I got a free fresh thai tea to go and a dubai chocolate sweet treat he got from the nearby convenience store and was handing it out to the customers for free ! Without even asking, he kept checking in on us, gave us pointers and made sure the people who I was with wouldn't consume any meat since they're vegetarian! I wish I could take back home this restaurant and the person who took care of us that night! So kind and humble. The food was a 10/10! There's indoor and outdoor seating as well as a bar. I requested extra coconut drizzle on the mango sticky rice and it was sooo yummy. I wished they added their desserts on the menu, but other than that, I loved my time there! read more

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Rating: 4.2/5 [Postmates delivery] Mini Rice Pancakes ($12): Turmeric rice batter, ground pork, shrimp, and mung bean, served with two sauces: coconut cream and house special sauce. I've never had this dish with coconut cream as a sauce--it had a thinner consistency and was salted, which made it really interesting. The house special sauce is similar to fish sauce. The pancakes stayed crispy, and you can taste the turmeric. The shrimp was slightly overcooked, but it's not a big deal when you're dunking the pancakes into the sauces. The coconut cream sauce is especially unique--the sweet and savory combination kept me coming back for more. Crispy Rice Pie ($12): Crispy rice crust, egg, dried shrimp, dried shredded pork, honey green onions, white truffle, and house special sauce. The rice crust was crunchy and made a great base for all the toppings. I poured the house special sauce over the pie, which brought all the flavors together. I'm usually not a fan of dried shrimp, but this one didn't have a strong smell or taste, so it was fine. My husband loved the honey green onions. This appetizer is on the heavier side because of the rice--I was pretty full after just a quarter slice. Cajun Fried Rice ($20): Crawfish tails, hickory-smoked pork and beef sausage, egg, sweet corn, sweet onion, scallion, and Cajun spices. I'd never had crawfish fried rice before, and it wasn't bad. I'm not a huge crawfish fan, so it's more of a try-once dish for me, but my husband really enjoyed it. You definitely get hits of Cajun spice, while everything else is more subtle and well-balanced. read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Mini Rice Pancakes - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Five years and a few meals later... Mandala has gone from not good to decent to I should've trusted my gut the first time. The only thing consistent about Mandala is it's inconsistency. I needed some space between myself and Mandala after the first time trying it out. It's been a few years and stuck with something more annual. I ordered the Pad Kee Mao for takeout, and somehow, it exceeded all expectations. It was perfect-- delicate noodles, great flavor, everything on point. I was so impressed, I had to order it again to share with my partner. We came back and added the Tom Yum Soup. In true Mandala fashion, the meal was a let down. The Pad Kee Mao was totally a different dish. The Tom Yum Soup was all oil, and no flavor. Safe to say, I won't be giving Mandala anymore chances. read more

Ambiance: 4/5: We went for late dinner on a Saturday and the restaurant had a nice ambiance. I hear it's a good spot to grab apps and drinks. Service: 3/5: Even though the restaurant was pretty empty when we went, the service was a bit slow. Not sure if they were trying to give us space to chat. Food: 3/5: The rice pancakes were really tasty. Definitely recommend. I ordered the Pad Thai with chicken and it was ok. I feel like it needed more flavor. Overall an ok experience. Will give it another shot sometime. read more

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Good place to grab a meal before the movies, but not my favorite Thai place out there. Service was very good as were the mini rice pancakes. However ,the pad Thai left more to be desired. I did appreciate that it wasn't soaked in sauce, but it was missing some flavor on its own. Some chili oil helped liven it up. Go here for.... appetizers and a drink, especially when it's nice out and they open the large windows, exposing the bar to the outside! read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Mini Rice Pancakes - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Service was great, albeit it being a slow night. The gentleman who served us had a great spirit and was happy to provide us service. The mini pancakes were awesome! Such a wide variety of flavors and textures in one bite: Turmeric rice batter, ground pork, shrimp, mung-bean, coconut cream, house special sauce. Pad Thai was just okay. Big portions and the right amount of sauce. Lacked flavor and needed to request lime and spice on the side. Pro Tip: Right next to Tiny Pies and Lick (if you're interested in a post meal treat, that's not on Mandala's menu, or in addition to a Mandala treat). read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Pad Thai - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Used to be one of my favorite places for Thai food in the South Austin area - especially their red curry - but it's a drastically different experience now. The curries were not as flavorful and the noodles were floating on a plate of soy sauce. I don't know if ownership changed, maybe the chef did, or inflation has forced them to cut back on ingredients. But I am sad to say I was disappointed last week. read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Tofu pad Thai - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

Went here very late on a Tuesday night. It was a cozy, hole in the wall type of spot with decent music. The service was great and had a good menu. The portions are so big and have a great flavor. This was enough for 2 dinners! I have had deeper seasoning/flavor at other Thai food restaurants which is why I'm not giving it a full 5 stars read more

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Cute restaurant, nicely decorated and friendly staff. The lemongrass chicken vermicelli was tasty although slightly higher priced with smaller portion compared to other Thai/vietnamese restaurants. The menu is quite limited with even fewer vegetarian food options. Pro tip: Parking is behind the restaurant in the garage next to Alamo. read more

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Located on S. Lamar, Mandala Kitchen and Bar is a great place for your this food fix! My husband and I came on a Saturday afternoon, around 5pm, and were seated immediately. There were a few larger parties at the restaurant as well. Service was quick and cordial. We ordered the pad Thai and the red curry with chicken. The chicken was over cooked and dry in my opinion. The flavors of the pad Thai and red curry was OUT OF THIS WORLD good. The red curry also has a bit of a kick. Absolutely delicious! Overall, I would dine here again, but maybe with tofu or shrimp as my protein! read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Red curry with chicken and pad thia - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

I'm not sure if the reviews are from dine-in only or just paid actors... but I ordered from Mandala to-go... and it was the worst, if not, most mediocre, subpar thai food I have ever had in my life. And I consume thai food almost every week. There was absolutely no flavor and after a while it felt like I was just eating globs of nothing. I don't know, the reviews tricked me - do with that what you will. read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Pad Thai & Pan Fried Dumplings - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

Great food‼ Great staff‼ kind and friendly ‼ Clean environment ‼ this place is amazing.. thank you to the staff.

Great vegan options! Things are clearly labeled if they can be made vegan, I had the Thai fried rice made vegan with tofu! My boyfriend isn't vegan and got the Cajun fried rice, and he says it was so good! Drinks are also very tasty and cute! Service was good, we went on a weeknight and there weren't many people inside. We ate on the patio and it was the perfect spot! read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Cajun Fried Rice - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Excellent food... I had a Vietnamese dish that was new to me and my girlfriend had a Thai noodle dish and both were fantastic. Vinny was a one-man show in the front... being Our server and the bartender as we were the first customers in on a Saturday evening. He did a great job! Ambience was nice read more

Best Pad See Ew I've ever had - incredibly fresh and flavorful! Had a group of 10, and every dish was exquisitely fresh, beautiful, and with very large portions. Great service from the owner - I'll definitely be back! read more

Ordered on UberEats ages it was great. Super tasty and decent portions. I really like their fried rice and pad thai. My husband said the pad se ew was good but was not a fan of the chicken wings. I also appreciate they have lots of gluten and dairy free options. I hope to dine in soon! read more

My bf's family took me here and this place was amazing! The inside is so pretty, a perfect place to go for a casual bite or dress up and eat! There's also a bar. I didn't get many photos because I was too busy devouring the yummy foods, but I will note that I can definitely spend the whole day eating the mini rice pancakes! The mango sticky rice was of course, amazing as well! The chicken wings were delicious! I got pad thai (not pictured) and it did not disappoint, so so so yummy!!! Definitely will go back when I have time! :) read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Mini Rice Pancakes & Mandala Chicken Wings - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Quiet when you go at the end of the night but quick service, full bar! The food was very flavorful and arrived quickly to our table - definitely great for late night munchies and great portion sizes!! We also enjoyed the Vietnamese coffee liquors which were sweeter and stronger than normal coffee liquors (best of both worlds!) read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Thai Basil Fried Rice - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Yummy Thai food. The manager Jay always gives my dog a treat too! Lots of food per serving. read more

Pad Thai had no flavor. Green tea was not sweet as advertised. Don't think I'll be eating most of it. Worst Thai food I've ever eaten. Genuinely cannot believe this place has over 4 stars. Won't be returning. read more

Pad Thai was very bland. Did not taste authentic at all. This was super disappointing. read more

THE BIG: Located in the Lamar Union Plaza shopping mall, right across the street from Alamo Drafthouse and Gibson Street Bar. Beautiful bar and plenty of indoor and outdoor space. Garage parking is available. THE BLACK AND WHITE: I came here after paddleboarding and in need of some good thai food. We got the pad thai with chicken and the red curry with chicken. In both dishes the chicken was dry. However it tasted really good. Portion sizes were generous albeit the prices were higher than a normal thai restaurant. Ambiance is great, we were seated immediately and I can see the place bumping in the night hours. THE FINAL BAMBOO: Overall damage done was ~$40 for two entrees. Would definitely recommend and choose a different protein next time. read more

I feel bad for the reviewer who submitted before me (Tom) because my friend and I went to Mandala for dinner last night and it was fantastic. Hopefully he gives it another try. :) It was pretty chill for a Tuesday at 6:30pm. We sat at the bar and had no trouble with service. I highly recommend the Guava Mojito. It was excellent! We split the Pan Fried Dumplings and Mini Rice Pancakes as appetizers. The dumplings were a solid classic, but the rice pancakes were truly something special. I haven't had anything like that before and they were amazing! Don't skip those when you check this place out. My friend got the Cajun Fried Rice and I got the Seafood Clear-Noodle Salad. The noodle salad had plenty of veggies and a good kick to it. The fried rice was our favorite of the two though. It had a great smoky flavor that went well with the crawfish and sausage. It's in the same shopping center as the Alamo Drafthouse so give it a try before your next movie! read more

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Service was great, the bar is beautiful with great ambiance. The mini rice pancakes were unreal. read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Mini Rice Pancakes, best I've ever had! - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Pad See Ew was absolutely fantastic, best thai food I've had in a minute! Great service and super friendly vibe

I took my meal togo, and it was FANTASTIC! I am so excited to order from here more often and taking friends with me! I had the shrimp spring rolls and chicken pad thai. I look forward to trying the yellow chicken curry next time! read more

My fiancee and I ordered Uber Eats here and the portions were wildly large. Typically when this happens the alarm bells start ringing. However, no need to be concerned, not only are the portions massive but the food is incredible! read more

Cool location right in the heart of S Lamar. This place has great bun cot (almost tastes like coconut shrimp), pad Thai, and fried chicken. The bun cot was soft, coconuty and had a nice buttery taste. Pad Thai was great with just the right amount of spice to it! Fried chicken was super moist and had a great flavor to it! Overall food was really good, neat location with several things in the area to walk to, and good for late night food in the area read more

Great place to have a drink &/or grab dinner. Service was attentive and I enjoyed the Pad Kee Mao. Lots of outdoor dining with great people watching on S. Lamar. I'm a repeat customer and look forward to returning in the future read more

I love their crawfish! Not many people seem to talk about it or come for crawfish, but it's so fresh and delicious. They also might be the only place in Austin that serves Vietnamese crawfish. Their alcoholic drinks are not that great, but their food is delicious! I love their clam shooters. They're very ginger-y and have a nice lime touch as well. I honestly would come here just for their crawfish. It's really well seasoned, and they're huge too. Mandala is slowly reopening, so make sure to call ahead and reserve a table. Sometimes they don't open even though their Yelp hours say they are open (they need to update this!). read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Their crawfish is so good - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Sizable portions, prompt delivery, and a very convenient location for anyone living off of South Lamar. Highly recommend on a busy weekday evening if you are short on time. read more

I wouldn't come back here again. They take so long and they don't listen to us at all. I asked for the pad kee mao spicy and emphasized I want it spicy 2separate times to the the waiter. Surprise surprise, the food came out NOT spicy at all. It tasted like Pad see Ew, It had NO spice. Super bland. So either that means they didn't think i could handle spice (messed up) or they don't know how to make it correctly. I should have known because they have "thai" and "vietnamese" as the type of food they make. Whenever a business tries to blend 2 different countries and types of food, it just means they can't do either well. The service was so bad. SOOO bad. I get that the guy behind the bar was also taking our order and bringing the food. But we waited for 30+ minutes for our food even though there was only 1 other table eating. We waited 15 minutes to even place our order after we sat. So we were there for 45 mins just trying to order and eat. The waiter never even asked if it the food alright or anytbing. He almost would come to our table and run away. Even when asking what do you want to order be started running away before we could finish. The food not being cooked to our request is probably not his fault but why should I come back. I noticed he had no paper or pencil to write the order, maybe that's why he was running away each time lol read more

I've been a customer for years enjoying Mandala's top notch food and service. Yesterday's dinner was green curry with bountiful shrimp (dish ordered hot). It had wonderful flavor and accompanying plentiful chunks of eggplant and perfectly cut strips of bamboo strips. Second dish was Vietnamese curry chicken (dish ordered mild). Perfect flavoring and good portions on both dishes. Our server J was attentive and pleasant. Other favorites of mine are the gloriously rich mini rice cakes appetizer, surf clam cerviche and sumptuous Cajun fried rice. Spice levels on entrees were as ordered, and they also offer an array of hot sauces. Highly recommended. read more

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After a late night dip, my friend and I were hankering for LATE NIGHT eats. So much has shifted and the late night diners aren't open. We found Mandala. We had excellent service! The restaurant was cute and chic. The food was okay at best. Not awful. Not gross. Just I've never experienced a Green Curry that wasn't green. Where is the Thai basil?! It was also super sweet, more like a yellow curry. My friend ordered a dish and asked for it not spicy and it was COVERED in chilis. The dish itself was tasty and their noodles... WOW. YUM. It just was not edible with that level of heat. The server was kind enough to remove it from our bill. Okay for late night eats, interesting for Thai food. read more

Love their unique patio. You can sit with a friend and watch a game with some unique Vietnamese appetizers and a great drink...or with your dog and family on the two sided patio. The breeze up from Town lake reminds you why it's good to live in this area.... Or great food like the Tom Yum Soup which is so expertly made.... I recommend the Ceviche. And. Tango Foxtrot. Great personal staff. They make you feel at home and also give you your space. Can't say enough great things about Mandala. Bring family or anyone special and you'll be bragging about the authentic cuisine for weeks. read more

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No. Soupy Pad Thai with overcooked shrimp. The pad Thai tastes heavily of fish sauce and sugar and that's it. Very unpleasant. read more

When you find yourself here after a long walk in south Austin, you will delight in their menu items. We had the mussels in champagne.

I loved this restaurant so much. Best thai food ever. The portion size was big and the staff were so nice and friendly. I will definitely go back. read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Pad Thai - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Went twice during my long weekend in Austin! We ordered a bit of everything with each visit. In the evening over ACL fest, they had a different menu to make up for the rush of the weekend. Most of the items during a regular night were still on the other menu! Over the course of the weekend I had: the egg rolls, the crispy rice app, the tumeric coconut rice cakes, and pad see ew! Ugh I love a viet place that does menu items that you don't normally find at a viet restaurant. Most of the apps/snacks are hard to find as a viet person living in the Midwest! The coconut tumeric rice cakes were my favorite! The coconut cream mixed with the fish sauce...to die for! The crispy rice reminded me of what my dad made for me as a kid! Crispy flattened rice, topped with scallion on and pork floss-THE FLAVORS, the crunch, YUM! Sadly mangos were out of season so I didn't get any of the mango sticky rice for dessert but I hope to be back because it looks BOMB. read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Egg rolls - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

Great food! Lovely interior. Awesome tray of guava candies up front Wasn't busy at all on Wednesday evening when 20+ of my friends and I came for dinner. Vietnamese Chicken Curry 5/5 - spicy!! beware - thicc chonks of chicken - great flavor - easily feeds 2 people Chicken Wing Appetizers 5/5 - literally gigantic - crunchy and crispy - juicy and tender - great flavor Dumplings 3/5 - pretty basic, nothing special Edamame 5/5 - great buttery, garlic flavor - doesn't taste frozen Pad Ke Mao 4/5 - wayyyy too spicy - giant portion size, feeds 2 Yellow Curry 5/5 - flavorful and feeds 2! Prices are a bit high ($20 per entree) but worth it because the portions are HUGEEEEE!!! Every single person in my party of 20 brought home leftovers :0 Will be back :') read more