101 Thai Way — Restaurant in Cloverdale

This is a difficult place for me to rate. The entire experience was just... odd.

It began by realizing the restaurant is in a gas station parking lot—not a deal-breaker or anything, just a little unusual. But the real "hmmm" began when we stepped inside and the place was filled with cooking smoke (the kitchen is fairly open to the dining space). The smoke and burnt smell made me want to turn around and leave since I could see it in the air, but we'd driven ten minutes to get there and the other options would have been twenty minutes away.

We were seated and given menus. Water was delivered quickly and we didn't have to wait long for food. The Pad Thai was on the less-good side of those I've had, but the Tom Kah soup was among the best, which is the only thing that saved that from being a three-star. While the smoke did eventually clear, it took a solid 15 minutes to dissipate and really set a poor tone at the beginning of our meal.

I think this is one of those places that's better as a take-out joint...

I've eaten here many many times. There is another Thai restaurant in Cloverdale but it's not anywhere as good as this one next to Starbucks. I was in the restaurant business for decades in Berkeley and so I feel that my reviews are "informed". I start with knife skills. At 101 the house made cucumber relish is a flavorful melange of thinly cut cukes, tiny pieces of red bell peppers, teeny bits of Bermuda onions, etc. I'd give anything to know exactly what is in their deep fry batter! It's so crunchy and delicious, whether it coats prawns, mushrooms or tender bites of pink beef tenderloin! If you like fried food, and who doesn't, you must try 101's version. Lastly, the single woman who is the chef, manager, owner and host is a marvelously competent and lovely woman. The quality of food from an ingredient point of view...

We wanted a decent meal after a day of wine tasted and found this place on the way back home. It’s a small little place, but they were able to seat us right away for dinner. I got the bruschetta, coconut soup, and chicken pad si eiw. I started with the soup and it was pretty good – not the best I’ve had but decent. Then we got the chicken pad si eiw and it was pretty good as well. Nothing spectacular about this dish, but nothing to complain about either. And then we got our bruschetta, which I thought was an appetizer, but I didn’t mind that much. It’s pretty much shrimp with avocado on top of bruschetta slices with a peanut sauce on top. Sadly, this wasn’t my favorite as the shrimp wasn’t super fresh and the peanut sauce tasted kind of weird.

Overall, it’s a decent place to grab a bite to each when heading back...