjoyed the chicken better than the pumpkin curry. I think it's because she doesn't like seafood.

Also, if you want rice, you're going to have to pay extra. I hate it when places do that. Why isn't rice included in the price of the entree. If I'm going to pay $18 (can't remember for sure how much the pumpkin curry was, but it was around that range) for curry, it had best come with some kinda starch to sop it up.

Service was lacking too. A sure fire sign that a place has bad service is when your water never gets refilled when it's empty.

No, I would not go here again. It's too expensive for mediocre...

Anchalee is consistently some of the best Thai food in this part of the East Bay. The dishes are well-made and the seasoning is perfectly balanced – never too sweet. The presentation of the dishes and the level of service is really quite good, especially for the extremely reasonable price point. Setting is intimate, with charming decor and a lot of natural light. They have rotating specials and a full menu of vegetarian dishes, several of which I order even though I'm not vegetarian – the vegetarian Tom Kha comes with all sorts of vegetables, for example.

Some highlights on the menu:

• Mieng Hed - Thai Lettuce Wraps: From the specials menu. This is the dish that finally got me to review the restaurant. Light and crispy, with surprising layers of flavors, this was the most exciting new dish I've had anywhere in months. Really fabulous. • Sai Aur - Spicy Thai Sausages: Another specials menu item. I last had these a while ago, but I remember the seasoning being really excellent. • Tom Kha: Perfect balance between creamy, tangy, and lightly sweet. Perfect balance. • Lad Na Shiitake: Fat noodles, lots of mushrooms, and an amazing garlicy gravy that's just a touch smokey. • Sweet black sticky rice with fresh mango: Fine presentation, and just as delicious as you'd expect.

Two people can have a quick meal here for $35, and if you really do it up it'll maybe be $50. Definitely worth...