Dara Thai Lao Cuisine

1549 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 841-2002
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I had talked to a friend about Dara Thai Lao Cuisine in Berkeley. What I heard was that the food was great, but the service sucked. I had pretty much the exact opposite experience. The service was fine, but the food was lousy. It's been a very long time since I have sent a dish back, but after about 5 bites of the Panang Chicken ($8.95) it was very clear to me that there was no way I was going to be able to finish this, or even come close. The quality of the chicken was horrible, with mixed dark and white meat and lots of what I like to call "mystery meat" pieces. The Panang curry was also way too salty. The dish overall was just lousy. I finally called my waitress over and asked if I could get something else instead. She said I could and I decided to play it safe and go with the Pad Thai with tofu ($7.95). After a few minutes that came out, and it looked pretty decent. The noodles had very good flavor, but man, these were the chewiest, stickiest, toughest to eat pad thai noodles I've ever had. I literally would have to grab the bunch hanging out my mouth and tear them off to get the bunch off my fork. The tofu was, grilled tofu. Usually I go with Chicken Pad Thai, but I couldn't imagine having that other chicken in it. YUCK. Needless to say, I won't be going back, and honestly am a bit surprised how this place is able to last in Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto area with all the good other restaurants around.

Quality of food = 4
Service = 6
Value = 4
Cleanliness = 6

Avg cost per person - $13 with tip