Molly L.

I wanna start off by saying the place is clean and cute. It looks like possibly a family business. I respect small family businesses, and I do not like making bad reviews. The atmosphere is positive. The service was good. Unfortunately, wasn't very impressed by what I ordered. The Thai Tea was pretty basic and not very sweet The Garden rolls were basically huge spring rolls with no protein added just a lot of lettuce and a very small pinch of noodle in the middle. I love a good spring roll, but never seen one so big with no protein. Was a bit disappointed. The chicken wings were huge and although I opted for the Laab seasoning on mine they were pretty flavorless. It's a mild spice they add after frying them and some crunchy fried rice powder on top. I love Laab but the chicken wings were mediocre at best. This was my first time here , it was mid day. I was the only person in the whole restaurant. Parking on the side was easy to find. I would possibly try this place again and order something different.

Tiana D.

Stopped in with some coworkers on a Wednesday for lunch. Parking was pretty easy to find on the street and there were a ton of available tables inside. The inside decor is so cute! There is a second level as well. I had such a hard time deciding what to eat. The menu is great and everything looked so good! I ended up getting the beef curry with added paratha. It was good but it tasted kind of flour-y to me. Our table split the tea leaf salad - I loved this! Something I've never tried before but something I'd love to have again! Our server was great! He was the only one working and was super efficient.

Shamir W.

The wife and I stopped by here on a Saturday night. Her dad's family is from Burma . Myanmar so we were super excited to find out that there was a legit Burmese restaurant in town. Our favorite is Burma Superstar in San Francisco but it's not like we can go there all the time :) The place is small but clean with cute decor and a great atmosphere. We were seated right away and the staff was super friendly and courteous. We ordered the tea leaf salad, the Khao Soi and the chapli burger (which didn't seem particularly Burmese but looked interesting). The tea leaf salad was good. Nicely spiced and fresh. Maybe a touch extra fish sauce then I would have liked but enjoyable. The khaoi soi was well balanced and what I expected. Not like her grandma's but still pretty good. The chapli burger was good but nothing special. Had a few spices that you don't expect in an American burger which made it unique. Overall, it was a good experience and I would go back to try some other items and give it another go. Even though the experience didn't meet the excitement I had, I would give this place another try and I am happy that we have a Burmese restaurant to add to the list of cuisines available to Minnesotans.

Pauline C.

What We Ordered - Cream Cheese Wontons - Tea Leaf Salad - Samosa Salad - Onh No Khao Swe - Knyaw Pumpkin Curry with Chicken - Chaplin Burger - Zaap Chicken - Tom Yum Hot Pot - Pad Kraow Chicken This was the best place I ate during my most recent trip to MN. Pumpkin Curry was my favorite dish! The curry tasted like crab eggs (which is my favorite thing about crab) but it was a chicken pumpkin curry! How did they do it? I ate every last dip. Tied for second best items were the Tom Yum Hot Pot and the Tea Leaf Salad. The Tea Leaf Salad was very unique and tasty. The Chaplin Burger reminded me of pho but in a good way. I think I came to the conclusion I am not a fan or any version of juicy lucy as it requires the meat to be more on the well done side. I enjoyed all the dishes except for the Cream Cheese Wontons. There was little filling so mainly just fried wrappers. Please make sure to check your receipt! They charge 18% for large parties but I didn't catch it prior to tipping.

Elizabeth W.

Mandalay Kitchen is the first Burmese restaurant I have been to, and if this is what Burmese food is like I am all in. The space has been through several iterations of restaurants and is pretty modern and spare, but food is fantastic. I split a variety of dishes with a friend. Most excellent with one meh. I really liked the stuffed tofu, the pumpkin curry and the rice salad. It was quite busy the night we were there, but the food still came fairly quickly. I will definitely be back.

Matt B.

Had a fantastic meal here with fellow Yelper, Kedar D., and his lovely partner. The restaurant can do many dishes vegan, so the three of us split: -Tea leaf salad (lahpet thoke) ($13.95) -- mandatory dish to order when eating Burmese food. This was fantastic, coming with an array of different textures, from the crunchy dried beans, to fried garlic, crunchy cabbage, and softness from the fermented tea leaves, served over a bed of fresh green leaves (the bed of leaves was unusual compared to tea leaf salads I've had at other places, and I must say I liked that). This one was spicier than most I've had. Top-tier tea leaf salad. -Ginger salad ($13.95) -- I've seen ginger salads on a bunch of Burmese restaurants' menus but never tried one until now. In effect, it's quite similar to the tea leaf salad, but with pickled ginger replacing the fermented tea leaves. Lovely crunchiness from the beans, nuts, garlic, pickled ginger, and cabbage, again served over a bed of free leaves. Excellent. -Burmese stuffed tofu (4 pcs for $8.95) -- I was hoping for chickpea tofu, but the dish came with 4 large pieces of deep fried tofu. It was not "stuffed", but simply accompanied by shredded cabbage and cilantro, and served with a tangy, somewhat peanuty sauce that worked well. Pretty solid, but not sure I'd order this one again. -Pad krapow ($13.95) -- this was more of a Thai dish. This ones come with red and green peppers, onions, diced green beans, basil, choice of protein (we got tofu), all cooked in a savoury, lightly sweet, and quite spicy (at out request) salty dark sauce. The steamed rice that accompanied the dish went nicely with this. Fantastic, pretty simple dish. -Knyaw pumpkin curry ($16.95) -- classic Burmese curry. The curry was richer than most Burmese pumpkin curries I've had, seemingly more like a Thai curry in this sense (it seemed like coconut milk at the base, which I don't believe is usual for Burmese curries). Regardless, the flavours were fantastic -- rich pumpkin-y curry with lots of kabocha (I think) squash, tofu, and some bell peppers hanging about. Quite spicy at our request, but not prohibitive -- perfectly balanced flavours. Served with rice to absorb the dense curry goodness. Excellent. All in all, I can't say enough good things about this place. Service was friendly and attentive, and the food came out very quickly. I'm very glad I came here for one of my few meals in the Twin Cities. Highly recommended.

Ngan N.

What a wonderful addition to St.Paul! I came here for dinner at 7pm with a large group of 8. We made a reservation and were seated upstairs. The decorations and overall ambiance of the restaurant were great! They put a lot of attention to details in terms of decorations on the lower floor. Since it is a brand-new restaurant, I'm guessing the upstairs is a work in progress. However, there were cool displays of traditional clothing. Service was friendly and accommodating. They were all so kind. It seems as though they were still working out some kinks, but I think it will improve as time goes on. Food-wise, we ordered a bunch of dishes to try. We got the cream cheese wontons, tea leaf salad, mandalay samosa salad, khao soi, mohinga, pad krapow, Zaap Crispy, pumpkin curry, tom yum, and chapli burger. I really enjoyed the tea leaf salad, super flavorful and the different texture made it even more enjoyable. The server informed us that they were out of mohinga, so I was a little disappointed we didn't get to try. The chapli burger was smaller than I thought, but still good. The star of the night was the pumpkin curry! IT WAS SO GOOD! That was a fave amongst the of us. It was sweet, but also deeply flavored at the same time. Great with rice too. Zaap crispy was also a crowd favorite. I will definitely get the pumpkin curry again and hopefully be able to try the mohinga next time!

Jenae C.

We tried five different dishes that were all amazing-- the pad see ew and pad krapow with chicken were my favorites. Very flavorful and filling. Everything seemed cooked to order so it was super fresh. The portions were large, so great for leftovers! The prices were also cheaper than other comparable restaurants, which is appreciated. The inside is really cute and there's plenty of seating for big or small groups. There's street parking nearby as well. The server was nice and told us about the already included 18% tip on the bill, although we still misunderstood and double tipped on the machine, so fair warning for that.

Lisa V.

I have a friend who is Karen, and she told me about this Karen/Thai restaurant. I was so excited to try it with her. Vibes & Aesthetics The restaurant had a lot of real plants and had a dining vibe. It didn't seem to match the cuisine, but it was fine. There is also a second floor. We went on a weeknight and it wasn't busy. Service The server was good. We didn't have any complaints. We paid at our table with our server. My Order We were afraid the portions would be small, so we ordered a few items to share. However, the portions are quite large. Plan to take leftovers home. * Mohinga - It's like kapoon, but Karen style. * Steak laab - It was well done. I wished it was medium. * Stuff tofu - I was curious how this would be. They just cut a whole and stuff cabbages inside. It is quite good though! * Pad Kapraw - A Thai classic. We thought it had a little too much oyster sauce or salt, but it was good! Parking It's limited in this area. We found parking on the side of the building during the time it was allowed. I don't remember the times though.

Thang T.

Beautiful Thai-Burmese fusion restaurant in St. Paul. With this being my first time trying Burmese cuisine, I had high expectations and I was happily surprised. Unfortunately the star dish of Myanmar, Mohinga, was unavailable when we had visited, so we ordered the Yangon Beef curry with Paratha, tea leaf salad, and pad see ew. Beef was a little dry but well seasoned, paratha perfectly crisp. Pad see ew was ok, but the star was definitely the lahpet thoke. I wasn't expecting too much from a salad but the flavor was so good it was life-altering. I would definitely come back just for the salad.

Cindy D.

Came here on a weeknight and it was not busy, there was one waiter. He seemed new and still learning what is in the menu. We ordered 4 dishes and some tea. I forgot name of the dishes but one of them is their tea leaves dish which was very good, the beef tartare was a little bland, needed more lime or salt. I would try this place if you have not had Burmese food.

Kedar D.

Mandalay Kitchen is a friendly and spectacular Burmese spot in St. Paul with a focus on dishes from the Kayin state in southeastern Burma. It earns a rare 5-star review from me. The food is exquisite---beautifully presented, wonderfully seasoned and with a wide variety of textures. They also label their vegetarian dishes, most of which are vegan by default. The Yangon samosa ($9) is a light and simple samosa, with a thin and crispy wrapper filled with lightly cooked potatoes and peas. Compared to an Indian/Punjabi samosa, it's less starchy and bready. The bayar kyaw ($8) is described as Burmese falafel and it tasted superb. It was more moist and savory than a Middle Eastern falafel and had a brightness to it that I loved. The lahpet thoke (tea leaf salad) ($13) is vegan by default and the best I've had in the United States. While Burma Superstar in San Francisco popularized this dish, Mandalay Kitchen's rendition is much better: it's savory, crispy, addictive and has a new surprise in every bite. The Yum nam khao tod ($12) can be made vegan and is a crispy rice salad with a variety of herbs. I loved this dish and, by coincidence, had had a much less interesting version at a different restaurant in St. Paul one day earlier. Mandalay's version blew the other one out of the water. Lastly, the Thai red curry ($14) can be made vegan and was good. It didn't wow me, but it was respectable. Next time I'll get the kabocha squash Burmese curry. The service was friendly and though the restaurant was understaffed, the food came within a reasonable time (we were warned about delays) and was still prepared with care and delicacy. Stop by Mandalay Kitchen for something special.