Thai Taste - Santa Rosa

170 Farmer Lane #8, Santa Rosa CA 95405
(707) 526-3888
Parking: in shopping center parking lot
Hours: Mon through Fri 11am to 3pm, 4:30 to 9pm, Sat 4 to 9pm, Closed Sundays

Last Visited: March 19, 2010

Food: 4 stars
Atmosphere: 3 to 4 stars
Service: 3 to 4 stars
Price: $$ to $$$

Thai Taste was a small, but quaint establishment located inside a small shopping center. In 2009, the restaurant expanded into the adjacent store and has become much more spacious and elegant. While the original restaurant (now the main entry) had textured walls that are sponged a light yellow and ivory, and there is a lot of darker wood around the room, the new expanded area looks modern with light boxes displaying unique Thai art and figures, maple dividers to lighten up the room, while the tables are still made with a dark wood and are covered by maroon tablecloths.

Some of the better known dishes (which were also ones I have tried before) include their fresh roll, pumpkin curry, and papaya salad. Although I have been here multiple times, it has certainly been a while since my last visit. During my most recent lunch here (a visit made in November of 2004), a number of specials were offered and served with rice and choice of soup or salad.

- Salad – This salad accompanied the lunch special. A small portion that included a mix of iceberg and romaine lettuce is topped with a peanut dressing. The salad didn’t contain much variety, but the dressing was creamy and light. The salad would have been better topped with some shredded carrots to add color to the dish.

- Pumpkin Curry – Red curry paste is cooked with coconut milk, diced pumpkin, carrot slices, bell pepper slices, peas, bamboo shoots, zucchini, and Thai basil. For the lunch special, this is served with a scoop of rice. The curry is slightly sweet and very mild. The sauce as a whole is creamy and great over rice. The pumpkin is soft and melts in your mouth. Excellent. $7.95 for the lunch special in 2004. Price is dependent on veggie or meat variations for dinner. With beef, chicken, or pork, this dish during dinner is $9.25.

- Thai Iced Tea – Thai Iced Tea is a red/orange colored tea served with ice and evaporated milk giving the tea a sweet taste. Good. $1.95

During lunch in 2004, there were many patrons, and only one server to accommodate all of the tables. This dropped their three star service down to two stars. Although I had ordered my Thai Iced Tea at the beginning of the meal, I didn’t receive it until I had completely finished my meal and my dish was taken away. This was completely disappointing. With only one server for the entire room, it’s understandable that the drink order would be delayed, but being delayed to the end of the meal left a bad impression. Thai Taste serves good food, but try to get there early for lunch to avoid the crowd.

During my March 2010 visit, we were celebrating a friend’s birthday dinner. We were pleasantly surprised by the expansion and delighted by the attentive service. This brought their service back up to 3 to 4 stars. The menu has remained much the same as before, but with a number of new specials featured. Also, they have changed many of the plates and the presentation of each dish was quite lovely.

- Fish cake – To start the meal, we tried the fish cake which we were warned is a bit spicy. Indeed, it is. There is a little bit of chili oil coating each individual cake – there are five in all. A bright orange color, the cakes also contain some green and red – my guess is that they have chilis and green onion. Served with a green salad that has been tossed in a refreshing and light vinaigrette, this was a good dish - not the best fish cake I've had, but a good one. The salad also had purple cabbage, carrots, chopped cucumbers. Sprinkled with sesame, it was very lovely. $6.50

- Pad Thai with Pork – The pad thai noodles had just the right texture and the tamarind sauce, although sweet, was not too sweet. The crushed peanuts are plated on the side to serve as a garnish and also allow folks the option of choosing to combine them with the noodles or not. I really enjoyed the crunchiness from the carrots and bean sprouts, and again, red cabbage garnished the plate. This ranks as one of the best pad thai dishes I’ve had in Sonoma County and probably one of the best anywhere. $8.95

- Eggplants with Vegetables – Eggplant is cooked with tofu, red bell peppers, broccoli, and cabbage. Cooked in a nice sauce with a little bit of natto, the flavors were distinct and delicious. The amount is a little smaller than what I would prefer, but still good. The plate shape was also unique and added to the presentation and made the colorful vegetable combination look even more lovely. $8.50

- Pineapple Fried Rice with Prawns and Chicken – Served on a light green dish textured like pineapple, this fried rice contained a lot of breast meat and two prawns. There was just the right amount of pineapple – not too little and not overwhelming, but it would have been nice to add another prawn or two. They make sure the prawns are featured prominently on top of the dish. $10

- Jasmine rice is served on a plate versus a bowl. This reminds me that I’m not in a Chinese restaurant. The rice was pretty standard.

In combination with the pumpkin curry (photo shown above), we had a wonderfully balanced and delicious meal. The staff checked on us often throughout the meal and readily refilled our water glasses. The staff also gave us appetizer plates to share the fish cake dish and then changed our plates for the main meal. I upgraded their Atmosphere rating from 3 to 4 stars to a solid 4 stars. Thai Taste is a great place for delicious Thai food. With their recent expansion, the room is much more elegant and would be great to have a dinner party or to take a date. I’m glad to see they are doing well and plan to make more return visits.