Ele Thai Cafe

Possibly the worst Thai food I’ve ever had. Huge slabs of chicken and mushrooms in the soup. Mushrooms were basically raw. Salmon tasted really fishy. Too bad, seems like a family-​run place.

Fresh, friendly and sooo delicious. We had the salmon in green curry sauce, pad Thai, and chicken salad. All were unique to this restaurant. The pad Thai has a great tamarind sauce, not gloppy ketchup like sauce that you get in some other places. Chicken salad had nice heat with yummy crunchy fried coconut bits. But the highlight was the salmon curry. A delicate sauce with lots of flavor and FRESH veggies. Can’t wait to go back and try the rest of the menu.

This is the best place I’ve ever been in. Coffee is delicious, but specially the food!!! Always fresh and so worth it. The service is excellent; they are always extremely friendly, specially the guy. It’s a shame that I don’t see a lot of people visit that café, maybe because of the area, and it is also a bit hard to notice. But I’d strongly recommend anyone to go there, you won’t regret it!

This is some of the best thai food I’ve had in the area. The ingredients are always very fresh, and the dishes are very flavorful with a light touch. Love the simple modern décor with an understated elephant theme. Charming and delicious place in a sweet part of Kensington.

This place serves some of the best Thai food I have had in the Bay Area. Not only that, but they provide amazing service. They always greet you with a big, genuine smile and do everything they can to make sure you have an enjoyable meal. The beautifully decorated, cute, little restaurant is located in the Kensington area, a must try if you are visiting Berkeley.

Dropped in on this place for the first time a few days ago. The food was fresh and tasty and the service was prompt and courteous. It’s a simple, clean, tasty café — nothing fancy, but my body liked it. I’ll be back.

I was very happy when this Thai restaurant opened in our neighborhood because there aren’t any other Thai places here. I’ve only had takeout, but while I waited for the takeout I found the staff very friendly and hospitable. I really enjoyed the green curry and the pumpkin curry. The spice was just right. The veggie peanut curry was disappointing and bland. The menu is limited but they always have specials. Can’t wait to try more!

Ele Thai Café is a great newer addition to strip of small businesses on Arlington. The menu is small, but well curated. The owner takes a lot of care in preparing the food and it shows — the vegetables are not mushy, but perfectly cooked. The spring rolls are delicious, as is the basil eggplant with chicken, green curry salmon, and thai iced tea. When they have some specialty thai desserts in the refrigerator case, try them out — they are traditional thai desserts that you may not find at other thai restaurants. Service can be a little slow if there are more than a few people inside — they are a small café, so they can only go so fast.

The menu is small as is the space, but the Thai food is uniformly excellent. I liked the assertive fish sauce they use.

Considering the lack of diversity in restaurants around Kensington, Ele Café is a welcome addition. My opinion may be slightly biased because its also within walking distance from my house, which makes it super convenient for me to grab a quick bite.
The good:
— Thai ice tea!
— Salmon spring rolls
— Salads are really fresh
The bad:
— Pricey for the amount of food you get
Its not my favorite thai place around Berkeley, but its convenience and friendly staff won me over. I’ll be back.

Great gem in our neighborhood. Delicious Tom Yam soup. Extraordinarily fresh spring rolls. Friendly staff. We’ll be making this place a regular dinner stop!

Came here with three friends after a nice long bike ride up hill. It feels like an oasis when you see a little Thai restaurant after riding for so long.
The inside setting is more like a café, good for a quick drop in, not so much for an intimate date.
The first thing I ordered was a big fresh young coconut. The juice was amazing and flesh perfect! I could have had just that for $ 4.75 and kept on.
The fresh spring rolls were very tasty and the pad Thai was pretty standard, however it only had two pieces of broccoli in the whole dish and a scant amount of peanuts on the side.
There was one issue for me that was pretty major, otherwise I would have given them five stars. After noticing a rancid smell in the chicken salad we saw there were rotten slimy greens in it, plus the chicken didn’t really look like chicken at all. I sent the dish back and we weren’t charged.
The service was very kind and I was happy to be able to find a yummy spot to eat and ride on.

Ele Thai Café is a nice surprise for the community of Kensington. Over the years, the site has been occupied by a string of unsuccessful ice cream shops. I always wondered what kind of business could thrive here year round. A tiny Thai restaurant may just be the thing to bring a little spice to the Arlington.
I walked in and placed my order at the long counter that displays sodas, pre-​made Thai iced tea, and an assortment of desserts. The guy who greeted me was pleasant and offered me a seat. It took him and another woman quite awhile to prepare the food, so I took the time to familiarize myself with their offerings and observe the space. The location may be modest, but it’s bright and impeccably clean. The décor is quirky with black and white checkered floors, green plastic chairs, and their specials drawn on a chalkboard. It would be an ideal spot for a super quick lunch.
I really appreciate the short and sweet menu, mainly consisting of various spring rolls, salads, and a few entrée options — mostly curries. For such a small space, it’s a relief to know that the food is fresh and that they are keeping it simple rather than over extending. The ingredients are all natural and the majority of things I tried were prepared with care. Overall, my main issue is that the portions are awfully small for the prices they charge, especially factoring the prices of Thai food in the immediate area. The dishes I tasted were fine, but nothing to rave about. The highlight was the fresh spring roll with prawns, cucumber, and greens, served in rice paper. Quite plain, but undeniably good tasting. Unfortunately, the Thai iced coffee was a bit of a bummer. It was almost all coffee, just a splash of milk, and contained a ludicrous amount of sugar. I ended up throwing it out. Maybe with a little more time, they’ll become more consistent.
I have no overwhelming urge to return, but I wish Ele Thai Café the best of luck!

Time: 5:17pm/71°F mostly cloudy
Purpose: This business came up averaging one review per week or more. Thinking I can score an account here. So by reading the reviews said to myself Thai place could be an easy score.
Ambiance: Located on Arlington ave first business you see rounding the corner coming up. This use to be a ice cream parlor all that is gone taken over by Ele. How ever they manage to keep the cone out in front but gutted and remodel the inside. Patio has one bistro table with chairs seems scary to sit at first with thin twisted wire I was afraid it’ll collapse on me. Walking in entrance to you immediate left a table that resembles a chopping block for butcher, five tables with light green chairs set up for two diners each. Checkerboard black/​white floor tiles like See’s Candies. Counter sits little plant pots, cold fridge display, center cut out is the iPad register sits, another cold case. Inner back is the prep and cooking area shelfs line with Torani syrups. Commercial branded kitchen wear was new and in working order. Two blackboard menus hung up, the left one is entrée/​starters the one on right is for dessert/​specialty drink. Lots of elephant figurines and even their company logo is a silhouette elephant plaster sticker.
Staff: Two lady one short around late 50s other about late 20s-​early 30s. I walk in a both of them were prepping orders for one person waiting. There wasn’t anyone else in the place. Took them a solid 2+ minutes to answer me, even then I had to be the one bringing up a question first. The short lady didn’t know what I said, pointing at the menu I ask what is this made of? Still I shouldn’t be the one questioning what is good. No recommendations or showing enthusiasm about service. In fact they probably use body language to make me go away. This way they don’t have to make my order and still get pay. Good for you more power to you both, keep it up and EDD checks will be mail to you very soon.
Cleanliness: Grade A, can’t believe this place it’s very clean no crumbs, dirt or smudges. It better be as ACE Hardware is right next door, if you can’t make it in there for cleaning supplies better close up the business.
Eats/​Drinks: Order the Thai tea float $ 4.95. I thought it would be fast and easy. Turns out it’s more than that. Sh*t I mean how long does it take for you to pop a scoop of vanilla ice cream over glass of premade tea? I was sitting outside enjoying the sunset views relaxing for the weekend. Having a coming up trip on the horizon. What better to have an float? Then 8 minutes later worker brought it over, it was in a latte 12oz glass with handles. I was shock and disappointed about the size of this float. Didn’t know why she gave me a spoon as the ice cream part was the size of a bit bigger golf ball. The tea was definitely the kind you buy in any Asian grocery store. It really tasted like the glass bottle with orange/​yellow wrapper around it. I’m pretty sure we all have seen those before, no need to go further. The value of this made me so f**king mad as I’m huffing and puffing thinking that they ruin the weekend for me by ripping me off. I contain myself half way through it. Calm down Al, no need to get upset over a minor ridiculous thing like this. As I was the one that should’ve research a bit more before ordering, stupid me!
Products/​Services: Spring rolls, coconut soup, red curry chicken, Thai peanut sauce, salmon over greens, papaya salad, mango salad, salmon salad, Thai chicken salad, side orders, fresh young coconut juice, sparkling mineral water, herbal tea, jasmine/​green tea. Coffee by Cole.
Punch Lines: 14 person seater establishment, water fall sound effects, takes CC’s, long wait time, nothing stands out, mediocre taste, no sustainable ingredients, prices a bit high, portions like kids menu, worker shows no interest, not knowledgeable, display case stocks more sodas than their menu, cheesecake looks store bought (Sara Lee), premade Thai tea sitting in see through cups, basic everything, not much value.
Tradeoffs: Not the best or real good Thai food around. It’s nothing more than a basic Thai café located in a middle class neighborhood that draws out people being virgins in Thai food. Don’t be shy this place is not busy you can make mistake through pronunciation and no one will laugh or snicker at you.
Final Thoughts: Strangely but true when one thinks or heard about Thai food, pad thai instantly comes to mind. Not here they don’t not even listed on menu and not sure if they have a secret menu. I’m still fuming from today’s experience. I wouldn’t mind paying more if quality and portion sizes existed here. This reminds me of my time having an Irish coffee with Bailey’s I pay an exuberant price for the best of the best at Buena Vista. Here it’s just the opposite! Go figure! 2.5 stars and take down that «people love us on Unilocal sticker» for now till there’s improvement shown. Kaylah experience is very similar and identical as mines, spot on.

All the reviews are really good and I was really excited to try this place. So I went finally and was anticipating fresh yummy thai food. The place itself is fairly simply, clean looking and minimalistic. I liked that. There was only two ladies working and they seemed very busy and left is standing up front by the register for awhile before one of them finally took our order. I got the Thai chicken salad, it sounded absolutely delicious. Now I HATE writing bad reviews, but this place disappointed me. First off the prices are pretty high and the portions quite small. I figured for those prices the food must be pretty exceptional, so I gave it a chance. When I asked the woman if the chicken salad was served with rice she looked at me like I was crazy and said «no, over greens.» So I just said ok, I’ll take it. It came out fairly quick on quite a small plate. It was mostly small pieces of very bland looking chicken and fairly soggy lettuce. There was some other veggies and some mint and lots of dressing. The first thing that set me off was there was an entire shell and head of a prawn, but not whole, it was cracked and broken into smaller pieces and I spent a few minutes picking the pieces out of my salad. maybe I haven’t eaten enough Thai food in my life but this wasn’t normal looking to me. Now the chicken, it had a very odd smell. The very best way I can describe it is it literally looked and tasted like the small pieces of «chicken» in Campbell’s chicken noodle soup! The flavor was almost good but was ruined by the soggy greens and some kind of hard, small crunchy topping as well as the strange chicken and prawn shells. I love Thai food and maybe if I had gotten something different this review wouldn’t have been so bad. But I couldn’t even finish the meal. I took it to go because I didn’t want to complain to this small business, walked down the street and threw it away. I’m really sorry ele Thai, but something wasn’t right with my experience today…

Small menu but everything we tried was fresh and delish! Chicken dumplings in curry sauce were delicate and divine. Red curry chicken spicy but not too much do, and the pumpkin yummy yum! Spring rolls perfect, light, lovely. A bit expensive but worth it. Great addition to the village/​welcome to Kensington! See you soon and often.

Family owned and super friendly and inviting staff (owner-​Bumblebee)! The Food Was all fresh and you can tell it was made passionately and with care. I had the Salmon in Rich green curry sauce. With crispy spinach broccoli asparagus and red bell. The sauce was perfectly mild with a luscious flavor. Had the mango cheesecake for desert and it was fluffy and filling and rich with flavor. Reminded me of my grandmothers papaya cheesecakes.

I usually don’t write reviews, but a small place in a location that turns out quality food deserves the business. My wife and I went here for takeout, ordering the Fresh Spring Roll and the Salmon roll, along with the salmon and the chicken curry. We closed out with mango sticky rice, because why not? The food was ready to go in 10 minutes, and the quality and flavors were really great. The staff was super friendly.
Kensington is small, and we’d love to see Ele become a local favorite, but it needs the community to know about it! If you like Thai food, please give it a shot — I know we will again. As a bonus, the Cheese Shop across the street has bubble tea while you wait, and we got a great bottle of wine at the wine shop a few doors from that.

This little kiosk or café had been an ice cream store for ages. It last housed the Sugar Cone Café. I was excited to learn last week that a Thai place had just opened up. I was even more excited when I spoke to the people inside a few days ago and learned that Gecko Gecko is behind this new operation.
A visit was in order! I came for lunch today with Rachel C., who is a big fan of Gecko Gecko. We both ordered the same thing, «Broiled salmon in rich green curry sauce with spinach, broccoli, asparagus and red bell» ($ 12.95). This item is a 2-​chili choice, meaning that it’s «very spicy». I asked for it «medium» and got only a very small amount of heat. Rachel asked for her curry «Thai spicy».
We were told that the same dish is available as «jasmine salmon» at Gecko Gecko. We each liked the salmon curry and thought that the quality hadn’t declined as the recipe migrated from Milvia Street to the Kensington shopping district.
The arrival of Ele is a big plus for the Kensington dining scene. The only negative to eating at Ele stems from the limited amount of space: the menu has only four appetizers, four salads and three regular entrees. Today there was also a curry special, which I didn’t see until after I had placed my order. I probably would have ordered this fourth entrée had I seen it in time.
There are very few tables in the café, so takeout might be your best option.

What I had: Thai iced tea
Visit date: August 21, 2014
First time? Yes!
I spotted Ele from across the street while getting gas and had to stop in. I was still full from lunch but was thirsty so I ordered a Thai iced tea. Delish! Not too sweet, and nice & cold! Also, I appreciate that their menu already states that their tea is made with half and half (and not condensed milk which makes my tummy angry). Usually I have to ask. One less step! Thanks Ele!
Ele has simple & clean furnishings, super friendly staff, and a menu filled with reasonably priced items. I will definitely be back to try the food and to enjoy their café ambience for longer. In the meantime, you should try it! They’ve only been open for three days so I’m looking forward to seeing them in business for much longer.