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I have eaten here literally hundreds of times.
Love it.
Great food.
Really nice staff.
Ever notice the lack of Thai food in the mission? I did. I was surprised to find this old place on 24th was pretty good. Apparently it won best of the bay way back in the nineties, as evidenced by the faded framed copy of the Guardian bearing images of pot smoking aliens abducting a body-modded tattooed rockabilly S&M dot-commer. But I digress.
This is one of those old world style thai places complete with tons of teak and tapestry, ornate serving bowls and obligatory photograph of the King.
The food was not too sugary, but alas, not too spicy either. I tried to eat here again just this week, but the roll down doors were locked and a sign bearing "Closed due to family emergency" was taped up. I hope yall are ok. Come back soon, i'm hungry!
If you had told me, I lived within two blocks of this place yesterday morning I would not have believed you.
Luckily you didn't, because I am pretty sure I would have made an ass of myself, telling you to shut up.
This place will probably be my new Thai Food go to, and not only for the location.
The Pad Thai wasn't greasy, and had a good amount of tofu/prawns/sprouts/peanut crumbs.
The Tom Kah Gai soup was the best version of this soup that I have ever had.
The Prawn and Eggplant curry was probably my favorite though.
When I went home and told my roommates, they didn't believe me.
Assholes.
everytime i'm having thai food, i find myself comparing it manivanh! unfortunately all the others never live up to that expectation and i'm rarely in the city anymore so i'll have to settle until then...
every dish i've tried thus far has been absolutely delicious. however, one word... duck salad! everytime i think of this dish i swear my mouth begins to water. it's definitely a favorite and everyone we've recommended it to seems to love it as well.
the atmosphere is cozy and quaint. the best part would have to be the service here which is always wonderful! consistently attentive and super sweet!
Read great reviews and finally checked this place out.... Best Thai food I've had in SF (or ever for that matter).... Fast service, fresh and flavorful.....Nice and spicy too. I'll be back for sure.
A quiet little restaurant in a corner of the Mission. The hours are unexpectedly short, and they are occasionally randomly closed. But the food is pretty good, and not too expensive. The food is vegan friendly. I recommend getting the dish with the seitan in it.
I'm coming back here agian. THe location is so-so (difficult to find parking) but the food was fantastic. Not very spicy, so we need to ask for more next time. Very flavorful though. The pad thai was tasty. The "calumari salad" appetizer was interesting and fun. But I'm also on a squid kick these days it seems. I'm coming back to try out some more.
Beautiful art on the walls. Very cozy feeling.
We have been coming here regularly for about 7 years, and let me tell ya its a delicious treat every single time we come here. The service is great, as we know the wait staff who has been serving us for years now. The food comes out quick, hot and delicious....also when you tell them Thai spicy, they dont F**k around!! Best of all its very affordable, we have been to Thai restaraunt all across the country and none of them match the wonderful flavors of Manivanh!
This was for dinner on a staurday night, lunch may be different. They got my order worng. I wanted Pad thai with no tofu. The ditched the shrimp but ket the tofu. I did'nt send it back, whatever. There's like one waiter, so dont be in a rush. It's decent thai, but more traditional thai than fancypants new wave type of thai.
I'm gonna go with a 5-er on this one, mostly because I feel at peace again after CLG shut down and we were at a loss for good Thai in the neighborhood. Why did it take so long to discover this gem? No clue. No excuse. We walked right in and sat down on a random weekday. Plenty of seating. Don't be fooled by the fake-out door, keep going until you hit the real one. Service was average and nothing out of the ordinary but the food definitely stood out. Pad thai at Pad Thai Restaurant in Bernal sucks. Manivanh's pad thai is probably the most delicious pad thai I've had in a long time. Full of flavor, not too dry, not too soggy. Spring rolls were hot out of the fryer and plenty crispy. The roasted duck could be over-looked (we wanted the roasted chicken but they were out). Panang curry was good but Pad Thai Restaurant may take the win on this dish.
Only fault is no delivery but for this quality food, I'm willing to get off my lazy ass and walk a few blocks.
I'ts nice to have a thai place on 24th that isn't that bad. I've always walked past this place because its very dark out front and basically I never saw the thing.
I walked in there and hoped for the best. You can tell its super family owned because a few times their kid ran through the hall screaming waving a somehwhat sharp looking power ranger toy yikes! They have a fairly extensive menu with duck as well and many dishes that I've never seen before at your typical thai place. I usually eat vegatarian when I eat thai food due to how heavy most meals sit so I glanced at what they had for veggie dishes. I was craving pad noodles and I saw a dish that was a variation on the pad thai noodle and tofu so I decided to go for it. It was the first item on the vegetarian list "Pad something gah jing, mu ling, ga joh," something along those lines lol.
It was great and I ended up eating everything off the plate. I was putting some of the red pepper sauce on top and that seemed to be the way to go. I really liked it although the dishes seemed to be high priced for the service you get and everything else that comes with it. I ended up paying $15 for my pad dish w hot tea which seems a little steep. I've been here twice now and I haven't been let down however so I'm sure I'll be back to sample some duck or something diff than I usually get.
-t
Why Manivanh Thai Restaurant is a hidden gem:
1) The people who run the place are Thai. (e.g. Thai people use a fork and spoon to eat, not chopsticks like many other Asian cultures. Here, they provide customers with fork and spoons.
Another example - the owners and staff all speak Thai.
2) Thai food has never tasted so good in S.F.
3) I've been to Thailand. I thought I stepped into a real Thai restaurant in Thailand when I first came here.
4) My obsession with BBQ chicken started here and Manivanh has never let me down.
The BBQ chicken is amazing. It comes with a sweet and sour dipping sauce.
5) Thai Ice Tea/Thai Ice Coffee/beer - something for everyone.
6) Great service. The servers are incredibly sweet.
7) Great date place. You're surrounded by Mission bars and Humphry's Ice Cream is a couple blocks away. So is the hospital.
mehhhh.. its OK. My brother thought it would be good, but I didnt think it was that great. I thought the pad thai was a little salty. My silver noodles were also a little on the salty side. Onions were also too raw.
the only part I liked was the peanut sauce with the fried tofu. They do give you a lot of fried tofu.
Manivahn's is one of my favorite Thai restaurants. Besides being about 3 blocks away from me. And I've been to over a dozen+ different Thai restaurants in San Francisco and a couple on the Peninsula and East Bay.
I really like their Pad Thai noodles. Although I wish they gave more than 3 prawns. They honor my request of extra raw bean sprouts on the side at no extra charge. Another one of my favorites is their Pram beef in peanut sauce and spinach, sprinkled with chopped peanuts. Great flavor. And I love the mild curry chicken with coconut milk. Wonderful mix of spicy and tropical sweet flavors. I always order that as an entre over Thai chicken fried rice.
Thai cuisine is so unique in it's blend of spices and variety of healthy dishes. Manivahn's has been around for years, has a wide selection to choose from on their menu, and very popular with the nearby SF General Hospital staff customers. And with me of course. And the owners and waiters/waitresses are always friendly, even remembering me after not seeing me for awhile.
Working at SFGH, there's only so many options for lunch. Manivanh Thai is definitely always at the top of my list!
The food is great, perfect portions and reasonably priced. You can't go wrong with the traditional Pad Thai, but you definitely have to try the green curry (I love eggplant and this is an awesome way to have it) that comes with rice.
The service is always great too! Even if you order out, they will serve you complimentary water while you wait, which is never too long.
This place really is a hidden little gem in the neighborhood, well, maybe not that hidden since everybody who works at the hospital eats here, and for good reason. Everything I've tried is delicious, like the eggplant, duck, seafood, red curry chicken, and especially the pad thai. They use the Vietnamese pho noodles which is chewy in texture the way I like it and the sauce is very good. My coworkers and I always share a couple of dishes and it's just enough food without making us feel bloated or overly stuffed afterwards, leaving enough room for the delicious fried banana and ice cream dessert. My only little complaint is that they charge an extra $1.95 for shrimp dishes and only give you like 3 shrimps, but overall this is a great little restaurant and I will keep coming back for the great food.
I'm going to make it short and sweet. For the price, this restaurant is a good find. Very very veeeery good yellow curry dishes. I use to walk here every so often with my man, gorge myself, have few beers, then end up with a bill for two under $40. Pretty darn good deal if you ask me!
The decor could use a little upgrade and they are not open on Sundays which is the best time to go out to eat, but other than that I say stop on by!
I can't believe it took me so long to go to this place, which is possibly the closest Thai restaurant city to me. It was good, not remarkable. My vegetarian entree was pretty fish-saucy.
EDIT:
i forgot to mention the weirdest part of all...
when we got our check, it came with 2 chocolates. that's not weird, but what is weird is that they were wrapped in gold foil that said, and i am dead serious, "The Ritz-Carlton, Huntington". we took a pic of it for proof - http://flickr.com/phot....
the waiter said that they buy them from the Ritz Carlton. now, i used to work at the rchmb, and let me tell you that they are not selling their chocolates.
strangest. thing. ever.
/edit
i went there last night for dinner and although the curry was good, i had an awful experience with the appetizer.
we ordered the vegetarian silver noodles and when i tasted it, it had a strong fish sauce flavor. hmm.
me: excuse me, is there fish sauce in this?
waitress: yes.
me: well, i don't think it should be in the vegetarian section then.
her: rolls her eyes.
now, i'm pretty sure that it didn't say there was fish sauce in the description, but i could be wrong. so, if you go there and you are a vegetarian, best to ask if the dish really is. even if it's listed under "vegetarian appetizers".
i would expect this to happen in new york, not here.
the rolling of the eyes closed the door on manivanh for me for good.
No white meat chicken?
No Jeff P.!!
I went here 4 years ago when I first moved nearby but hadn't been back for some reason. Now with friends in town we needed some take out and I took other Yelp reviews to heart and decided this was the place. Everything we ordered was delicious, the Satay, Beef Salad, Pad Thai, Duck, Chicken with Ginger and Mushrooms, and a little more. Only negative is the difficulty in parking and the fact that it often looks closed (though it isn't).
I agree that it is odd to get a spicy pad thai, but I will use this info to my advantage in the future.
This place is only 4 blocks away form me, so I am always ordering takeout on a whim. It's also a nice dine in for the evening, but then my boyfriend is bound to order way too much food (plus booze).
I'm adding this review due to illness: relieved, not caused by this place. I've been ill all day and could not think of one thing I could stand to eat. Everything I could imagine made me nauseous just to think about.
Then I remembered the gang-jae. I would recommend it to anyone, vegetarian, with general body malaise, or otherwise hungry. It has gluten and tofu, plus coconut and chili to heal your ills.
The pad thai is very good-well, I've never NOT liked anything there, but that gang-jae is the best!
Delicious Thai food. When I'm in the Mission and have a need for eggplant, Manivanh is my goto joint. For some reason it's not all that crowded either whenever I go.
Great service, tasty food, nice quiet environment, reasonable prices, yes this place is a little hidden treasure in the abundance of Mission eats. I had the eggplant/vegetable dish with rice and was very happy with it. I really like this place for the tranquility, very soothing and especially perfect if you're in the mood for a chill night and don't want to deal with a wait or noise. I can't wait to go back.
I personally love thai food but getting my boyfriend to try or order any kind of asian food is super hard. I attribute this to my chinese neighbors who cook/boil turtle, chicken feet, and squid. Regularly, the smells of mystery meat woft into our house through cracks in the doors which is enough to make you lose your appetite.
So...when I suggested we try this place I was more than surprised to hear my boyfriend say " Sure." The restaurant is small but cozy and the service was great. We ordered the Por-piah-pak, vegetarian spring rolls to start out with and they were really good with a good chili sweet sauce to dip them into. I ordered the pad thai with tofu which was tasty! The tofu was lightly fried not OVER fried like some places do and I loved the bed of fresh bean sprouts. The boyfriend ordered Pad-gra-prao which was tofu with chilis, mushrooms , fresh basil and a spicy sauce. Yum yum double yum!
Overall, this place is very affordable and there is enough food for 2 if you order one dish. My only dissapointment is they didnt have sticky rice. I WILL go back again! Its the best thai food i've had in the city so far AND my picky boyfriend liked it which is saying a lot!
Back in the early 70's, this place was the best of the first crop of Vietnamese restaurants that swept SF after the end of the war in Vietnam -and remained so for many years, until the mid- 80's, when it changed to its present Thai incarnation. The new place took a couple of years to catch up to its predecessor and continued to be excellent, until 5 years ago, when their kitchen took a dive south - quality wise. Service and atmosphere are both good, but they can't offset the mediocrity of the food.
I certainly didn't expect to find a Thai restaurant nestled among the predominantly Hispanic businesses on this block in the Mission District, but there it was. I immediately went to my cell phone and punched it up on the mobile Yelp page. This restaurant has lots of positive reviews so I took a step inside and hesitated because the restaurant was completely empty. The wait staff assured me they were open and asked me to take a seat anywhere.
I decided to go somewhat vegetarian this afternoon and chose the Pad Thai Jae at Manivahn. On the menu it's the same description as the regular Pad Thai except tofu replaces the chicken or shrimp. The service was quick and friendly and the noodle dish was superb. Thin strands of firm rice noodles, lots of broccoli, bean sprouts, green onion, cubes of tofu and fried eggs all tossed about in a sweet, slightly tangy orange-colored sauce and finished off with a dusting of ground peanuts which gave the dish a nice toasty flavor.
I chose to mix in the refreshing mound of fresh bean sprouts, slivered carrots and cilantro that had been served to the side of the noodle dish along with a lime wedge and an orange wedge. Quite tasty it all was!
My co-worker and I had lunch here today. I ordered the pad thai, and she got #18 (I can't remember the name, but it's some seafood w/rice). We didn't have much time for lunch so we called ahead of time so the food would be ready by the time we got there. It wasn't quite ready when we arrived 30 minutes later; we waited another 10 minutes.
I found the atmosphere kind of depressing--lots of brown all over the place. The girl who waited on us seemed kind of depressed or pissed or something because there was little eye contact and she didn't smile once.
My pad thai was pretty decent, but there was so little of it. At $9.00 I was expecting much more. I was hoping to take a box of leftovers with me but the portions are kind of meager here. And the lunch menu seems kind of limited.
Not sure if I'll be back--actually I will, if someone else pays :P
Close to home. Great food, reasonably priced. Love that the guy treats me like an old drinking pal and I've only been going there for the past two months (granted I'm usually there once a week).
Minus one star for three reasons....
1. They charge for rice.
2. They manage to not be open when I really have a craving (aka Sunday nights).
3. You can say no spice five times when you order and it'll usually come out spicy.
Update: minus another star because they just upped their prices...making it a not so economical once a week dinner choice...and they still charge for rice.
Ode to Manivanh:
(Zoolander style)
Your thai iced tea was perfect.
So creamy and sweet
like a river of caramel
but not as gooey
or thick
Your vegetarian menu is copious.
The tofu was fried so crispy and soft
how could it be both
i wondered?
but it was.
and the dish was sprinkled with baby corns
with mushroom friends nearby.
And the calamari and prawns were tantalizing.
bathed with a spicy gingery sauce,
my taste buds were dancing
happily towards the calamari
not away, as many times they are.
When we got the check
we were pleased
So inexpensive
for such nice food
that left our taste buds tantalized
and our wallets half filled
and our hearts content,
at least with the meal.
Not the best thai restaurant...but if you need a fix...definately a good place to go. Their pad thai is good..chicken satay is ok...and their number 40 (rock cod with string beans) is yummy.
All the good stuff that everyone says about this place seemed to be true today when I went for lunch. Service was attentive and friendly. Restaurant was clean and tastefully decorated. The prices were reasonable and portions were generous. The food was delicious (I had the Carmen special and it was worth eating again). When I asked my friend what she thought about her dish, she said "I think that may have been the best pad thai I've ever had." My cousin got the Carmen special with calamari and noted that hers was a tad bit saucy for her.
I'll never wait in line again at the crappy Vietnamese place down the street on Potrero!!
UPDATE:
I've been here another couple times since my original review. It's CONSISTENTLY great!! AND .. the pad thai was definitely the best that I've ever had, hands down.
Visiting my gerl Alena at San Francisco General Hospital and she took me to Manivanh for lunch..
Hands down the best Pad Thai i've ever had.. Pure perfection.. Perfect combination of tartness, and sweetness.. You can only judge a Thai restaurant by its Pad Thai..
A lil pricey for the Mission, but well worth it..
Just down the block from home this place always has some of the freshest Thai in the city. Packed with flavor they make their Pad Thai just the way I like it, with the right balance of savory and sweet. While other establishments drench their noodles in a syrupy mess Manivanh's Pad Thai is almost as good as what we had on the streets of Bangkok. The Tom Ka Gai is delish and the their curries are TDF, with freshness of the ingredients bursting in a symphony of flavors!
This is a family owned and run hidden gem in the Mission!
Things I like in no particular order
* The thai iced teas are far too sweet and creamy
* There's usually not many people inside
* The same guy always takes my order and serves me food. He is usually laid back and more than a little bemused.
* It's always a bit too warm and humid. Like I am actually in thailand. Not to say I've ever been to Thailand. But you'll agree with me if you walk inside.
* It's not expensive
* It's right next door to the crazy flowershop the crazy flowership guy is always hanging out in. When I am waiting for my friends to show up I usually go in an talk to him and haggle over a plant or two. Slowly but surely Manivanh is helping me vegitate my home.
This place should be added to the list of perks/benefits for SF General Hospital job applicants. I ordered the #4 with prawns from the lunch menu today and loved it. Lots of fresh ginger. I am a broccoli-lover and asked them to add some to my dish...they kindly obliged.
There is something about Thai food that I find totally comforting. I have a feeling Manivanh will provide lots and lots of comfort as I continue my nerve-wracking training at the hospital. I think nurses with bellies full of delicious Thai food are more likely to provide superior patient care, don't you?
P.S. Don't come here for the ambiance. There isn't any.
I went here for the first time with a friend who frequents this little gem on a regular basis. I absolutely loved it! The food was delicious, be sure and ask for the Carmen special when you go there, the decor beautiful. I loved the traditional style and colors. The wait staff impeccable and very friendly.
You will be treated to savory dishes and generous portions at a great price. I will definitely be going there again. Try it.
MMMMmmmmmm pad thai. Best I've had in the city and the take-out service was quick quick quick!
I wasn't much a fan of the fried tofu app. Bleh and bland. Skip and order two pad thais.
I am quite surprised by the number of 4 and 5 star reviews of this place. I had dinner there last night, and it was borderline terrible. It was without a doubt one of the worst Thai dinners I've had in the city. Nothing was fresh, it tasted like a lot of sugar was added to the dishes, and everything was bland. There's just no reason to choose this place with so many other outstanding options in the city.
Update: prices have gone up. The lunch specials are now $7.95, and Pad Thai $8.50. This isn't enough to lower its rating, because the food is as good as ever, but it's kind of a bummer.
My wife and I eat lunch here once a week because it's close to her work. Everything you read is true, but people seem nonplussed by a what a great joint this is. The lunch specials are extensive and feature deliciously fresh veggies and meats, not to mention tofu stir-fried to crispy perfection. Their sauces are judiciously applied, and all have a distinct flavor. I enjoy the roasted curry paste and garlic & black pepper the most. As testified, the Pad Thai is excellent. Also very good is the Red Veggie Curry, which is a big ol' mess of stuff -- bamboo, peppers, broccoli, even seitan -- in a spicy coconut milk broth.
My wife and I keep coming back here because it's affordable, delicious, and laid-back.
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