Wish Thai Kitchen — Restaurant in Town of Manlius

A lot of us in the village anxiously awaited this Thai Restaurant to open. Last night I finally had the chance to call and order. From start to finish the experience did not go well. It took 3 calls to get someone to answer- The gentleman taking my order of two entrees and two Apps was very nice but extremely awkward on the phone and had me re-peat my order 3 times before he understood it. He then replied it would be a 1 hour and 15 min wait for pick-up. Since I was ordering at 4:25pm (they opened at 4pm) and I had errands to run, a 5:40pm pick up worked fine for me- I’d have dinner home by 6pm! …. Perfect right?!? When I arrived just before 6pm there were people wall to wall waiting. However by a happy surprise I was able to go right to the counter for pick-up. Sadly I then waited at least 10 min before I was greeted (during my wait I could hear the murmurs of the other customers behind me unhappy about their food not being done) When I gave them my name the young man went to the back to get my order- mean while I observed the phone at the front rang over and over with no one answering it (this now made sense why I had to call 3X’s before someone picked up my initial phone call) After another 5 minutes I could hear a women start to argue with the young man in the back- when he returned he said my order would be another 15 minutes. It was 6:25pm at this point - I politely leaned over the counter and said “I think waiting 2 hours has been long enough- cancel my order” he understood and apologized. My children were waiting hungry in the car- so against what I would normally feed my children we went around the corner to Burger King. For now I’ll be returning to the Thai restaurants on Erie Blvd. Even though this was a 2 hour debacle the young man was the only interaction I had with the restaurant and he stayed calm and polite- I appreciate that. Maybe I’ll try this place out in 6 months- hopefully by then they will have figured out a 20 min pick up like the rest of the Thai restaurants that serve our area. Side note: Maybe this established restaurant from Watertown wasn’t ready to meet the higher demand of customers here in Manlius- 2 hours to cook chicken and rice?! And unfortunately I could tell I wasn’t the only unhappy customer last night- I wish...

My friend suggested we give Wish Thai a try for dinner; she had been here previously and liked it. We were both able to get street parking right out front, but anyone arriving later would have had to park around back. The decor was a clean neutral palette with some bright accents. Our booth was comfortable although the table did wobble a bit; i kept wishing for a piece of cardboard to put under one leg! As it was early on a Monday night, it was quiet with only a couple of other diners seated nearby.

My friend ordered the fried chicken dumplings but when she ordered a shrimp dish, the server came back to apologize that they were out of shrimp. My friend asked for something else, and they were out of that too. Finally she went with Thai fried rice, and she did enjoy it, along with an iced Thai coffee. i ordered the pad see ew, with pork, which i had never had before, and it was good. It could have used a dash more soy sauce which i used on the leftovers at home.

The server was friendly and helpful, offering spice heat level choices without being asked, and clearly trying very hard to do a good job. The room looked clean and welcoming, and the noise level was great, we could talk easily.

Overall, we both had a good evening, and i look forward to...

I swung by Wish Thai Kitchen in Manlius last week for some takeout. My order? Roasted Duck in House Thai Curry, and let me tell you—flavor explosion. That curry? Solid 10/10.

The dine-in option was a no-go, with signs recognizing being short-staffed. Fair enough. But what they lacked in servers, they made up for with entertainment. Enter: The Littlest Restaurateur.

I was greeted by an adorable two-year-old with cheeks so pinch-worthy they might be a secret ingredient in the curry. This little man-baby was clearly running the joint—or at least the carpet, which was decorated with smushed red Play-Doh, courtesy of his creative genius. Monster trucks were mid-smash on the dining room floor, and cartoons played on loop like it was a daycare pop-up.

The food was pricier than expected for lunch, but it stretched into two meals, so no complaints there. As for the restaurant itself, let’s just say they’re still finding their footing. But if they officially promote the little man-baby to manager, I’d probably eat there every day.

Final verdict: Amazing curry, big potential, and a future restaurant mogul...