Mandalay Kitchen

I went here for lunch and ordered a tea leaf salad and pumpkin curry. The tea leaf salad was very nice, with a lot of freshness and crunch, and a bit of a deep and fermented flavor from the tea leaves. The pumpkin curry was very well-balanced and filling. Overall, this place has very nice food and I recommend.

Yum! We stopped in for a quick dinner and were pleasantly surprised by how fresh and flavorful it was. We shared the Tea Leaf Salad and Yangon Beef Curry and basically licked our plates. Can't wait to return to try some of the noodle dishes!

Came here on a Friday, around 1:30pm. Not too busy. Parked in the parking lot behind the business, and it’s very small that’ll fit like 4 vehicles. However there is street parking available. Interior is very cute and more modern looking. Pretty cool to see that they have upstairs seatings too. We got the Burmese stuffed tofu (spiciest), the chicken Yangon samosa, along with the ground pork pad kaprow (spiciest) and the zaap crispy (medium spice). We wanted the zaap crispy with the chicken and added pork belly but then I think the waitress misunderstood so the meal only came with Pork belly. We also got the iced Vietnamese coffee drink. First off, let me say that everytime I go to a restaurant I will usually order medium spice, and it never really comes out spicy. I’m Asian so I love spicy food, and a lot of restaurants tend to not make their food as spicy so that is why I ordered two dishes to be the spiciest. I used to eat a lot of spicy food, but now I only eat it now and then but can still tolerate spicy food. When I say the spiciest level was spicy, it was spicy! If you eat spicy food on a regular, this level of heat might be ok. However, if you only eat it every now and then - you may not be able to finish or enjoy your food because it’s too spicy. The Burmese stuffed tofu spice tasted like it had dried chili flakes along with chili oil. The appetizer overall was ok to me, however my partner thought it was good. Although I am not mad that the appetizer was cold (I’m not sure if this was intentional because of the spice level), this wasn’t an extraordinary appetizer. They just cut the tofu and stuff it with some cut up veggies. The samosa came out hot. Overall it was ok to me. Not a lot of chicken meat, there was very minimal grounded chicken meat in the so when you bite into it and look, it almost looks like pieces of scrambled egg. The samosa wasn’t very flavorful to me, it was a little bit on the dry side. The ground pork pad kaprow (spiciest) was good, but it was too spicy for me to enjoy the dish for what it is. If you love spicy and eat spicy food everyday, this would be a great option. However since I only eat spice every now and then, the wasn’t really a smart idea. The spice seemed to consist more of fresh Thai peppers. As mentioned, we wanted the zaap crispy with the chicken and added pork belly (medium spice) but then I think the waitress misunderstood so the meal only came with Pork belly. This was good meal, as we didn’t make this meal too spicy. The pork belly had flavors of dry rub laab. Did not taste any spice. We also got the iced Vietnamese coffee drink. I’m not sure what we were expecting, but it literally just tasted like the “Mr. Brown Ice coffee” in a cup with ice. The food was ok to me, but if you’re looking for a place with bigger portion to fill your stomach because you’re hungry, and you can really eat, I’d say this place may not be it since it’s a bit on the medium pricer side, esp with it being a bit more modern. However if you are wanting to try new stuff (stuffed tofu and samosa), this would be a nice place to visit.

This place is uniquely delicious. The food is flavorful and fantastic. The staff was really nice and attentive. I can see myself becoming a regular here. High quality all around. There’s no place in the Twin Cities quite like Mandalay Kitchen. You gotta try this place.

I feel blessed to say that one of the best restaurants I have ever been to in the United States is literally right here in the Twin Cities, because the food here is heavenly to the point of me consistently returning despite living far from the establishment. In terms of food, there is a mixture of Burmese, Thai, and Karen dishes, and each one that my friends and I have ordered has been a hit. The tea leaf salad has amazing texture because of peanuts and fried garlic, which provide crunchiness, and has amazing flavor because of lemon juice, fish sauce, and tomatoes. The noodle salad has a light taste without adding the given lime piece, and then the rich nutty taste gets evoked and elevated upon adding lime juice. The zaap crispy has very well-seasoned fried chicken pieces, and medium spice level gives it a good amount of flavor. The shan khao soi is so creamy and tasty that even tasting the curry broth itself is a sensational experience, and the chicken leg included literally has "fall off the bone" meat. The boat noodle has a mixture of sweetness and savor, while the sweet flavor does not overpower anything at all. Finally, the mohinga clearly has fish cake flavor and texture fully infused, making it authentically delicious. We also ordered the knyaw iced salad, which was a mixture of ice along with crackers and other types of sweet ingredients. I thought it was very similar to a type of Vietnamese dessert called chè ba màu (three color pudding), and fully enjoyed it. The establishment only had one dessert, and I thought that was sufficient. While the street contains many excellent restaurants, I personally believe that this establishment stands out in terms of taste. I must also mention that since my friends and I arrived when barely anyone else was there each time we had gone there, we never experienced any service delays that some have mentioned in their reviews. I probably will give this place a 5 rating anyway even if I experience slowness, although I hope I don't.