Cox: 101 Thai Way

Spicy Basil with Beef and side of steamed rice at 101 Thai Way restaurant in Cloverdale. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)

There’s a little storefront Asian restaurant in Cloverdale called 101 Thai Way, and despite its modest size and inconspicuous setting, there is much to like about the place.

First of all, it’s spotlessly clean, bright, and cheerful. Second, despite the name of the restaurant, I call it Asian because in addition to many Thai dishes, Chinese staples like pot stickers, won ton soup, and chow mein are on the menu as well as Japanese dishes like tempura vegetables and beverages like Tozai Living Jewel junmai sake, which is a perfect match for Thai food. There’s a small wine list, too. Kenwood Yulupa Chardonnay is $18 a bottle and St. Francis Old Vine Zinfandel is $34. And there’s a nice selection of beers for $3 or $4 a bottle.

Beauty Basket

The food is very good. A menu item called Beauty Basket ($7 ***½) is a delight. It consists of four cupped romaine lettuce leaves filled with crispy little threads of egg noodle, crushed cashew nuts, bits of tomato, red onion, cucumber, cilantro and mint leaves, dressed in a sweet-and-sour sauce. The first impression is of impeccable freshness, then a mix of textures from crunchy to soft, a mix of cool cucumber and hot chiles, then herbal flavors of cilantro and mint, a little bite of onion, all riding the knife edge of sweet and sour. Delicious.

Cloverdalians clearly are learning to love the place; on a recent night it was nearly full of customers, most of whom were greeted with hugs and first-name welcomes as they came in the door.

The eatery is easy to find. If you’re heading north on Highway 101, get off at the South Cloverdale Boulevard exit and turn left over the bridge for a hundred yards until you come to a “T” at the boulevard. Take a right, and immediately on your right you’ll see a Starbucks in a little shopping center. At the end of the row of storefronts on its south side, there’s 101 Thai Way.

Chicken Satay

Besides the regular menu, the kitchen turns out a number of nightly specials. Typical specials might include crab wontons, fried calamari, seared ahi, grilled salmon with Chinese pumpkin, a whole soft-shell Eastern blue crab, and a special yellow Thai curry. But rather than concentrate on specials, we focused items from the regular menu that will generally be available. That started with some standards like Chicken Satay ($8 ***). Most Thai restaurants give you three or four bamboo skewers, but here you get five, and the chicken strips, marinated in a golden sauce before being cooked, are meaty and wide. There’s good peanut sauce for dipping and a cucumber salad with onion and carrot given a sweet-and-sour sauce.

Generous slices of fat prawns join chopped mixed vegetables, including spicy chiles, inside translucent rice noodle wrappers to make six Fresh Summer Rolls ($8 ***) that could have used a little mint to freshen them further. They’re served with peanut sauce.