Hanuman Thai Eatery — Restaurant in Costa Mesa

EXQUISITE DINNER ! Very seldom do our dining experiences tick all the big boxes such as top quality food, great drinks, incredible service and perfect ambience even at our fav hangouts. Hanuman Thai Eatery has done it twice ! After our first amazing dinner here back in mid January we couldn't wait to return. WAIT ! That was the tricky part....a wait of up to an hour after you put your name down at the hostess desk.....NO RESERVATIONS ! And our first dinner visit was at around 6pm on a Friday...a very busy time. Because we don't like to wait our plan was a dinner visit on a Thursday...maybe it's quieter. EXACTAMUNDO ! So on Thursday my wife and I arrived outside at 5pm...no line of people waiting to get in. Now they do open at 3pm...a rather curious time to open but it must work for them. We ran into Am the amazing manager who we met last time doing hostess duty. Even at this early hour the restaurant was reasonably busy.....we were seated at a lovely table with a view of everything. BRING IT ON ! This time we were hoping to sample as many different dishes as possible....like a 5 or 6 course banquet. A sweet server named Mint came by to attend to our needs with glasses of iced water first up. My wife ordered a Thai Iced Tea...it was just as good as the first time. BEER ! I asked Mint about the beers and she suggested one not on their printed menu. HAPPY DAYS ! And what a delightful beer it was....BrewDog "Elvis Juice" Grapefruit Infused IPA. We eyeballed the dinner menu...particularly the appetizers trying to find 5 or 6 small dishes that we could sample. NO LUCK ! They feature a good number of interesting appetizers but not enough that we could agree on. PLAN B ! When Mint returned after giving us a couple of minutes to make a choice we ordered 1 x GAI TODD HAT YAI ( Chef Jenny's hometown street food of fried chicken and sticky rice with house recipe dipping sauce & fried scallions ) from Hanuman's Specialties on the menu. My ice cold beer was going down a treat. WOW ! We had been seated barely 10 minutes when heaps of people started lining up outside....lucky us ! Within a very short time our ginormous serve of FRIED CHICKEN hit the table. Now believe it or not but neither of us are fried chicken fans....my wife saw a couple at the next table during our first visit feasting on the same dish and they raved about it. OKAY ! The fried chicken was certainly very juicy on the inside...crunchy on the outside. I had a couple of pieces and then it was time to move on. When Nute another server came by we ordered 1 x KHAO SOI ( Myanmar influence dish of creamy curry broth over egg noodle topped with crispy noodle, served with curry stewed chicken drumstick ) from Hanuman's Specialties again. My wife went nuts over this dish on our first visit. FINALLY ! I got to choose something and it was the BOAT NOODLE ( Rice noodle with 25 hours simmered broth with sliced pork, meat balls and home made crispy pork bits ). A smiling male server named Jhony brought me another BrewDog "Elvis Juice" IPA. WHOOPEE ! And then like a bolt of lightning our mains hit the table. My wife couldn't rip into the Khao Soi quick enough....say goodbye to the huge curry stewed chicken drumstick. Meanwhile I was lapping up the delicious Boat Noodle...tons of great flavor. We loved what we ate but decided to take about half home for later. DESSERT ! Yes we love our desserts. This time my wife picked SWEET ROTI ( Traditional pan fried roti paratha topped with sweet condensed milk & cocoa powder while I went with COCONUT ICE CREAM ( Homemade coconut ice cream served over butterfly pea leaf sticky rice, topped with evaporated milk and crushed peanut ). WHOO HOO ! Out came our lovely looking desserts and they tasted wonderful. Am the ever smiling manager brought us a special SAINT PATRICK'S DAY DESSERT which tasted very nice. WE...

Overall: 4.8/5 (dine in)

We came at 8:40 PM on a Saturday night and they turned us away due to the long wait even though they closed at 10 PM. We came back on a Tuesday evening at 9:15 PM and were scared they were going to turn us away but they were able to seat the two of us. The guy with glasses was our server and he was super professional, always had a smile on his face, and was very attentive. We were the last one there at closing time but they didn't rush us. Everyone was really nice and didn't seem stressed as they were cleaning up. A+ for service.

Crying Tiger ($20): The filet mignon was indeed medium rare & super tender. The "Jeaw" sauce was good but I do wish that it packed more of an umami punch.

Khao Soi ($21): This is one of their specialities and what I came for. The bowl was huge so we had leftover for lunch the next day. The broth was so good and flavorful without being overly powerful or salty. However, if you get the Gai Todd Hat Yai, do not switch between the two OR eat the Khao Soi first. The Gai Todd Hat Yai has a stronger flavor profile so when you eat the wings then the Khao Soi, the Khao Soi somehow tasted more bland. When we ate the Khao Soi the next day, it was back to being on point in terms of flavor. They put a spoonful of chili oil and some green sauce in the bowl but the broth didn't taste spicy. The bowl came with 2 chicken drumsticks and like what everyone said, the meat was so tender it fell right off the bones. The noodles - both the one in the soup and the fried ones - complimented the broth so well. Everything in this bowl was just in harmony. You just have to try it to appreciate the complexity of this bowl.

Gai Todd Hat Yai ($20): These were one of the best fried chicken we've had in awhile. They were plump, juicy, crispy, and flavorful. They give you sticky rice to eat the wings with. We like to pour their house recipe dipping sauce on the rice, add the fried shallots on top, and eat it after taking a bit of the chicken. Definitely see why this is a speciality and a must try item.

Mango Sticky Rice ($15): This wasn't on the dessert menu but the server confirmed that they had it. I saw a lot of reviews about it and how it's sometime not available so I decided to get it. I didn't see the price until after we paid but I don't think it's worth it. The presentation was nice though. The coconut sauce they used is not sweet but salty - not in a good way. The coconut sauce is fine on the mango as sticky rice but when I tried it by itself, it wasn't good. I don't know what kind of mango they used but it's not the sweetest one which I thought would have been better. The best thing about this dessert in terms of taste is the blue sticky rice. This was the perfect texture and level of sweetness. The topping didn't add much but everything together was probably what made people rave about it.

Destinata Carbonic Grenache ($12 glass): This is a chilled red wine which just doesn't bode well so it's...

BEST THAI EATERY IN CALIFORNIA ! We've been here often enough to know that the level of food, drinks and service is among the best anywhere in the world. On Wednesday after a hectic afternoon looking at vacant townhomes in Costa Mesa we headed over here for dinner. VERY BUSY ! The public parking lot was virtually full but we managed to nab the final spot. When we fronted at the hostess desk around 7pm Jayda the hostess told us there would be a 30 minute wait for a table...and we added we prefer inside. This was the latest we have ever been here for dinner....it must be always busy. We ran into Am the amazing manager who gave us big hugs. In the meantime we sat on a bench waiting for our table to be ready. VERY COOL ! In the end our table inside was ready in about 15 minutes. A tall server named Timaeus ( think Plato ) dropped by to help us. FIRST UP ! A couple of iced waters would be nice and an Almanac "LOVE" Hazy IPA. We needed a couple of minutes to decide what we wanted to order. My ice cold hazy IPA and a tall chilled glass hit the table faster than a speeding train....and tasted sooo refreshing. Am our good friend came by to help us....my wife asked some questions about a dish on the menu. Am also helped me with my selection...a new one. IT'S ALL GOOD ! We ordered a Chicken Satay Appetizer to kick things off. For entrees my wife chose Pad See Ew ( Flat rice noodle with Chinese broccoli cooked in a hot wok with sweet & savory black soy sauce ) with Shrimp and I decided on the Panang Curry ( Salty & sweet flavor with a hint of zest. Prepared with shelled edamame then topped with fresh kaffir lime leaf ) with Hanger Steak...medium rare. I was a bit worried my Panang Curry might not be spicy enough....Am suggested a side of chili juice. THE PLACE WAS PACKED OUT TO THE MAX ! Our Chicken Satay Appetizer arrived and tasted sensational....the chicken was so tender & succulent. ANOTHER CRAFT BEER ! This time I went with a Brewdog "Elvis Juice" Grapefruit Infused IPA...a darn good beer. We caught up with a few of the staff we knew...Jhony and Lily stopped by for a quick chat. WHOO HOO ! Our delicious looking entrees hit the table together courtesy of Lily doing some food running. Initially my Panang Curry tasted quite nice but when I threw in some chili it went to DEFCON 6...the medium rare hanger steak was perfect. My wife enjoyed her huge serve of Pad See Ew with fat juicy shrimp....what she could eat. DESSERT ! Am the manager brought us a serve of Thai Tea Creme Brulee...it was sooo delicious. IF YOU CRAVE THE BEST THAI...IT'S...