Johnny Z.

Mahasan offers a modern take on Thai cuisine with creative flavors and beautiful presentation. The crispy pawn was perfectly crunchy and the duck curry was rich, creamy, and packed with flavor. The crab fried rice was so so, while the dessert was definitely a highlight--warm, buttery toast topped with creamy ice cream and caramel sauce made for the perfect ending. The restaurant has a stylish atmosphere and the food came out looking amazing. The only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is that the service could have been a bit more attentive and the pacing between dishes felt slightly inconsistent. Overall, it's still a great spot for modern Thai food

Christine C.

We've been eyeing Mahasan for a while, so we were thrilled to grab an early Sunday dinner here with friends. Arriving as a party of four just before 6:00 PM, we were 3rd on the walk-in waitlist. We were quoted 5 minutes, but it ended up taking closer to 30--so be prepared for a bit of a wait, as it's a popular new spot! At the time of writing, they only take reservations for parties of 8 or more, though between the long walk-in wait and how rich the dishes are, bringing a large group to share everything really feels like the ideal way to dine here. Located in downtown San Mateo, parking is easy enough with several lots and street parking nearby. The space is tastefully decorated; our friends even remarked that it felt a bit like an elegant afternoon tea spot. The service throughout our meal was delightful. Overall, we really enjoyed the food. My personal favorites were the Hoi Jor (crispy tofu-skin rolls filled with shrimp and pork) and the crispy pork belly. The pork belly portion is on the smaller side, but honestly, it's so rich that the portion size was spot-on. We also tried the Khao Pad Mun Nuer (ribeye fried rice with garlic chips), which reminded us of a similar dish at Kemiri. Because it's fried in beef fat, it's undeniably rich and comforting (definitely not a guilt-free dish! lol)--we liked it, though it didn't quite reach top-favorite status for us. Lastly, the lychee duck curry was good--a great alternative if you're not a fan of traditional pineapple--though it carried a bit more heat than we expected. The Thai tea bingsoo was cute; it basically is a Thai ice tea in another form. Overall, a great meal and a welcome addition to San Mateo!

Annie S.

Absolutely Stunning and Beautiful! Loved the decor. We had reservations and were seated immediately when we got there. Staff are attentive. They're always walking around to make sure your cups are filled with water and checking to see if you need anything. We were pretty impressed with the food. We ordered: Pad see ew Pad Thai Zaap Wings Thai Tea The pad see ew was so good! You can taste the slight char on the noodles. The pad Thai was also really yummy. The zaap wings were the star of the show. Crispy and SEASONED! The seasoning reminds me of larb seasoning. The Thai tea wasn't too sweet which we liked. Overall a great place to dine. Everyone dining in seemed casual but you can absolutely do a nice date night or celebrate special occasions here.

Diana T.

37 minute wait from the time we placed our order to the one and only appetizer (a plain roti) appearing on the table is insane. I took timestamps of when we first put our name on the waitlist until we left the restaurant. (See screenshot.) We ordered, as mentioned, the roti, and then the khao pad mun nuer, and a khao soi. The khao soi was (agreeably to other reviews) salty! The khao pad mun nuer was plain for $33. If you thought this place was comparable to another place you may know about in SF, it's sadly not.

Jessica W.

Came here on a Tuesday night around 5:30PM with two friends for my belated birthday dinner. This is such a cute spot with nice interior for girls night out or date night. I originally picked this place because the menu had a lot of dishes you don't normally see at most Thai restaurants. The food actually reminded me of Khao Tiew at West Portal in San Francisco but if I had to choose between the two, I think I'd give Mahasan the slight edge. The flavors here felt more balanced and never got too sweet or too salty. The service here was also excellent and quick even with full house. * Roti - You get to choose between yellow or green curry. Our server recommended the yellow curry, and I'm so glad we listened because it was so so good! * Garlic Rice with Ribeye - The garlic rice was really fragrant without being overpowering, and I liked that it didn't have any burnt garlic taste. My only complaint was the ribeye. It was cooked nicely but could've used a little seasoning, even just some salt, to bring out the flavor of the meat. * Lychee Duck Curry - Our favorite! The curry had a really nice balance of savory and sweet, and the duck was super tender without tasting too fatty. This dish doesn't come with rice, so you'll have to order that separately. We ended up eating the curry with the garlic rice and ribeye, and everything actually paired really well together. * Papaya Salad - Pretty standard. It was good, but I personally would've liked a little more spice and a bit more sourness. We really enjoyed everything. I'm looking forward to trying more dishes next time!

Benson W.

Got resys on a Tuesday night at 6 and still a pretty full house. Staff were friendly and kind. Review might be a little hard after traveling to Thailand but definitely still a great restaurant. Wing zapp- Spicy and sour, very popular, was even available in the McDonald's and other fast food places in Thailand. Did great here with the flavors. 5/5 Roti dip- can never go wrong with roti dip! Dipping sauce was perfectly complimented with it. 5/5 Tom yum: good choice if you want soup but honestly hard to rate compared to Thailand. ?/5 Pad Thai: it's good, wasn't an amazing standout. Was a little sour for me after having the real deal but maybe it's for the American palette. 3.5/5 Lychee duck curry- the sauce really stood out here, it was delicious along with the rendered duck breast. 5/5 Kee mao ribeye- good overall but I'd skip this, just not worth $33 imo but if you love it to go for it! 3/5 Pla Tod Nam Pla- friend ordered it, I'm not much of a fish person . ?/5 Burnt butter toast-after having Kaya toast at khao tiew in west portal, I was most excited about this but it didn't give me that ecstasy feeling. The toast was little more "toasted " than we'd have liked. 3.5/5

Lesly M.

Got the papaya salad, roti, pad Thai, crab fried rice, and rib eye! Everything was all flavorful and delicious! We all loved them. Got the papaya salad in medium. Roti was flaky. Pad Thai was flavorful. Crab fried rice was so good. Rib eye was perfectly cooked and tender. Service was kind and attentive. Place is aesthetically pleasing. Parking isn't too bad.

Valerie C.

Food was super delicious but service was a bit lacking in terms of checking in on us. My friend and I felt a bit rush during dinner. We had a 5:30 reservation and finished dinner around 6:40. The moment we stopped eating to take a quick break before eating again the server came over to ask if we are done eating and need boxes when we didn't request it yet. Just the food alone, I would rate it a 4.5. Everything was in the pricier side but all the dishes we had were super yummy.

Joyce K.

CHICKEN WINGS FOR THE WIN(G)! Had reservations for a party of 2 on Sunday 5:15 pm. Highly recommend getting a reservation as the Yelp waitlist indicated a ~1.5-hour wait. To-go orders had an estimated wait time of an hour. What we got: - Wing Zaap ~ lives up to the hype! Dry seasoning of tangy, spicy, and salty. Wings were crispy, but juicy on the inside. This got my lips tingly and my mouth drooling for more! Highly recommend. - Pla Tod Nam Pla (whole, deep-fried fish) ~ THIS. The fish was well fried, with crispy skin and soft flesh. Sweetened fish sauce coated the fish, bringing out the sweetness of the meat. The seafood sauce that accompanied the dish was a stand-alone star! This dish sells out every night, and I can see why! We managed to grab the last one early in the dinner service, so I recommend grabbing an early reservation for this dish! - Khao Pad Mun Nuer ~ quite salty and mushy. Maybe we went on an off day, as the wet and mochi-like rice was the subject of conversation for two other tables. The steak was cooked well, but lacked color and char. - Lychee Duck Curry ~ Decently spicy and rich in coconut curry. Lychee cuts through the spice pretty well, and the tomatoes add a refreshing contrast to the creaminess of the curry. Duck was slightly chewy. Unfortunately, the rice from the fried rice was too salty and overshadowed this dish. I recommend getting regular rice for this dish. But given that this dish took an hour for us to get, it wasn't worth the wait. All in all, the dishes were hit-or-miss. Of what's ordered, I would highly recommend the Wing Zaap and Pla Tod Nam Pla (whole, deep-fried fish). Other dishes came out somewhat slow or weren't enticing enough. For a 5:15 pm reservation, and the order was submitted by 5:30 pm, we didn't get our last dish until 6:25 pm. The entire dining experience took 2 hours, but the decor made the experience more entertaining. Hats off to the silly goose painting with the cowboy hat!

Prath C.

We came here on a Sunday night for dinner. I recommend coming with a reservation as there was a long waitlist (and wait), but with the reservation, we were seated with little to no wait. The ambiance was very beautiful and aesthetic and the plates and dish ware were all so cute! We ordered: - Wing Zaap - This was delicious and spiced very well! It wasn't incredibly spicy, but the tangy almost slightly sour flavor was very delicious and the chicken was very tender. - Roti Drip - Not my favorite roti, but still solid - roti was crunchy and the curry was pretty decent. - Pad Kee Mow (with chicken) - The Pad Kee Mow was fantastic! It was very spicy and the chicken was delicious and very tender to eat. Overall very flavorful! - Thai Tea Bingsu - It was a fun dessert! The Thai tea part was surprisingly not very sweet, you can taste the flavor, it just wasn't very sweet. The condensed milk didn't add much in terms of flavor (or sweetness) but the grass jelly was a fun addition. It is definitely a dish that is meant to be shared between 2-3 easily. Overall, I had a great time eating here and will be back to try more items from the menu!

Joey W.

Had a reservation at 5 pm and the place was already packed with first seating. We ordered and it took about 25 mins before our first dish came out. Luckily the tables weren't too close together and it was comfortable to sit. Crispy pork belly - the pork belly was very dry. Portion was very small. the dipping sauce it came with was good and made the crispy pork belly less dry. Tom Yum noodle soup - perfect balance of spiciness and sourness. It had minced pork, fish ball slices and meatballs. Basil Nuer Toon - flavorful beef shank but the beef shank was pretty dry as well. Lychee duck curry - the best dish here! The duck was tender and the lychee curry was creamy and flavorful. The lychee added a nice hint of sweetness. Spicy eggplant - it was good, just your usual Thai eggplant dish. Crab fried rice - moist, full of flavor, and the crab was fresh. Thai tea bingsu - great on a hot day! It was on the sweeter side but the grass jelly add nice texture to the soft ice.

Franchesca L.

The reservation system through Yelp made our experience great! It was easy to book for a party of 5 on a Thursday night and we got to the restaurant 15 minutes early and got seated immediately. We ordered quite a few dishes including the roti dip, crispy pork belly, lychee duck curry, crab fat fried rice, tom kha kai, papaya salad, pad thai, cabbage and bacon, and the asparagus with shrimp. Nothing was particularly amazing, but it nothing was bad. We were able to ask our server if we could make some dishes non-spicy too. They were able to do this with our papaya salad. However, they were unable to change the spice level of the duck curry. In addition, the menu said the tom kha kai soup should not be spicy, but it was spicy when it arrived!! That was a bit disappointing for us. Overall, we were excited to try the lychee duck curry, but it wasn't a surprise that the curry itself did not have lychee flavor. The curry and other two dishes also don't come with rice so we ordered jasmine rice separately. Service was good, but there's an automatic large party fee of 20%. The restaurant does get pretty crowded so it was loud inside. It was hard to talk to each other because of the noise level.

Horace L.

Everyone that has reviewed so far about the food, I completely understand your opinions and thoughts. Everyone's taste preferences vary and it can get quite subjective. However, everyone who has trashed the service being slow or whatnot, ya'll tripping. Mahasan is still at a soft opening so they are probably figuring out kinks, training new staff, streamlining processes, and learning as they go. I implore you to be more considerate and give them some grace. That being said, my party of 4 visited without a reservation on a Saturday night around 6PM. We put down our name and had to wait maybe 20 minutes and promptly got seated. We did not have to wait too long for them to roll back around to take our orders. I didn't end up taking pictures of everything that we ordered but the meal was quite memorable and I overall enjoyed the dishes. Pros - 1) They frequently refilled our water. I am sorry to hear previous yelpers who went and felt they were ignored. Perhaps they are improving on this point. I felt my water glass was always with water whenever I was thirsty. 2) The Ribeye and Crispy Prawns were the highlight for me. Flavorful and not dry at all. The instant noodles kinda worked with the Ribeye and I'm all for it. 3) The ambience was really nice. There was a lot of space for tables and seating, especially since they took out the bar area from the previous establishment. 4) The servers checked up on us twice to make sure everything was okay. I have to say, they seem willing to take feedback and want to improve for guests. Great service. 5) They use real flowers for decoration...felt that was a nice touch. Cons - Little if any but... 1) The chicken in the Pad See Ew was way too dry. I don't know which part of the chicken they used (breast?) but it was not very good. 2) Waiting area is a bit cramped. Not sure how they can accommodate this but it's definitely not a major bad point. 3) The entrance door...while we were waiting, we watched as multiple parties got confused on how to push the door open. The handle is one of those old style locks where you have to use your thumb to push down and it opens. Not everyone is familiar with these which I would recommend they replace it, put a sign, or at least leave the door open? Some guy almost slammed the door lol. Overall, I'm down to try Mahasan again and try their other dishes. I'd love to see how they improve over these next few weeks :) It's nice to have Thai food in downtown San Mateo!