Racha Café

one of me and my partner’s favorite spots in berkeley for years!! their location is on a bus street but their interior is cozy and sweet. we LOVE their pumpkin curry, kaow soi, and drunken noodles— it’s our go-tos every time! we recently moved and realized how rare pumpkin curry is at other places, and talk about how much we miss it.

Underrated gem in Berkeley that offers some of the best Thai food! I absolutely recommend their Khao Soi. So flavorful and delicious. They also have other great options which are all so flavorful. I loved their Tom Yum soup and they have a great Green Curry, although it is less spicy and creamy than what one might be used to, they use fresh vegetables. Unlike other Thai places in Berkeley, there is plenty of seating. The staff are very friendly and give it a family-friendly vibe. They can adjust spice for all dishes and really do make it a lovely dining experience.

The food here is super good. My favorite items are the pad see ew, the pad thai, the thai boat soup, and the thai iced coffee. Unfortunately, my first time here my group was wrongfully charged a 20% gratuity fee that, according to the menu, was mandated for parties of 6 or more—but we were a party of 5. That, paired with sub-par service, made for a sort of negative first experience. But I have since been back here many times, and the food is delicious and the service is good! I recommend this place to anyone who likes thai cuisine.

RACHAS MY BELOVED!!!! Im so happy to see them getting more business, they are truly the best thai food place ive ever tried, and ive tried maybe 5-6 places. Rachas easily wins. Their pad see ew and pad nee mow are both delicious. They are super savory and have a really delicious soy sauce flavor. The veggies are always crispy and crunchy, but not raw. Just perfectly sauteed. Both noodle dishes come with the thick flat rice noodles, but i alsays get the thin rice noodles because i like them more and i think they hold onto the sauce a bit better. The veggie egg rolls are easily the best egg rolls ive ever had, which is super surprising to me since theyve just got veggies and vermicelli in them, but theyre really good. They do always come out at 1 million degrees though, so be careful lol. My absolute favorite thing to get here, is their tom yum noodle soup. It comes in a huge bowl, packed to the brim with noodles and meat, in a broth that is insanely flavorful. Its super sour and herbaceous, exactly like how a tom yum should be. Also it comes with two different types of pork in it: one is like a pork sausage that they took out of wrapper that is nice and seasoned with a little bit of spice, and the other is pretty thick slices of smoked pork that is lovely. Neither types ever have any gristly bits and they always taste perfect. This soup truly is my favorite thing to get here. A couple other things my friends and family have gotten here are: - Fried prawns, they come in a tempura type batter with some broccoli that has the same batter. Super crispy, really good - Thai basil chicken over rice, super strong basil flavor with really deep savory notes. This is my moms favorite - Any of the curries, really flavorful sauce with those same crisp veggies. My only complaint is that they give slightly small portions of the curries, but it could just be that i eat a lot. But the noodle dishes and rhe tom yum both come with enough food to easily fill me up and occasionally leave me with left overs - Fried rices, i don't actually remember what ones my friends had gotten, but i havent heard any compaints Overall please give this place a try, and i super highly recommend the pad see ew if you want savory salty noodles, the curries or thai basil chicken if you want a rice dish, and the tom yum if you want super strong soup.

Nice place! We were craving pad Thai and this place delivered. I wish the sauce had more peanuts in it though. Tasty Thai tea too.