I spend a lot of time in Costa Mesa working and am always looking for good restaurants. My wife was joining me for a few days so I searched the Yelp for some recommendations. Kanok Thai Bistro was highly rated and fairly close to our hotel. We gave it the old College try. We were sat immediately as it wasn't super busy on a Friday evening. Our service was very attentive and great throughout our meal. We started with a chicken satay which was delicious. My wife ordered the pumpkin curry which she raved about. She ordered it a 2 out of 5, spice wise, and she told me that it was hotter than she anticipated. She loved it. I ordered a chicken panang mild. Mine was delicious but much spicier than I expected. The portions were giant and we had enough for a full meal at lunch the next day. No complaints! read more

They overcooked the Crying Tiger steak. We sent it back. They overcooked it again. I'm talking totally well done. Not even Medium Well. It would have been great to have Medium or even Medium Rare. But we give up. We won't be ordering that dish again. Anyway the 4 of us loved the large bowl of Tom Yum soup with Shrimp and a side of plain noodles to add to it. We also loved the large bowl of Yellow Curry with chicken and a large side of rice. And of course the Drunken Noodles with chicken. Oh ya and we started with the Crab Rangoon that all of us gobbled up. read more

Kanok Thai Bistro - Large bowl of rice. Perfect for 5 people! - Thai Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Great flavor and not that crowded. Loved the service here. Not the largest restaurant but able to fit our party of about 10 people. This was a solid place to carb load for our OC marathon. I would definitely order the Tofu Pad See Ew and Tofu Fried Rice again. It was so filling that it was enough for lunch and dinner. 100% recommend this place. Just a heads up they include a large party fee on the bill. Tofu Pad See Ew: 4.5/5 Tofu Fried Rice: 4.5/5 read more

Kanok Thai Bistro - Thai Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Hm... I was very excited to try this place. The menu is extensive so I may have not ordered the right items. I went with curry trio - red, yellow, green. I was so confused as they all taste the same due to amount of sugar and milk added. Green has usually strong flavor but I couldn't tell which one was yellow or green. The color of the sauce looked the same. The beef was chewy and not soft. It was good idea to try different curry but honestly they all taste the same. The currry soup with shrimp was alight. It felt like premade Tom yum paste from the container. It's not homemade. Overall, wanted to come and support local restaurant but it's very mid. Service is alright I think I should try other items next time. read more

amazing food and service! Would definitely come back. The tables were clean and honestly, I'm surprised it's not busier read more

Kanok Thai Bistro - Thai Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Got take out while out and about!! Restaurant looks cute and clean inside. I'll have to try more dishes at the restaurant next time! Service was great and quick!! I had the chicken salad with crispy rice (forgot the name) and it was delicious!! I only got a level 1 because I'm such a wimp read more

Kanok Thai Bistro - Thai Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

I am speechless. So pleasantly satisfied! I ordered this off over eats, the Tom Kay Soup and Pad Thai. It was AMAZING! The soup I got spicy and the pad Thai I got super spicy. The flavor is exquisite. However what I am most impressed with is the warmth of everything when it arrived to my door. It took like 20 minutes to get from the restaurant to my home but it was so hot in warmth. Not sure how they made that happen or if it was the delivery driver but this was heavenly. I would order this again and AGAIN and again. ** photos don't do this justice read more

Kanok Thai Bistro - Pad Thai with chicken very spicy - Thai Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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I needed a place to take my in-laws after a school event and thankfully Kanok was nearby. They loved every single thing. My father in law is very picky and he ordered the curry trio which he loved. Everyone enjoyed their meals and we shared some appetizers. The service is always prompt and friendly and the restaurant is very clean. Parking is convenient. read more

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Since this was a DoorDash mission, I can't speak on the dine-in vibes this review is purely about what matters most... the food. And Kanok Thai Basil absolutely spoke through the container. I ordered the Chicken Thai Basil (Pad Kra Pow), medium spice, and the moment I opened the lid the aroma escaped like it had been waiting for freedom. Garlic, chili, and basil rose up in this warm, savory cloud that basically announced: your rice is about to have a purpose. I have a weakness for ground chicken  it just belongs with white rice. Something about the way the small pieces soak up sauce makes every spoonful complete. This one was exactly that. The chicken was juicy, tender, and coated in a glossy, deeply savory sauce that balanced salty, slightly sweet, and peppery heat. The medium spice was perfect not painful, not timid just enough to wake up every taste bud without drowning the flavor. Then the basil comes in at the end of each bite like a fresh exhale, cutting through the richness and resetting your palate so you immediately go back for another scoop. Spoon rice chicken repeat. Before I realized it, I was scraping the container like I was trying to find hidden treasure. My only wish? More chicken. The flavor is so dialed in that you want a bigger portion just to stay in that rhythm a little longer. Even delivered, even after the travel time, the dish still tasted alive which honestly says everything. Some foods survive delivery. This one traveled with purpose. Kanok Thai Bistro didn't just send a meal they sent a full comfort ritual in a takeout box. read more

Very fast service. Great food. We went early evening on a weekday. Didn't wait in line. The restaurant had a very diverse crowd, so I wondered if this is more fusion than authentic Thai flavors. It has a bistro vibe and wasn't too loud. read more

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There is a shared parking lot so there was no issue finding parking. The inside is nicely decorated with a lovely ambiance. Service was fast & friendly. I got the pad Thai which was a perfect portion & decently priced. Full of flavor & I really enjoyed. Would definitely come here again. read more

Went to Kanok Thai for dinner and everything was great! The portions are huge and reasonable, the big pot of rice was perfect with the fried fish topped with mango sauce, and the tom yum soup came out in a large bowl full of mushrooms and veggies. The Pad Thai was also a big portion and super tasty. Everything came out fast and fresh, and the service was friendly. The place was only about half full on a Saturday night, so it was nice and relaxed. Prices are really fair for how much food you get. Definitely coming back again! read more

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I have been coming to this place since it opened. And the quality of food has been consistent... delicious, tasty, yummy...with several Thai restaurants in our neighborhood, this has been in my top 3. My go to orders are, trio curry, pad Thai, mango fish fillet, Tom yum, sticky mango rice for dessert. Service is friendly, interior decor is casual. If you're craving for Thai food, try this place, it's authentic. read more

Delicious local Thai restaurant in Costa Mesa is a true gem! Service was fantastic, with plenty of food options. We ordered green curry with chicken, beef pad seew and beef salad. They were all so delicious. We loved the condiments, particularly the chili powder and sambal. They offer lunch specials too, we will have to try it out as well! read more

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Great food and one of the last places in OC you can still get mee krob. Service is fast and efficient. Very nice staff.

My bf was craving Thai food. We were Yelping and found this spot had good reviews. Parking: They're located in a busy plaza, so finding a spot can be difficult. Ambiance/Environment: They have a medium sized space with a good amount of indoor seating. No outdoor seating. They still had their Xmas tree up when we visited lol. There's booths and tables with TVs showcasing a game. Service: We didn't catch everyone's names, but everyone was absolutely attentive, courteous, and efficient! There were multiple servers that assisted us. Our main server was Henry. They made sure our waters were filled, empty plates removed, and other requests were met. Safe to say, customer satisfaction is definitely one of their priorities. What we ordered: 1) Crab Rangoon - I always order crab rangoon anywhere that offers it. These were crispy and generously filled with cheese! The sweet n sour sauce made it even more flavorful! 2) Crispy Salmon served with jasmine rice & salad - The salmon was cooked well. The sauce was sooo delicious! I'm not sure what exactly was in the sauce. There was a generous amount, so I made sure to mix it with the rice. The salad was fresh and tasted as expected. 3) Nam Kao - My bf ordered this, and I took a bite. The flavor from all the spices were definitely present. He ordered this spicy, and oof .. it was spicyyy. It sat on a large salad. Usually you'd rip off pieces of salad, place the nam kao on top, fold it and enjoy. My bf just devoured the whole plate as is lol. Pricing: It's what you'd consider average prices nowadays $$. We thought it was worth it, and it satisfied my bf's cravings! read more

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One of my favorite Thai spots! The service here is always great - I came in yesterday with my mom for lunch and we were greeted and seated immediately. Both of the people who helped us were so kind and friendly. Ambiance is very clean, quiet, and comforting. Has a nice modern vibe that makes it the perfect spot to drop in for a casual bite. Good is great, but keep in mind that if you come for their lunch specials their portions are quite small compared to what you'd get for dinner. Shouldn't be a surprise considering the price point difference, but just a heads up. Having said that, we ordered pad see ew lunch special. This is on the regular menu but we also ordered the curry trio as well which is my favorite menu item. I always have a hard time deciding which curry to get when I order Thai food, so being able to get all 3 is the best!! Food came out hot and fresh and was delicious. read more

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I've ordered Kanok via Uber Eats before and it was really tasty. We decided instead tonight to go in person and I'm so glad we did! It was a nice ambiance and we were seated immediately. Oum our server was so personable and funny. We were going to order a large side of rice with our curry and he highly encouraged the medium instead. He said the large might be too much for two and he was right! That would have been an easy upsell but I appreciate he did the right thing. We'll be back! read more

4.5 stars The pad Thai was delicious. Definitely very sweet and better than most other Thai restaurants and I have been to over 100. The beef in the pad Thai wasn't great but the chicken was delicious and the shrimp was tasty. read more

I ordered Pad see ew + broccoli + mushroom Both items contained oyster and fish sauce When I asked the restaurant to remake them they outright refused They knowingly sent me an order that I told them contained an allergen. This is the worst and most depressing dining experience I have ever had. read more

My over all rating for this place is realistically 3.5 but I'm rounding it up since there are no half stars. It's a very nice little Thai restaurant that has all the goodies you would want in a Thai cuisine. I had a variety of items from pumpkin curry, spicy eggplant, crispy pork combo, crying tiger steak and lastly their sticky mango rice dessert. A good variety of everything I believe. The crispy pork was very nice with some veggies and an egg served with it. Just felt like there was not enough crispy pork since I counted 5 small pieces. The flavor from the fat and the crisp was delicious though. The pumpkin curry was very nice and had everything you would enjoy in a curry from the sweet and spiciness. The spicy eggplant is one of my favorite Thai dishes in general and this was good but slightly on the overly salty side but the eggplant was cooked very well. My least favorite was. The crying tiger steak. It was over cooked and felt dry even though the sauce it came with was very nice along with the marinade on the meat itself. It's always nice to end your Thai dinner with a nice warm sticky mango rice and that's how I ended my evening. The service was good here and the server was very nice and entertaining. read more

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Back again from last week...bring my other group of friends. Everything was good, boat noodle super tasty and meat super tender...khaosoi is tasty, and crying tiger is the bomb!!! Highly recommend for authentic Thai food. read more

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Curry was awesome. Great flavors and good portions. Loved the flavor of the penang curry and the Pad Thai looked amazing as well. We have been looking for a good lunch Thai food place and this may be our new go to. read more

Very nice Thai restaurant with a full and slightly different flavor profile (not sure if it a regional style). Service was excellent - very friendly and welcoming staff. Comfortable ambiance. Enjoyed the curry sampler which allowed a taste of yellow, green, and red curries side-by-side. Will be back! read more

I came here during lunch time with a group of 6. It wasn't too busy. We wer seated immediately. The food came out pretty quickly. I ordered the pad see ew with chicken and tofu with spice level number 5! It was well seasoned. I just wish there were more veggies. Solid place and would come back for a quick bite. read more

Kanok Thai Bistro - Pad See Ew - Thai Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Absolutely delicious!!! Came here for drunken noodles, stayed for the great service! Love it!!! read more

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Decided to stop by for Thai food after a long day at work. It really hit the spot, our server was delightful, he brought out the food quickly, was attentive and had a kind demeanor. The restaurant had a calm atmosphere, a unique mellow playlist, there was little wait to be seated and food came out quickly. It was very flavorful, temperature was hot & wonderful on a crisp night. The restaurant and menu looks like it has been updated recently and there are new items I'm looking forward to trying soon. read more

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My husband declared a moratorium, no more going to restaurants I saw on TIKTOK, it is like what my daddy said "fakenews" the glossy, spectacular dishes showing mouth watering soups, specialty desserts, specialty drinks, all have nothing to do w reality. We got scammed going to the banh Khot in Garden Grove, it was so inedible, the Isla Cuba in Buena park was a complete joke, nothing like what Cuban food is supposed to be and I'm going to South Beach in 3 weeks. Quattro was the biggest joke of all, I paid $125 and came home to eat left over from ROUX, come back for ROUX review. I'm almost embarrassed to admit how can a seasoned globetrotter like myself could not discern the Fake videos, I watched 4 videos of KANOS Thai bistro before I decided to go there. Here is the report: 1) Boat noodles, the broth was thick like molasses, the taste was Ok but it was too condensed and too sweet on top of 6 out of 5 on the HEAT METER, I told them only 2 out of 5, what were they thinking, my husband had to drive to Albertson to get me a can of beef broth to dilute, it was still so hot, I felt like my tongue was TORCHED, MY GUM BLED AFTER A FEW HOURS and I only ate 1/3 and trashed the rest. $18 down the drain. Nobody knows how to make boat noodles and it's a popular soup like the VN Pho. So 2 out of 5 stars. Btw the rib eye was nothing like what was the video. The meatballs were tasty but the braised beef was chewy. 2) Khao Soi beef ribs, popular in North Thailand, Chiang Mai etc..the taste was good 4 stars out of 5 if you can handle the sweet taste. 3)$15 for the Apps combo. I last had golden pouch 20 years ago in Bangkok, this was so tasteless, same as the egg roll 2 out of 5 stars. I wished I had ordered drunken noodles, it looked pretty good, my husband didn't want to go back, afraid we'd be disappointed again. Everything was more expensive than at Jumpa Thai. Sorry, only 3 stars, I have no idea why anybody rating this 4 to 5 stars, they probably had never been to Thailand, I have been there at least 10 maybe even 15 times so I know what authentic Thai cuisine should be like, one thing for sure, everything was NOT SWEET AS CANDIES like at Kanok Thai. read more

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Hell ya this place is dope. Good food. Good service. Local. Easy access. I'll be back!

Door dashed Kanok and the food was pretty much on par with other average Thai restaurants, except for the green curry. I'm not sure if they ran out of green curry paste but it was pale, bland, and flavorless. Only thing we could really taste was coconut milk. The spice levels were inconsistent as well. We ordered a few dishes extra spicy/Thai spicy where one was spot on the others were mild. Not sure we'll order from here again. read more

Kanok Thai Bistro - Green curry? - Thai Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Your food is so good. I ordered like 4 different things and they were all super good. I'm definitely going to try the rest of your menu.

We came for the Khao Soi short ribs but they ran out so we ended up ordering the yellow curry fish and Gulf of Siam per recommendation from the server. The portion wasn't big as expected. What's worst is that my wife and myself both got food poisoning the night (a few hours later), we couldn't sleep and feel like throwing out all night. I'm not sure if the seafood and the fish are fresh. Given the fish is deep fried, I'm quite concerned. The service is good and the ambience was ok. read more

Delicious good food. They have lots of different options. Watch out for the spice level tho. We got one at a level 3 and didn't realize they do it mild, medium and spicy. We thought it was out of ten oops. Was good but it was way too spicy for us for the pad see eww. We got the curry which had three different ones and it was nice to have a variety. I also have trouble making decisions on which one I want usually so that was nice. Great amazing service. Food came out fast and was delicious. The place is nice and clean. Definitely order the coconut juice it is an actual coconut. So delicious and you can eat the meat inside as well. read more

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Its been a little while and I adventured back over here for lunch last week. Lots of parking all over this massive lot, I even scored front row and was sat immediately for lunch. Servers work together and keep everyone well served. They have a great lunch menu with lots of specials but it was that Khao Soi that caught my eye. This is my current favorite dish and Ive been trying it all over and this one did not disappoint. It was great. Two big pieces of chicken in a big bowl of awesomeness. The waiter was concerned that I didnt finish it and I assured him it was great, I just cant eat like I used to. That said the leftovers I had this weekend also really hit the spot. So it was really two meals and both filled me up good. Nice environment inside, dim and cozy. The floor staff kept everything looking great, they had a lot of take out come through while I was there so good to see that extra business. read more

Yum yum! Great Thai food close by! Tried the trio curry and it was awesome! Great noodles. Even good when taken to go. Highly recommend read more

First time here last week. Everything we ordered was delicious (see photos). The service was great! The ambiance was adorable. We just walked in, no reservations. Parking is available since it's located in a small shopping center. I highly recommend coming here! I rarely give 5 stars and this is one of the best Thai places I've ever tried in Orange County. The Thai ice tea was also good! We literally finished everything. read more

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Kanok offers really delicious authentic Thai food! We had the best crispy pork with basil and seafood sour savory soup and mango coconut sticky rice dessert. So good!!The restaurant is cozy clean and cute! The staff is so friendly and knowledgeable too! Definitely come back when visiting our son at UCI and/or after shopping at South Coast plaza! read more

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We have been coming here for years now and the food is consistently good every time. We love to order the pad Thai and the curry trio which is not available at any other Thai place. The spice level is perfect and actually spicy. The service is always very friendly and welcoming. read more

Kanok Thai Bistro - Thai Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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I was just looking for some good Thai restaurants since I wanted Pad Thai so bad and this place is incredible! The Pad Thai, Pad See Ew, and Thai Fried Rice are all very good! P.S. bad quality image but high quality food! read more

Kanok Thai Bistro - Thai Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Absolutely delicious!! Amazing service and amazing food. Their menu is giant so even if you go once a week, you'll always be trying something new. read more