“ This is my favorite Thai restaurant in the OC area! Service is consistently wonderful, and the food is always so yummy. My favorite dishes are: Khao Soi: This is an award winning dish here, and it shows! The two different textures of the rice and fried egg noodles are so interesting, and the curry sauce is so yummy. This is a huge bowl, so it is great to share or split between meals. I prefer to get this dish with beef. Green Curry w/ Braised Beef: Pretty spicy for me, but really flavorful! Comes with Roti to dip, which is slightly sweet and pairs well. The serving size is also quite generous and I usually have leftovers. Crying Tiger: The steak in this dish was perfectly cooked and so fresh. Paired so well with the salad and dipping sauce - this is a good starter dish to share with a group! The workers are always so friendly regardless of how busy the restaurant is. I also love how cozy and cute it is inside without feeling cramped. This is a must try, and is one of my top recommendations to friends looking for a chill lunch/dinner in the area! 5 stars isn't enough for this gem. ”

“ I went today with lunch and ordered the Drunken Noodles with Shrimp. Honestly, this is not their best dish and I forgot I tried it last time. Rookie mistake! On a whim, I decided to order the chicken satay and WOW. That was easily the best chicken satay I've ever had. Typically it is chicken breast pounded on a skewer and seasoned. At Manaao, they have the same seasoning and accompanying peanut sauce but they use chicken thigh with skin - no bones or skewer. It's the next day for me and I'm still thinking about it. The chicken was flavorful and juicy and the skin had a nice char to it. Peanut sauce was not too sweet and the pickled onions and cucumbers paired well with the appetizer. Changing from the typical chicken breast on a skewer to the boneless chicken thigh was a great move on their end. Loved it and will be back to try more dishes. ”

“ Be prepared for at least an hour wait if you come on the weekends. The parking lot isn't the biggest either but we saw some cars parked on the street nearby. The food here is pretty good and fresh. Compared to some other Thai restaurants, the flavors here feel a bit on the lighter side. We got the following: - Khao soi: light but still delicious curry broth - Gai Tod: the chicken could use more seasoning - papaya salad: very fresh but a bit expensive - creamy tom yum - Thai iced tea: the flavor is a little light here and a bit watered down - Manaao Thai iced tea: has a bit of a sour kick Overall, good place for some food but a little expensive packed with a long wait. ”

“ Great thai food! The wait is a bit long, but the food is fantastic. Khao soi--perfectly creamy and savory broth paired with the egg noodles! Slightly salty though but would return for this! Green thai tea--delicious with strong floral taste. Highly recommend Papaya salad--refreshing and loved the crunchy texture of the different veggies Pork belly curry--this is one of the newer menu items, and it was so fatty tasting from the pork belly that I couldn't eat more than one bite of it. Personally not a fan of it at all and will not be ordering again Boat noodle--good but nothing spectacular Overall, a bit of a wait but the menu is pretty hit or miss. The khao soi and green thai tea were delicious but I was not a fan of the pork belly curry at all ”

“ Pretty good size restaurant but I think they need a bigger spot. So many ppl waiting for a Thursday evening. We lucked out to get here at 5pm and grabbed a table for 2. Spacious seating, clean restaurant and great service. Food was good, presentation was great. Lots of flavors. We ordered 3 entrees plus individual drinks and had to take most of it home. Large portions. Great spot but recommend Yelp waitlist or reservation or you'll be waiting. Parking is limited too. ”

“ 1 year update: The wait have become longer and longer, but the food also got better and better. They recently moved to the old hotpot place a couple doors down, so many more seats available. Really good lighting, cute lime wallpapers. Pad see ew noodles are intact, chewy and perfect flavors, beef is soft, not too chewy. Catfish hotpot delicious, cat fish super crispy and stays crispy on the outside, inside stays moist, you just need to dip in sauces because fish by itself is a little bland. Hotpot has a lot of root vegetables cooked into it too, so hearty, perfect for a cold rainy day. Chicken satay is a must get! 10/10 so juicy and delicious, best chicken satay I've ever had. Overall I think I'd frequent this place more often after the expansion with a lot more tables open. ”

“ Ordered take out bc I missed the yelp waitlist window and it filled up FAST. Fell in love with the Khao soi ever since my trip to Thailand and have been in search for the best one here in socal. Manaao's khao soi was delicious with the broth and chicken. I also ordered the wings and they were nice and crispy. Their khao soi would make my top 5 list! Would love to come back and have a sit down experience ”

“ Finally was able to try this restaurant a week ago after putting name on waitlist a little after opening time and then waiting 2 hours for a table. The food was really good and shockingly I felt it was worth the wait. One week later, they moved a few stores down to a much larger location. I didn't count but I think it feels about 3x larger in terms of number of tables. I was worried their quality or service may go down given the huge increase, and given we went on their very first day opening in new location...but again they impressed me with great service and just as delicious food! I loved their papaya salad (first time last night and did not disappoint) and Khao Soi noodle with soft shell crab (very flavorful broth and crispy soft shell crab...I enjoyed it but didn't order last night bc I wanted to try some other items too). These dishes I ordered both visits because they were that good: crying tiger ribeye (such a great value and delicious), crab fried rice (not cheap but very nice quality with lots of crab chunks), fried catfish on top of curry over a bed of rice, and creamy tom yum soup. There's still plenty of other dishes I have to try on future visits but I'm so excited their larger location will bring down wait times significantly. My first visit I ate with friends that can handle spicy, so we happily ordered the spicy. This visit our friends couldn't handle it so we ordered mild. Both taste great, but I'm partial to spicier. I did ask for chilis last night which I enjoyed adding to the dishes. ”

“ Found through social media with lots of positive reviews and I have to say that they are all true! Ate with my family and all 6 dishes we ordered did not disappoint! Fresh and authentic Thai taste that I have not had in a very long time! The service was also very professional and pleasant. The speed for the food was perfect and it all came to the table hot! Lastly, while on the smaller side the restaurant is cozy, nicely decorated, and clean! Thank you for the excellent food and service Manaao! We will be back. ”

“ Great food. Very delicious. Will definitely come back Again. Aiming to try everthying on the menu. ”