Hanuman Thai Eatery - Costa Mesa

Delicious food highly recommended!!! We ordered the crying tiger , unreal flavor and texture (filet mignon), fried chicken , awesome , drunken noodles (one of the best I've ever had). Dessert, Thai creme brulee , pretty good, and coconut ice creamHonestly extremely good food especially the entrees . Service was excellent but be prepared to wait 45 min . A small but worth it gem .

We waited about 25 minutes before being seated. We noticed the restaurant is quite small and it's very dim, however the service was really great. They were informative with the menu and really attentive. We ordered the ceviche, massaman curry and the salmon dish. The ceviche was tasty, ut felt light and refreshing- amazing combination with the shrimp crackers, it was a very authentic nostalgic taste. The curry was the star of the whole dinner, the meat was perfectly cooked and I love potatoes in my curry, everything on that dish was delicious. The salmon dish however was subpar, it wasn't our favorite and there was too many vegetables. We didn't enjoy it as much as we wanted to, other than that everything here was amazing.

Have been wanting to try Hanuman for awhile and finally did! We arrived a little before 6pm on a Friday night, and there were 9 parties ahead of us. We ended up waiting exactly 30 minutes, according to the waitlist tracker. There is some indoor seating but mainly outdoor, which has heaters next to the tables when it gets chilly at night. We ordered the Gai Todd Hat Yai (4/5), Pad See Ew (4/5), and Khao Soi (3/5). The Gai Todd Hat Yai was crispy and paired well with the sauce. Sticky rice was also good. Pad see ew is on the sweeter end, but it came with a sour sauce that served as a palate cleanser in between bites. We ordered our pad see ew with pork that was a bit dry. The Khao Soi was actually the dish I was looking forward to the most, but the dish that I felt disappointed by. It was quite spicy and salty, and after a few bites, it was no longer enjoyable. One thing that wasn't ideal was that our three dishes arrived one after the other, so by the time the last dish arrived, the first dish was already gone. This was fine for us since we ended up sharing all three dishes and trying a bit of everything, but if everyone in your party is each eating a separate dish, one person might be done eating before another even gets their dish. Another note is there is a time limit of 90 minutes at peak hours and if you are coming with a party of 5 or more, you will be charged 18% gratuity. We didn't even use up the full 90 minutes, but by the hour, we could feel multiple servers coming back every few minutes to check up on us and wanting to take away our plates, which made us feel rushed.Overall, I think Hanuman is a solid place for Thai food in OC and worth a try, but it is very pricey compared to other spots.

I had Hanuman bookmarked for so long after a co-worker mentioned their fried rice and unique Thai dishes. The last time my friends and I tried, the wait was 1 1/2 hours long so safe to say they get busy real quick and do not take reservations. One of those places where your whole party has to be there to be seated as it is pretty small inside. They have a few tables outside, and plenty of parking in an open lot. My gf and I got here on a Thursday at about 6:15 right before the rush, but by 6:30 it was getting packed. The menu has a little bit of everything. They have your traditional Thai dishes as well as street dishes and other specialities I have never seen or heard of so wanted to make sure to get some specialty dishes. _Hanuman 's Ceviche $25) Yellowtail ceviche Hanuman style. Comes with about 6 shrimp chips, which I love and has a nice airy crunch to it. The only thing is that because it 's in the same bowl as the ceviche, it was a bit soggy on the bottom. The ceviche itself was refreshing and sweet. Ceviche can be tricky as some places are way too acidic or sour. The one here was a bit more on the sweeter side, which I still prefer over being too tart. The yellowtail was fresh and paired well with the sweetness and tartness from the mango. _Hanuman 's Fried Rice/ Khao Pad $18) Sweeten Chinese sausage and Esaan sausage cooked with gailan and onions. I was skeptic at first because how great can fried rice be, but this was the dish my friend raved about that made us try this place. Safe to say, it was one of the best fried rice I had. You get that saltiness and sweetness from the sausages, and a bit of crunch from the onions. The rice has a bit if that char flavor in the back note. Not too oily or too salty. A great balance and portion. I would take this home and add a fried egg. _Gai Todd Hat Yai $20) Chef Jenny 's hometown famous street food fried chicken and sticky rice with house recipe dipping sauce and fried shallots. I was craving chicken wings and was also told this dish was very good. They did not skimp on the portion. I thought it would be an appetizer portion but it was pretty filling. The sticky rice was good but was not really necessary. The chicken wings had great flavor of sweetness with a little kick. It was perfectly crunchy on the outside and the chicken was juicy on the inside. The sauce on the side, which tasted a bit like a sweet and sour sauce was amazing. One of those sauces I would take home and add it to everything!_Massaman Curry $21) A mild and savory curry prepared with potatoes, onions and peanut. Choice of protein prices vary on selection of protein). Hanger steak $24) All the food came out pretty fast at once, so we had to have them wait to bring this out since we had no room on the table. By the time we got it, I can tell it was sitting outside for a bit so we had to send it back just to warm it up again. I was disappointed that the roti was super oily. All you taste is oil so we did not eat it. We ordered the steak medium rare, but it looked pretty rare as it was chewy. The curry itself however was amazing! A great depth of flavor and richness, you get that nice curry aroma with a spicy kick at the end, without being overbearing. Overall great service and food was good. I would come back again, but definitely on the pricier side, so would be more of a splurge spot.

For appetizers : chicken wings, they come with a sweet and sour sauce that pairs great! salad was great it had so much flavor great balance for all the food we ate. Dessert : Crème brûlée with a side of roasted pumpkin and it has a layer of brown sugar at the bottom. Thai iced tea I requested it half sweet, and it was creamy and delicious, not too sugary. Service was great, they are attentive if you need sauce, etc. The establishment is not too big so make sure you are prepared to wait because it gets busy. It's convenient their is also patio seating!