Manivanh Thai Restaurant

I’ve been here a few times since I intern a few blocks away, and it never fails to satisfy my Asian food needs. With the abundance of Mexican food in this area, and my rare desire for it, I’m usually in the mood for anything with rice. The servers here are so nice, and the service is pretty quick.
I usually get the Beef Curry for which the meat is seriously the softest I’ve ever eaten. And since I’m usually unable to eat spicy foods, the mild version is just the right amount of spice that I’m not looking to drink water after every bite. The Pad See Ew is also pretty bomb. Definitely coming back for my next lunch break.

Quiet, cozy little place in the Mission. The service is really warm and friendly. I had a simple dinner with a colleague on a Wednesday evening.
I ordered the pad see ew. I’ve had far better in many Thai places, but this wasn’t disappointing. Pretty good portions and decent Thai food.

First experience: Long story short my night in the mission was getting late & most restaurants were very close to closing and I had just finished moving some stuff into my new room (had no time in the day to buy grocery). I hate being that «guy» to walk into establishments with less than 30 min to closing so I called around & Manivanh answered. with little hope in my head that the kitchen may still be willing to take an order for pickup. They kindly took my order with 20 – 25 min to close. I arrived with about 7min to close and there they had my food bagged up ready to go. Took it back home and was very satisfied and grateful for this late meal.
The next following day I was planning on dinner with my aunt whom is local to the mission. She suggested Manivanh. (Ha ha I just had it yesterday but I was super happy with the previous service from the night prior I had to say yes.) Service extremely friendly 2^nd time around. Food was great I believe we ordered an assortment of prawn, chicken, & eggplant curry dishes. The prawns are plump & sauces are on point.
Today about 3 months later I am writing as I just returned from a work trip in Europe. Manivanh my go to place for great service & food first came to mind. I felt the need to hit this place being back in the city. My new favorite «sea food basil» side of rice & Thai iced tea. Really great textures with all the seafood/​shellfish being cooked well with the sauce/​each other. In my opinion this place has perfect portions to feel full, but not that food coma state full where it hurts to walk. The staff has a down to earth friendly vibe that is calm not pushy. Within 30 seconds of my water glass being emptied the waitress refills.
To be honest I’ll probably be back this week/​weekend

Some of the best food I ever had ever. I like to gripe that the Thai food in Austin doesn’t compare to the Thai food in San Francisco, and this is what I’m squawking about.
Outside it looks like a hole in the wall on a filthy street in the Mission. Inside it’s warm and cozy and clean with perfect lighting and décor. No irritating music, just peace and quiet — except for the three socially-​oblivious self-​inflated ninnies who walked in and sat next to us and announced to the whole place that they indeed had «resting bitch face» and the rest of their insipid conversation would screech over and above the existence of anyone else. The waiter was nice enough to serve them anyway. I would have thrown the twats out.
Lucky for us there was a separate room with equally nice tables and décor; we picked up our stuff and moved over there. The nice good-​looking waiter took our orders quickly and got the food out just as fast. Everything was awesome. The spicy coconut soup with prawns and mushrooms had some frikkin amazing flavor and the shrimps were fresh and buttery. The rock cod with green beans was superfabyolicious too. We were stuffed but had to get coconut ice cream. It was a big five-​dolla-​worth coconut sundae with chewy chunks of coconut that made me go cross-​eyed and drool a little.
This place is killer.

My go to if I’m ever craving Asian during work. Short walk from SFGH. The service is friendly and the food is pretty good. Pad See Ew is my go to, but there are always noodles stuck together, so I’ll have a block of noodle with no flavor. I wish they gave more protein; I always end up with too much noodle and bean sprouts and not enough chicken or tofu.
Portion size is a little small. I usually can’t eat more than half a meal at a Thai place, but I’m able to finish this one in one sitting.
One thing that bothers me is that I’ll call in an order, and even if I add extra time before I go pick it up (if they say ready in 20, I’ll get there in 30), I still have to wait another 5 – 10 minutes since they’re not done with my order. Kind of a bummer.

You’re in the Mission, why are you looking for Thai food? I don’t know but you are, so here’s the situtation:
This place is good. Went in a group and tried a few different things: the pad see ew was outstanding, the beef red curry was also strong. The pad thai was terrible, which is unfortunate because any respectable Thai joint needs a strong pad thai. Oh well, just take note and order the other stuff. Got a carafe of wine because why not, it wasn’t any good but I’d do it again because wine.
Its a nice, quiet place, nestled away from the hubbub of the Mission so you’ll always be able to get a seat. Seems like a perfect spot for Mission residents when they get tired of burritos and need their Asian fix. I’ll be back.

I’ve walked passed here a million times and never stepped foot in this joint. Till one day, I was fiending for Thai food in a Burritos kind of neighborhood. I decided it was time to test this place out. Got the Thai Fried Rice and it was sooo good I came back the next day to order some more, Very authentic, super delicious, clean ass restaurant. I mean what more can you ask for? I can honestly say its the best Thai restaurant in the mission.

Minivanh is one of the best Thai places in town. Seriously. While it may eschew the canned «sexy» elements of Thai place on Valencia or 16^th St., it has food that will keep you coming back. Plus, the dining room, especially at night is really charming in an authentic way, and the service is friendly and attentive. There is no pretentiousness and the prices and portions are excellent!
So what to eat? Really you can’t go wrong. We teeter between veggie and meat dishes and both are great. The chicken satay is a go-​to appetizer, the salads are all really flavorful and classicly thai, and you can’t go wrong with the curries, rice, or noodle dishes. Really, I’ve only had one thing I didn’t like there and that was a long time ago and I couldn’t tell you what it way.
But wait, what about the 1, 2, and 3 star reviews? Read them yourself, they are rather ridiculous. Try this neighborhood gem yourself and you like so many of us, will probably have a new local favorite!

I really wanted Manivanh to be good. The reviews were good. The food looked good online. But then.
The restaurant was so warm, and this is on a cool day. It was so humid that I felt like I was going to melt into a puddle. Our waiter was sweating so profusely that I thought he was going to sweat into my food.
Which was not great. The pad see eew wasn’t fully cooked, so I had to eat pieces of cold, gummy noodle that had no sauce on it. My plate was also mostly all bean sprouts, which was interesting. Just think about eating cold, clumped together noodles and bean sprouts with a splash of sauce. Exactly.
I really wanted to like this place. Perhaps they had a bad night. But it’ll probably be a good long time before I come back to find out.

I must have walked by this place 1,000 times, and never really noticed it.
we had the idea to try the new place next door, but we got there and they said 45 min wait for a table of 3.
No way.
So, we start walking back, thinking about what else we might want.
We stopped, looked at the menu, looked at each other, said, «Thai? Sure!»
Menu was good, prices very good, OK, we order.
We got some pad thai, which was super yummy, a seafood dish, and some rolls, and everything was spot on.
price was right, and the server told me they have been there for 30 years? what !!! How have I not been here before ?
Well, after that night, I will go there any time I eat Thai food.
nice décor, cool servers, great food, very nice prices.
thumbs up !

Visited this place a few times since it is so close to my job. This last time it wasn’t the best experience. As I was eating my food, I noticed a hair in my food. A server said it was lint which is still not acceptable. They got me a new dish. However, as I was eating it I found another hair in the new plate. I had high hopes for this place. Since the service is good. However, can’t say I’ll return.

Hands down our most frequented restaurant — two blocks from home it is great food, exceptional value and very friendly waitstaff.
Great for take out, too!

This place is
! Went here tonight with the boyfriend and had the spicy sour prawn soup. He had the prawn soup in coconut milk. We shared the chicken skewers with a peanut dipping sauce and it was all on point.
We have been here plenty of times because it’s so close to the house and they never disappoint. Normally don’t eat in but it’s quiet and somewhat dimly lit, love the ambiance.
Definitely check out Manivanh

This place is so consistently great it is hard to believe word has not gotten out about it. Went last night and had papaya salad and tofu salad as starters — (I am vegan, my friend — not so much) and both were perfectly spiced and delicious. I almost licked the plate it was that good. Then she had pad thai which she claimed was amazing (it did look and smell good but had shrimp so I did not try it) and I had the always amazing green curry with vegetables. Wow, LOVE this place and so happy to have a few short blocks from my home.

Crispy red snapper really good. Carmens vegetables really good. Coconut milk prawns really good. Duck curry not so good. Fatty and not much flavor.

Wonderful service, delightful environment and tasty bites! Be warned of the heavy handed spicy plates! They are GF and Vegan accommodating too!

Came here for lunch with a co-​worker since it was close to our training. We ordered the:
Carmen’s special-​eggplant and fried tofu. Flavorful and delish
Shrimp red curry– Not spicy, light, and flavorful.
I enjoyed the ambiance, quick service. Would love to come back with a larger party so I can try more dishes!

We come here often because it’s close by. It’s usually empty but SOOO underrated, food is delicious and fast.
Advice: get the prawn and scallop dish from the seafood section, it comes with mushrooms and Zucchini, and then also get the beef curry, mild. And then get rice to go with it. The dishes are amazing together! I’m sure they’re great separately, too, but I just like to mix the sauces together.

Why the 4 star reviews? I don’t get it.
This is possibly the worst Thai food I’ve ever had.
The chicken salad was all watery liquid stuff. I couldn’t tell what I was eating.
The prawns appetizer was just 2 stars.
It’s too bad. I work nearby.

Hosted my husband’s birthday dinner here last night. We live across the street from Manivanh, and LOVE the food and service at this restaurant. It was 14 of us, the bday dinner was perfect, the service was amazing. My husband said it was the best birthday dinner he had.
I called 3 days ahead to book the back room. Came 1 day ahead to give them our food choices. I asked guests to pick between the satay or chicken coconut soup, pad thai or fried rice, roasted duck basil, snapper with garlic sauce, or duck curry. These are our favorite dishes. We wanted our friends to try them.
I dropped the bday cake, flowers, decorations, and name places the day of the party. My hubby and I showed up earlier and set up our music station, he used his bose speaker and phone to play his playlist.
Dinner was served on time, servers knew who ordered what, drinks kept coming (beer or wine only), the servers were able to bring food in and out seamlessly, until finally the birthday cake showed up.
Everyone had a great time and really loved the food. The ambiance was so relaxed and homey, we were so comfortable and pampered there. Big THANKS to Ann and Po (spelling?) who made this dinner so successful.