restaurant review #3: imm thai street food
a delightful and affordable food spot in one of my favorite bay area cities.
an introduction (ft. light housekeeping and a poll)
welcome to the first double header week on simmer with sally! today, the spotlight is on imm thai street food, a bustling spot located at the footsteps of uc berkeley.
this double header week comes thanks to the poll folks participated in on my ig stories. moving forward, i’ll take an aggregate of results from both the poll option on substack as well as my instagram. lots of folks were interested in both spots i had in mind for california food reviews, so here we are! i’m not one to deny the people what they want.
speaking of polls, i wanted to get a temp check on what folks were feeling re: korea food content. if you could take a second to just vote your preference, i’d greatly appreciate it! the poll is live for only a week, so speak now or forever hold your peace.
before we start our double header review, a reminder on how my food reviews are structured:
a quick, 5-sentence review that summarizes my entire experience, along with a numerical rating out of 5
a more detailed, in-depth review that spills ~all~ the tea
ready? let’s dive right in.
the tl;dr 5 sentence review
imm thai street food is a (surprise, surprise) thai restaurant located in berkeley, california. places like this serve as a reminder of how much better food is literally anywhere outside of boston. imm thai is affordable, accessible, and delicious (though the vibes and service could be polished up a bit). a solid option to check out if you’re in berk - whether you’re a student at cal, a tourist stopping by, or a local fiending for noms. i’m counting down the days until i can make my prodigal return.
rating: 4.4/5
the hot and juicy deets
the reservation.
this was another spot i visited while i was back home in the bay at the end of january. because this was such a last minute trip combined with the fact that i was only in town for a few days, it was really hard to make plans with some of my friends who i haven’t seen in ages! thankfully, one of my friends, tom, was free and we were quickly able to set up a date and time to meet here.
we didn’t make reservations here, mainly because we didn’t see an option to on their website… even though their yelp page says they do take reservations (maybe you need to call ahead instead, i’m not 100% sure). tom and i decided to take our chances with lady luck as walk-ins. we met in front of the restaurant at 5:15pm, and y’all, it was already poppin’ inside! luckily, we were able to snag one of the last free tables. by the time we left, there was a wait out the door, so we definitely came at a great time.
the location, getting there, and accessibility.
out of all 3 restaurants simmer with sally has reviewed, imm thai street food is, by far, the most accessible. it’s located right below cal’s campus at the intersection of university and shattuck aves, making it hella easy for students to come by and nosh anytime they want during restaurant hours. bart (bay area rapid transit that services, you guessed it, the bay area) has a downtown berkeley stop just a block-ish away from imm thai. on top of that, there’s a metric fuckton of buses that stop right at the corner (the 7, 18, 51B, 52, 79, 88, 604, 800, F, and FS to name a few). basically, this means you absolutely have no excuse to NOT come by and give this place a try if you have the means. you can also drive by car to berk, though at this time it’s probably not the most recommended means of getting here due to smash and grabs and the overall nightmarish parking situation in the area.
i personally took bart from the station near my parents’ spot (dublin/pleasanton, iykyk) to downtown berkeley. total transpo time took about an hour (i needed to transfer lines and frankly lucked out w timing), which seemed reasonable given that driving by car takes about 45 minutes on a good day.
the vibes.
the vibes at imm thai could use a little zhuzhing. the spot itself is pretty small (a handful of tables and some bar seating), so i understand that there’s a limited amount of things they can do with the space. maybe i’ve also been spoiled rotten eating at places that have put in a lot of time into immersing diners into a whole ass experience. i’d say overall the neoindustrial-esque vibes do match up to the price point and quick turnaround of the food. if you’re looking for a no-frills spot to eat a boatload of yummy ass food, this is it. if you’re looking for more of an immersive dining experience, i’d recommend checking out one of the many other incredible restaurants in the area that live up to the hype.
one thing i do love is when restaurants have an open kitchen that diners can look into. imm thai has one that takes up a good chunk of the space. tom and i were seated just a little too far from the kitchen to get the full bts experience, so i’d definitely like to sit at the bar next time so i can see things in action.
the drinks.
i ordered a non-alc drink from the imm thai menu - a blueberry lemonade soda. i really, really enjoyed the drink! the drink came in a sizable mason jar with a handle, and the color was a gorgeous blue (which initially threw me off before my brain remembered that blueberries are… well… blue). the issue i have sometimes with blueberry lemon flavored items is that the lemon is too overpowering, but this drink was a great balance of both flavor profiles, with just a lil fizz. a perfect non-alc drink to enjoy with the great food we ordered!
tom ordered a lagunitas. since it had been a couple months since our dinner, i had to quickly ask him for his review on the dranky drank:
so here you have it folks! lagunitas + imm thai street food = sploosh central.
the food, price point, and value.
again, out of the whopping 3 restaurant reviews i’ve written so far, imm thai street food has by FAR the best pricing and value for the food. you can check out their menu here on their website, but nothing on their menu (including their alc drinks) tops $20. this is probably an intentional choice given they’re just steps away from cal, but it works in everyone’s favor as it means you can truly enjoy a nice, family-style meal with friends, coworkers, and more - with leftovers to boot. the one thing i will ding imm thai for, however, is the lack of available information on the menu for different food sensitivities and allergies. most menus at this point in 2024 make it pretty easy for folks to determine what’s ok or not for them (eg: gf, vegan notes on the menu), so i’m not sure why they’ve made it difficult here.
tom and i ordered a few different dishes to try and dig into. we ordered the following:
fried rolls with glass noodles, wood ear mushrooms, carrot, and cabbage served with sweet and sour sauce
grilled chicken satay on skewers with coconut milk-turmeric, peanut sauce, and cucumber relish
papaya salad with shrimp, tomato, green bean, peanut, carrot, and chili lime juice
chicken pad thai with thin rice noodles, egg, bean sprout, green onion, red onion, and peanuts with an extra side of peanut sauce
the fried rolls.
the fried rolls here are yummalicious! i wish they served more than 4 fried rolls, because i could have easily eaten more. the fry on these rolls were nice and thin with a huge crunch factor. everything inside of the roll was nicely seasoned, and i was able to taste ALL of the texture and flavors from the different ingredients. the sweet and sour sauce was also delectable, striking a great balance between both flavor profiles.
the grilled chicken satay.
grilled anything on a stick usually gets my panties in a twist (positive), and this was no exception. in fact, the grilled chicken satay may have been my favorite out of all of the delicious food tom and i had for dinner. the chicken was cooked perfectly with plenty of that juicy, tender goodness with just the slightest taste of coconut and turmeric coming through. the cucumber relish was refreshing and crunchy, and a perfect compliment to the satay. the star of the show, though, was the peanut sauce. creamy, savory, and nutty with just the slightest kick of spice. thank god i ordered extra for the pad thai.
the papaya salad.
the papaya salad is probably the food item i liked the least out of everything we ordered for dinner… but don’t get it twisted! it was still pretty damn good.
i think i was expecting more of a traditional salad with more leafy greens than what we ordered, so that initially threw me for a loop. this was just a reminder for me that a salad is just a dish of mixed ingredients - the sky is the limit. the taste overall was fantastically refreshing and bright. i don’t think i’ve actually ever had papaya in fruit form (always blended in juices or smoothies) but i really enjoyed it! the sweet and soft texture from the fruit and tomatoes against the crunch and savory notes from the green beans, peanuts, and carrots made for a super exciting flavor orgy in my mouth. i was very pleasantly surprised by the chili lime juice - the perfect amount of brightness with a sneaky bit of heat that wasn’t too overwhelming. my only note here is that i wish the shrimp was grilled.
tom took the rest of the papaya salad home because we wanted to save some room for…
the pad thai.
i’m a ho for a good pad thai, and imm thai street food definitely delivered. the perfect mix of sweet, sour, salty, with just a hint of heat! the rice noodles and onions were the perfect texture, and the green beans and bean sprouts were cooked but still stood on business when it came to crunch, with support from the peanuts. i reached my food peak when i mixed a bit of pad thai with some of the extra peanut sauce we ordered. i could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, but didn’t do a full on sob.
tom also took some pad thai home because we had a good amount left over (that bowl is deeper than it looks, people).
the service.
i think this is another area of improvement for imm thai.
re: service of the food itself… it’s lightning mcqueen fast. we waited probably no more than 5-7 minutes after ordering our food, and everything was hot and fresh straight from the kitchen. i don’t have any notes for how quickly they served the food, because that’s how it should be done for a fast-casual spot like imm thai.
what i do have notes for, though, is the quality of the service. look, i get it. this is a no-frills joint that seems to be hella busy all the time. i don’t have a ton of expectations for spots like this to provide fine dining quality service. but it seemed clear the servers were on the verge of or actively burning out with all of the diners they were serving. it was hard to get their attention to ask for a new water carafe, or even the check to pay for the delicious food. the food industry’s been hit hard by covid, and places are short-staffed top to bottom - it’s clear things (especially here) are still on the recovery upswing and they need more help.
a conclusion
in all, i really enjoyed my time catching up with an old friend over some delicious eats! i am dying to come back here to try some of the other foods on their menu - especially some of their rice plates and kitchen specials.
if you liked what you read, please consider sharing the word on my substack with those who you know would enjoy it.
coming up next week… a review of a beloved, mainstay spot in portland, maine! any guesses as to where it may be? comment down below!
love, sally
always a pleasure reading your reviews!!
Now you have me craving some thai 😋