Definitely a place to go for delicious Vietnamese/Thai fusion. Great location with inside and outside seating. Now let's get to the food! Mini rice pancake, one of my favorite dish that pleased all my taste buds. Just the right amount of savoury and with a twist of coconut cream. I can eat the whole dish to myself. Seasonal crawlfish, holy moly my mouth was drooling when I saw the dish arrive to the table. You can smell the seasoning coming off of the steamy crawfish. The broth that it was cooked in was amazing and tasty. You can ask for different spice levels, my preference is spicy and don't forget to ask for a nice cold beer. If you don't drink alcohol, ask for a orange Fanta in a bottle made in Mexico. Mangoes with sticky rice, to die for. So make sure you save room for dessert. It's my favorite mangoes with sticky rice ever. It beats out the one I had in Thailand, sorry. Sweet juicy mangoes on top of taro sticky rice with the right sweetness of coconut cream sauce. I had to order one for myself, did not want to share it. And for my beverage, the mango foxtrot was my go to drink. I love mango and add a little spicy chili pepper and you have the perfect fruity drink. So if you live in Austin or visiting, definitely stop buy and have lunch of dinner, you won't be disappointed and leaving with happy full belly. read more

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I made reservations for my friend since he was leaving Austin. I wanted to try this place out since t was new, and the menu sounded great! I'm always in search for a good Asian restaurant, so I had high hopes for this. I'm definitely not impressed at all...I honestly don't know why this place has 4.5 stars at the moment. I ordered the the shaken ribeye and the beef, even though I ordered medium rare, was a bit tough. The meet quality wasn't that great, even though I paid $25 for this dish. The flavor was so bland. It was just oily. I had to order chili oil to even give to a spice. Also, they don't have crawfish, only during the season. They also don't serve beef noodle soup since "it's too hot". My friend ordered the five spice dish, because she couldn't order the beef noodle soup. Where was the 5 spices??? I heard positive things about the sizzling combo and the beef was tender, so not sure why my beef was so tough. My friend ordered the mussels curry, but I don't know where they import these. I don't trust fish quality in Austin either. The sauce was ok, but way too sweet. I understand we had a large table (of 10) but the dishes came out so far apart. Half of us had food, and the other half didn't have their food until 15-20 minutes later. So half of us were waiting, as our food got cold, for the table to finally get their food. I am not rating the service as much, since our waiter was very kind and split our bill. Overall I won't recommend this place to anyone. The flavor is really off. No spice at all. Very bland. Or the sauces were just too sweet. read more

Unbelievable. Is what i would characterize those last reviews along with the food we ate because- W O W. Delicious. Those last two reviews are clearly not representative of this business. Mama Q takes care of you and provides A1 customer service. read more

First time here. Food is really good. It was slow the Wednesday night we went, which was nice. Will come again.

This place is fantastic. The rice pancakes, egg rolls, Pho, chicken curry, shaken beef---all 5 stars. Great atmosphere, good location, great service. Extensive and solid beverage menu. Will 100% become a regular spot for me. read more

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

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We enjoy mandala. Portions are great. Any shrimp dish has huge and abundant prawns. Service is good and overall portions are giant American style. read more

We ordered pad thai and pad see ew delivery through Doordash to our hotel. It was tasteless. Didn't even send us sriracha or hot sauce so it all went to trash waste of $$$ read more

I'm not quite sure if I went on an off night, or if these super high reviews are fake? However, my experience tonight was definitely not in line with this high yelp rating. Food - 0-1 Stars I ordered the Egg Rolls, Pancakes, Red Curry and Pad Kee Mao. All 4 were recommended by the wait staff. Egg Rolls - solid, it's really hard to mess this up. Mini Pancakes - loaded with meng beans. My particular order didn't have the enough of the white coconut milk topping to balance the beans so it was super dry and mealy. I wish I had taken a picture. Red Curry - Meh, watery. This wasn't great either, but at least I wasn't offended. Pad Kee Mao - Supposedly should be their staple menu item. This was TERRIBLE! Super soggy, overly sauced. As a result my noodles were slimy and falling apart into little chunks. Price - Not great for what it was. You're definitely paying for Lamar Union's rent. Service - It was fine. The wait staff seemed nice enough and ready to help. I know this is a new restaurant, but you should really train your C-team chef a little more before you let him take over the kitchen during the night shift. Also, a little weird - but the manager was wearing basketball shorts? I mean, it's fine (#liveyourlife) but it didn't strike me as that kind of restaurant. read more

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

My hidden Austin Gem. The foods great, location is great - no long lines good service everything I love about a restaurant. Honestly have no idea why it isn't packed everyday like some other ATX restaurants. What I love about it most outside of their to die for pancakes or dumplings. Is the fact you can go in alone sit at the bar and watch a game, you can go in and take a first date there, or you can go and take your kids for some good Thai food. It's a vibe for everyone but nice enough not everyone walks in. The area also plays a part in that. Definitely check them out! read more

I order here atleast 4x a month. Props to the chef he/she deserves a raise!!! The food was amazing and always delicious. I always ask for extra noodles and they never fail to make me happy! read more

We had lunch here on Saturday and the service was very good! We ordered the crawfish boil and mussels. The crawfish had a little meat in it :) ... however it was nice and fresh and delicious...! Will be going back read more

Very nice dish of chicken curry I had tonight. That was not spicy but it was so tasty. I had rum based fabulous cocktails. The bar man did a decent job. read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Rhum royal - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Delicious Pho in Austin? You bet. Ended up here on a whim since the line at Ramen Tatsu-ya was way out the door. We weren't disappointed: Both starters - pot stickers and the fried chicken - were good though I'd recommend the fried chicken: delicious, hot, crispy, and big. For entrees, the noodles in the Pad Kee Mao were particularly good and toppings were generous, though the dish was a little oily (though not *too* oily). The pho. Broth was flavorful and hearty (not watery), with plenty of noodles, beef and veggies. To top things off, service is very friendly. read more

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

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I'm surprised by all the four and five star reviews, as my experience was mediocre. The biggest disappointment in my order was the chef's special. The fried fish was both tough and soggy, and the rice was missing from the order. The starters were all good, but it's hard to give a great review when the main entree is a flop. read more

Menu is a bit confusing! For first timers, we order pho. The waiter did offer daily special of craw fish and were about to order, but forgot to mention it was a minum of 2 orders :( other than that, our dish was great. I'm pretty sure the rest of the menu will be as great as well. Good. Job! read more

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

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The food is really good. Love the crispy rice pie and the 5 spices stew beef. My friend got Cajun fried rice. The portion is generous and it is also very tasty. read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Crispy rice pie - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

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I had my 30th birthday dinner last September with a large group of around 12 people. My boyfriend and I arrived 30 mins early to set up the table with name cards, a cake and balloons and the staff were super accommodating. We brought an outside cake from HEB and the manager even brought out a stand for us to use . The food was also top notch. We paired the night with a visit to The Highball for karaoke, which was conveniently in the same complex. Highly recommend Mandala for group dinners! read more

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

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This is my first yelp review, but man was this pad thai strange and the worst I've had in the 15 years of this being my favorite dish. No funky sweetness, no tamarind, no fish sauce, no bean sprouts, no lime. It was a bland stir fry with some soy and rice noodles, but not anything that could be considered pad thai. read more

----About the service----- Very friendly staff and great service ! Our server was Tiffany and she was very personable and had great recommendations. She also checked up on us from time to time to see how we were doing. Tip her well ! ----About the food----- We got two appetizers (egg rolls/lettuce wraps and clam sliders.) Both were delicious! The eggrolls are cut in half and you can wrap them in lettuce and dip them into a sour sauce. The red clam slider was also a great one biter. Highly recommended. We got four entrees, clear noodle salad, crawfish, pineapple w/fish and the fried rice. They certainly add a bit of heat to the food so if you can't handle it then ask them to put less spice in there. I enjoyed all their entrees but fair warning - they give you 2 lbs of crawfish so if you're not ready to work for your food and peel everything, then I suggest you get something else. Personally my favorite was the pineapple sauce w/fish. Cheers ! read more

We came here for a date night on a Friday night and we loved the chill vibe and excellent food. We started out with the Tango Foxtrot cocktail and a bottle of the Moonstone sake and both were excellent. Husband had the 5 spice beef and the Vietnamese chicken curry. I feel like I was not prepared for how amazing this curry was. It was rich, slightly spicy and the crispy rice cake was a very nice touch. Best curry I've ever had. read more

Checked out this place on a whim and so glad I did! I started with the mini rice pancakes that are like Little pancake muffins with shrimp, ground pork and a yummy coconut sauce. They were sooo good! After that, I opted for the chef special pineapple fish dish. It was excellent! The perfect amount of sweet and savory. According to people sitting around me, next I need to try the stewed beef dish and shaken beef. Everyone working there was so nice and attentive. I can't wait to try the rest of the menu! read more

Do yourself a favor and get that crispy rice pie. It is so good its almost disrespectful. That fish sauce dip was the icing on the cake *chefs kiss*. Also those curry mussels had me makin curry in my pants... it was that yummy. The basil fried rice will make ur tongue sizzle but in a fun s3xy way that keeps you comin back for more, if ya know what i mean (eating too much) *wink wink* i ordered delivery and it was packaged very well but next time i am going there and trying everything else. Yummy yummy read more

My hubs came through on date night!! Found this gem and it was some of the best Thai food I've had outside Thailand (actually it's better than some of the food in Thailand as well). So the waitress/bartender Tiffany talked us into the pancake appetizer and it was outstanding. Huge flavor with distinct layers. I had the tofu yellow curry which i had described desired heat as "punch me in the face but don't make me cry". My husband had the Cajun fried rice bc he's Cajun and cannot resist things with "Cajun" in the title. Both of our dishes came out with the PERFECT amount of heat for each of us respectively. We were surprised that it is not busier, but it could just be the soft open. We will come back down south for this food which is saying a lot because when I have to leave Cedar Park, I turn into a grumpy old man about traffic. read more

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Last evening, Nancy and I revisited Mandala Kitchen and Bar, to retry one of their signature dishes, crispy, whole, deep fried red snapper in a pineapple tamarind sauce. This was done perfectly and so artistically that it was as beautiful to see as it was to eat. Kudos to chef Kieu ! I've now found my go to spot for this, my favorite entrée ! read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Crispy, whole, deep fried red snapper. - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

CALL BEFORE to make sure they are still open and in business! I wanted so bad to try out Mandala's today, but it seems that they may be shutting down. I recently moved within a mile of the restaurant, so I decided to walk there so that I could have lunch at 11 am (when their website and sign on the door say that they open) before my appointment at Finley's at noon. When I arrived at 11 am, the door was locked. I stood there for 10 minutes, knocking on the door every 2-3 minutes. Finally, at about 11:10, a guy came out and told me that they were closed. I asked him if he meant that they were closed for the day or permanently. He said that he didn't know and that "no one was here, including the manager, and that he was just a worker." I ended up having sushi next door. When I went to Finley's, I asked "what's the deal with Mandala's?" Their exact response was "it's so sad, because their food is great, but it is almost ALWAYS empty and they suspect that it is closing down." I hate to say it, but the attitude of the guy who finally opened the door confirms my suspicion. He couldn't even confirm whether they would be open at all today. In addition, not only was there no manager, but there were no servers, bartenders, or other staff present. I honestly feel bad for them and would love to give them another chance. Some simple things like posting something on their door and website saying "we will be closed today or opening at a specific time" would have sufficed. Making someone knock on the door for 10 minutes before someone finally came out to say they are closed just isn't cool. read more

Wow. Just wow... We went to Mandala regularly, pre-COVID, and have always loved their food & staff. Just went back after a long absence, and it was fantastic. If anything it was slightly better than before; I'm pretty picky and it would be hard to find any fault with our meal. Great, friendly service with good advice from our server, Justin. Appetizers: Shrimp Spring Rolls and Pan-fried Dumplings; both were delicious but the sauce on the dumplings really set them apart. Entrees: Lemongrass Vermicelli Shrimp and the Chef's Special Pineapple Fish. The lemongrass vermicelli was just spot on; incredible flavors from the sauce without it being overdone. Perfectly cooked shrimp that were a very nice medium-size, just large enough to get two healthy bites out of each. The fish was perfectly cooked yet incredibly crisp and crunch on the outside, with a wonderful sauce and vegetables. We were so happy to see that COVID couldn't knock Mandala down, and are looking forward to getting back there soon! read more

Fried rice and chicken wings are fire, I'd come here more often if I could afford $18 fried rice but to be fair I can usually make at least a meal and a half out of it. read more

This place is actually 3.5 stars. Pros- service was great. Server was attentive and efficient. Ingredients were also good quality. Ambiance and decor scored points. Cons- value and plating. We ordered the mini pancakes, fried rice, curry and wings. For $10, mini pancakes (or banh khot) would have been better served with accompanying lettuce and herbs, very lacking. Also, should have held back on coconut sauce or put on side, it made dish soggy where it needed the crunch. At any Houston joint, this dish woulda been $6 with veggies galore. For $9, the wings were delish but needed a starch, steamed rice would have been nice. And $14 for the fried rice, either double the portion or half the price. The $14 curry was in the same range (taste wise) as any comparable Thai place for $5 bucks less. Make those changes and I'll be back, until then, not planning on coming back. Yes, I took consideration for prime real estate and great service but you priced it too high. read more

Great food, generous portions! The service was a bit slow but the staff were all very nice and responsive.

Stumbled upon Mandala while driving DoorDash. Hands down best Pad Thai in Austin. Got all of my friends on it, we get it probably weekly. Still not open for indoor dining, but def worth the drive to pickup. read more

Great place for Thai! Located in an upcoming part of Austin surrounded by unique restaurants and boutiques. Mandala Kitchen & Bar has a great ambiance, a full bar and great service! We had their Red Curry and it was great! It had a kick, definitely spicy but you could still taste the flavors in the dish. Their Mama Phuong egg rolls were amazing! We also had their Pad Kee Mao with shrimp and it was superb, very spicy FYI! read more

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Very excited to have found some great Thai in Austin. Was pleasantly surprised with how flavorful yet affordable Mandala was. Yellow curry and the Pad Kee Mao are must tries. read more

Brand new spot here at Lamar Union and we were treated to some great service by Malenny who helped us order some egg rolls, mini pancakes, and the crispy rice pie, all were incredible and something definitely new on the Austin food scene. Decor inside was modern and they have a special SXSW menu and they are right by the Alamo Drafthouse Theater down the way. A great new Asian-fusion spot here nestled in the heart of the residential area here. Great service, thank you Malenny! read more

Wonderful experience! Came with a larger group for a friend's birthday party. Fun ambience and awesome service. They had the table all set up for the celebration. The cocktails were amazing--try the Tango Fox Trot! Food was SO good. I got the "not spicy" curry dish and my husband had the Vietnamese fried rice. Portions were very generous and already craving it again. Highly recommend for any group event and my husband and I will be back by ourselves too! read more

I've lived here in the block for most of a year and gotten take out here 7x or slightly more especially since covid19. This place is amazing. Easy walk, great staff even before this whole thing. I will continue to come back. I have never had a bad meal. The place is great and the people are amazing. Yes they kind of know me by name now. read more

I came here for a dinner after a recommendation from my sister. I loved the ambience and decor here. Their food is absolutely delicious. The clam ceviche is amazing and so are the chicken wings. If you do dessert, the mango sticky rice is the best one... I would definitely come back again read more

Mandala Kitchen & Bar - Our desserts - Thai Near Me - Austin, Texas

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One of the best pad kee maos I've EVER had. Perfectly cooked and incredible flavor. Can't wait to explore the rest of the menu. I will say that the brunch was a little weird the one time I ordered it but that was early on and I'm sure that things have only improved. Happy to have this place in the neighborhood! read more

The place was very nicely setup with great customer service, but the flavor wasn't all there for the red curry and shrimp spring rolls. The curry was a bit too spicy and it had a different lingering taste than other curry dishes I've tried in Austin. The mango sticky rice lacked a bit of moist, but it had a good sweet flavor. We also had their Cajun friend rice, which is scrumptious and very filling. It comes with unshelled crab tail and sausage. Very good dish that is a must have if you're coming to Mandala. Overall, great experience but needed some flavoring on some dishes. read more

I love this place! They have traditional Vietnamese style cuisine! Their crawfish was amazing with all the spices! Thanks Kieu

Awesome atmosphere, food and service. We will definitely come back!!! We shared the Mana Phuong's Egg Rolls for an appetizer, we shared The Sizzling Combination which is a 12oz sizzling sirloin steak, shrimp skewer , asparagus, mixed vegetables with white rice. We also shared the Cajun Fried Rice. For dessert we had Mango Sticky rice. Served beautifully This was an awesome fine dining but casual experience. If you are in the area try it! We will be going back SOON!!!! read more