Mandalay Noodle Restaurant

My husband and I used to come here a lot. He would get their fried rice vermicelli which tasted ALOT like Pancit– actually it was even better than Pancit. It took me a few dishes before I found one that I loved. It was the Chicken Coconut noodle soup.
I’m writing in the past tense because they closed down recently. It’s unfortunate that this establishment and the one next door (It’s a Grind) has closed their doors. I’m starting to wonder if Mikono’s is next. Anyway, their phone number is disconnected and I sent them an e-​mail and they told me that they are closed for good…
*SAD FACE*
If anyone knows where I can get some good Ohn Noh Kaukswe, please let me know.

Damn it. We drove all the way over here to find the place completely vacant. I was totally craving moo hinga which is the Burmese seafood chowder. Is this weird strip mall shopping center cursed? seems like many other things have come and gone too…

For clarification, I would give the food at Mandalay 2 stars and the service 4 stars, so this evened out to 3 overall.
I had dinner at Manadaly with some friends on a Sunday night. The dining room was pretty packed, and the server told us that they could only offer us a small table. The table we ended up getting was a normal sized table for two, but it was a really tight space for 3. The pace of the meal, though, made it possible to eat in such a small space since we ate family-​style and had one dish at a time. Our server, whom I think was the owner, was apologetic and offered us a larger table halfway through our meal, but the small table ended up working fine. Later on, she gave us each a mango pudding dessert on the house to make up for it. Overall, the service was friendly and pretty fast.
I got a ginger lemonade to drink, which had small mint leaves mixed into it. The drink had a very strong ginger taste, which I liked, but I could imagine others finding it too strong. We ordered the tea leaf salad, Samusa soup, Mandalay chicken, and Mandalay special noodles. Overall, the portions were fairly small considering the price. The tea leaf salad was good and had an interesting mix of textures. The Samusa soup was okay and basically tasted like curry soup. We were disappointed with the Mandalay chicken because it tasted like normal orange chicken you might get at any Chinese takeout. The noodles had a nice combination of sweet and spicy but were possibly a little too sweet from the coconut milk. The mango puddings that we had for dessert had a strange, almost grainy consistency.
Overall, the food was okay but not anything too special; it seems like a reliable place to get a decent meal.

MANDALAY NOODLE
I’m all about trying exotic foods, so when the opportunity came to try some Southeast Asian cuisine, I was good to go!!! Burmese food! One word — YUMMY!!! Akin to Thai food, a lot of coconut milk and curry is used.
Since it’s called Mandalay Noodle, I had to try the noodles! So far, I’ve had the:
Moh Hin Gha (Fish chowder rice noodle soup)
See Kyat Kaukswe (Fried Garlic Chicken or Pork with noodle)
Ohn Noh Kaukswe (Chicken coconut noodle soup)
Falooda (ice cream, jelly, tapioca with rose flavor)
Shwe Yin Aye (coconut milk with jelly, tapioca, bread, sweet rice, green jelly)
All were very tasty and very appealing to the eye. The noodles were thick and very flavorful. The desserts were very colorful, and not too sweet.
If you’re looking to try some good noodles that are different from Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese styles, try Burmese! You’ll enjoy the experience!

My esteemed colleagues and myself partake in a good helping of Mandalay Noodle at an approximate biweekly* clip.
The food is short of spectacular, but it’s definitely a great meal (and deal) for work lunch. The flavors are bold — we usually go with some of the coconut-​based soups and noodles, while some compatriots have enjoyed the curry + rice dishes as well. The samusa (samosa) are tasty but a lot different than the typical Indian version that I think most of us are used to. They also look a bit different in that their surface is smooth. The dipping sauce has hints of sweet tamarind and spices.
Service is with a smile and very mellow and polite. They have two big screen hdtv units on opposite walls so that you can watch CNN Headline news (or generally some kind of news station with interviews of automotive CEOs or political events). It’s good for stirring up conversation! Read this as: We argue with each other until someone gets half of a hard-​boiled egg smashed into their jaw.
Its taste/​price/​service consistency keeps us coming back, like I said, biweekly*.
*According to the ever-​reliable Wikipedia — «Biweekly has two conflicting meanings. Historically it refers to an event that occurs every two weeks. In current usage, it can also refer to an event that occurs twice in a given week.» In my usage above, I am referring to the former — every two weeks.

Mandalay Noodle has been on mine and my husband’s restaurants to eat at for awhile. We drive by a lot and each time my husband will say «we should eat here someday». That someday was Saturday.
We went in for lunch. It wasn’t busy. There were 3 other tables occupied other than ours. The décor is modern. We were greeted, seated and served our menus within 5 mins.
Our waitress was friendly and patient with us. It was our first time having Burmese food. My husband asked questions. For starters we ordered the onion fritters and paratha with curry sauce (pan fried layered bread). The onion fritters were delicious and paratha was good as well.
For our main dish we ordered the Mandalay Noodle, Kya Zan See Kyat (fried garlic chicken with rice vermicelli) and combination rice stick soup for the kids. I was disappointed with my dish the Mandalay Noodle. It said «spicy» on the menu but it was anything but. The flavor was light and on the bland side for my taste. My husband’s dish tasted better than mine. It was a bit on the oily side but he liked it. He thought he was getting soup but was surprised when it arrived. The kids combination rice stick soup was good. The broth reminded me of Tung Kee’s.
We ordered 2 orders of the fried banana and an order of the falooda (ice cream, jelly, tapioca with rose flavor). The desert was yummy! I’d come back for the falooda alone.
Overall the service was good and price was right ($ 43). The portions are decent. We plan to come back and try their curry.

I came to eat on Saturday afternoon. The parking lot was vacant. The restaurant door opened and the place was empty. It was my first time here and I wasn’t sure what to ordered. It was also my first time having Burmese food.
We decided on two noodle bowls on the menu that had pictures. They were #303 and #310. #303 was a coconut noodle soup with egg and tofu. #310 was a dry noodle with meat and marinated cabbage.
The noodles were ok. #303’s coconut soup was thick in substance. #310’s noodles tasted sour because of the marinated cabbage.
Nice and clean little restaurant. Food came out quickly. Service was attentive.

I’m giving this place 5-​stars not because I think it’s the best place ever but because of my experience with their service. I called in to place an order but I couldn’t decide what to order. The lady on the phone was super friendly and asked me a bunch of questions about my preference. We had some confusion over the ‘spicy’ foods, but she was really patient and helpful.
I ended up ordering Fish Fillet With Tomato Curry Over Rice, and told them I’d be there in 10 minutes. By the time, I got there, they already had everything prepared, ready to go, and I was out in no time. The food was amazing and their service was excellent. I would definitely come back here some time and try their other entrees.

Ok I use to date a Burmese guy back in the day and the only memory I can take away from the relationship is about a noodle dish (sad huh. haha)
We use to eat Ohn Noh Kaukswe all the time and his Mom use to make everything fresh and would give it to us to assemble (chicken, noodles, lime, sprouts etc.)
Its been over 5 years since we broke up and I’ve been trying to find this dish since then. I came here the other weekend and ordered the Ohn Noh Kaukswe (Chicken coconut noodle soup). It was DELICIOUS. It tasted soooo good just as good as I remember it being. Now the ironic thing about this dish is I hate coconut like ABSOLUTELY hate coconut. But this coconut soup tastes like heaven (and not coconut haha). The chicken was very flavorful, the onions and sprouts gave the dish a good texture and there was plenty of noodles.
I would of ate the whole thing but they give you so much food!!!
Overall I really like this place. The service and food is great. They also have a wide selection of Chinese dishes to choose from. I can’t speak for all the food but the Ohn Noh Kaukswe is amazing here. I highly suggest that everyone tries this dish once in their life.
mmmmm… so good.

Okay:
Moh Hin Gah (catfish soup w/​rice noodle), the broth is tasty but noodle is overcooked. Looks very spicy but actually not.
Gin Thoke (ginger salad), first look grated ginger can too much but actually they taste okay.
Too salty:
Shan Kaukswe (rice noodle, pickled mustard w/​chicken tomatoes gravy).

This review is for their Tea leaf salad only.
I ordered the Tead leaf salad to go, thinking it would be like Burma Superstar’s in SF, boy was I wrong. When I opened up the box, it didn’t look like lunch or anything edible for that matter. It looked like the gunk you’d pull out of the garbage disposal!
At superstar, everything’s fresh and separated; you mix the salad yourself once you’re ready to eat. Here, it’s ready mixed, and the barely there lettuce was shredded up and wilted.
The salad was lacking the crisp from the lettuce, the aroma of fried garlic chips, and the saltiness of biting into whole tea leaves. 65% of the salad was made up of the nuts and seeds.
I’d have to come back to try other items to give this place a fair review. If I’m craving the Tea leaf salad, I’d be better off driving up to sf.

Burmese food is not like chinese food at all; it’s a blend of thai, malay and indian foods. Really quite interesting.
Had this yummy Mandalay Noodle dish: comes with noodles, with curry chicken, cut crispy green beans, cilantro, a bit of raw onion, bean sprouts, a bit of sauteed onion. Deelish, two very light eaters could share it. So refreshing on a hot day!
Service: attentive and very nice.

came back here for lunch again and i was with my sister and her friend.
we first had samosas for starters. there’s 6 in one dish and they’re really good. oh how i love my fried potato filled appetizers!
we decided to go family style and ordered the eggplant and black bean sauce and the vegetable chow mein dish. The portions are HUGE and even with three of us, we couldn’t finish all the food. It is definitely worth the price.
The ambience is really calming. It is usually not crowded and their are two flat screen tvs on the walls that fill up the otherwise quiet atmosphere. Service is really friendly and don’t hesitate to flag them over if you need anything.
very satisfied with my return visit here and would recommend this place to anyone who happens to be in the area.

Went here for a quick lunch today (⁶⁄₂₅) — was really looking for someplace quiet and quick and Mandalay Noodle was both of that!
Located a bit off the usual foodie corridors of Milpitas, this little restaurant is hidden away, just of E Calaveras blvd, before you reach the 680 Freeway going east. Parking is adequate but the parking spaces near the restaurant are poorly designed, especially if you head in and find them all full — you have to back out (needless to say, I found this out the hard way LOL)
~ 3 stars for location and parking
It’s a typical strip mall eatery — glass frontage, cozy space — looks like it can seat about 35 people. A large LCD wall mounted TV (showing soccer today) behind the cashier and a large cooler with drinks is located at the far end of the restaurant and the kitchen (with galley doors) is to the right. Unremarkable ambiance and décor — this is definitely a lunch place for office-​goers — while it’s cozy, I wouldn’t recommend this for a date unless it’s all about the food!
~ 3 stars for ambiance and décor
Ahh, the food! The menu is extensive and had great choices but I went here with a singular purpose — to eat Moh Hin Gha — a nice hot bowl of noodles in the delicious fish broth was the answer to my pounding headache!
It was delicious — though the fried onions were already mixed in — and the eggs were sliced. The last time I had this dish in New York, the fried onion straws were served on the side and my friend mixed them in for me so they were crunchier — but it was still delicious here! The broth was not too rich or creamy and perfectly seasoned — I could taste the spices and the fish was excellent! The crunchy stuff and the fried onion straws were a perfect complement to the well cooked noodles!
I finished the broth but hardly made a dent in the noodles — they give you a lot and I wasn’t really looking to load up on carbs today, after a carb heavy dinner followed by a marathon drinking session last night with friends!
Well, it didn’t cure my headache but I enjoyed it very much. It was good, not as good as the one I had in New York but still very very tasty. Of course, I didn’t have the great company I had with me the previous time either so that makes a difference that I cannot hold against the restaurant :)
~ 4 stars for the food
Service was adequate — a very friendly lady took my order, brought out tea and my food, cleaned up and brought out the bill. The cashier was at her computer the entire time and did not look up once LOL. I was the only person in the restaurant — maybe they were ready to close for the afternoon or something but I felt just a little bit rushed. But then again, I wasn’t here to relax and chill so I won’t deduct any stars for this!
~ 3 stars for service
Quiet? Yes, I was the only one there and the only voice I heard was the commentator on the TV
Quick? 25 minutes from entry to exit — that’s FAST!
Cheap? Yes!!! $ 7.50 plus tax for the meal.
I recommend this place. I give Mandalay Noodle House 4 stars.
~ 4 stars overall
# 104

Friend: Where do you want to eat.
Everyone: We don’t care.
Friend: How about Mandalay Noodle near the coffee shop and Greek place.
Everyone: Yes! We been wanting to try that place.
Me: *with excitement* I hope they have hand pulled noodles.
Friends: Noodles made by hand?
Me: Yeah. QQ Noodle has hand pulled noodles and the noodles are sooo good.
Server arrives with menus.
Me: *Futilely looking for any indication one of the many noodle dishes was a hand pulled noodle one.*
Server asks for our orders.
Me: *with hope in my eyes* Do you have any hand pulled noodle dishes?
Server: No.
Me: *sigh* Can you recommend a beef noodle soup dish?
Server: Egg noodle soup with meat and shrimp.
Me: Okay, I’ll have that.
In the end my friends enjoyed their dishes. The soup was good but I had my heart set on finding another great hand pulled noodle place.
TIP (well this is more like a note to self): The word «Noodle» in the title doesn’t denote a hand pulled noodle place.

A nice Burmese and Chinese restaurant right off I-​680 and Calaveras Blvd in Milpitas. I love the paratha with the highly addictive Indian curry which it comes with. I literally lick the spoon and bowl clean. In addition, the coconut chicken noodle soup, (you can see the picture of it under photos) is really good. It is pretty much rich, creamy, and has tons of chicken, onions, eggs, and very similar to Burma Super Star’s version if you have tried it. Go here for the Burmese dishes, cause they are truly authentic and portions are pretty big. Lunch time, it gets really crowded while dinner time is quiet.

Food came out very fast. Service was friendly. Located in a little strip mall.
Palata (pan fried layered bread) with curry sauce — Palatas didn’t taste too fresh. One could also say that they are oily but that’s just the way palatas are. Curry sauce was not bad.
Moh Hin Gha (catfish chowder) — Didn’t taste too much catfish, let alone fish. Usually I like this dish where the soup is very thick from all the ground up catfish but there wasn’t much. As for the flavor, it wasn’t too deep. Perhaps it wasn’t cooked long enough since this is one of those dishes that have to be on the stove all day.
I would come back just to try their other dishes. This is the first Burmese restaurant in the Bay Area that I’ve seen serve Chin Paung Hin (sour leaves/​bamboo shoots/​shrimp)! It’s been a dish in my family for years. Plus, there are tons of noodles I haven’t even heard of.

We went here last night with some Burmese friends, who are regulars of the place. With what we had, it’s probably my favorite Burmese restaurant now.
We tried the Ohn Noh Kaukswe (Chicken coconut noodle soup). The version at Larkin Express is pretty heavy on the coconut milk, and I’ve had the dry version at Burma Superstar (Alameda), where it’s equally rich. This version, however, is perfectly balanced, with just barely enough coconut milk in the broth. It was excellent with some raw red onions and sprinkled red pepper flakes.
We also tried the Moh Hin Gha (Fish chowder rice noodle soup), and it was nice and thick, like it should be. I’ve tried the version at Burma Superstar, which was a little bit better than Larkin Express’. Here, the broth was tasty and robust, and the noodles were perfect. They gave us a spicy chili oil as garnish, which gave the soup a good kick, and a squeeze of lemon rounded everything out.
We also had the Beef Curry, which is similar to Rendang Beef; VERY tender slow cooked beef, cooked in a thick curry, with a hint of garam masala and other spices. This dish was a hit.
The Pork with mango pickle curry was on the salty side, mostly because of the pickled mango. I felt like I’ve had it before in an Indian dish or sauce, but it’s definitely very salty/​sour on its own.
We tried the Paratha with curry sauce (Pan fried layered bread) before everyone showed up, but it’s basically like a Chinese green onion pancake without the green onion. The curry sauce came with little pieces of potato.
We had two desserts, Falooda (ice cream, jelly, tapioca with rose flavor) & Shwe Yin Aye (coconut milk with jelly, tapioca, bread, sweet rice, green jelly). I’d recommend the latter, very nice coconut and sweet rice flavor, which was a perfect way to end the meal.
They comped one of our desserts for a birthday, and the total for 5 was $ 55 including tax. We were stuffed and took leftovers home.

Went there today with M just to try something new instead of Tung Kee cause I’m sick of that place. They have egg as well as rice noodles and there is various styles to choose from. I got the house egg noodle with pork and I liked it and definitely will be coming back to try the other dishes out.
«Hold the bean sprouts please…»
~Van N.

Since finding out there’s a Burmese/​Chinese restaurant in Milpitas I had to try it. I convinced 2 co-​workers to go with me to Mandalay Noodle Restaurant.
We ordered:
#106. Gin Thoke (ginger salad mixed w/​peas & nuts) $ 6.00-it’s a small portion of iceberg lettuce w/​some tiny slivers of ginger, peas & nuts. It was just ok.
#301. Mandalay Noodle-​Mandalay Mouti: noodle w/​chicken curry, beansprouts, green beans $ 7.50-co-workers dish, he seemed to like it.
#302 Moh Hin Gha-​fish chowder rice noodle soup $ 7.50-co-worker’s dish, he said he didn’t know what he was eating the whole time, he did finish it though. It looked like my dish w/​some tiny fish fillet (broiled maybe), vermicelli noodles.
#303 Ohn Noh Kaukswe –chicken coconut noodle soup $ 7.50-my dish. It’s a big bowl w/​chunks of chicken in a coconut soup w/​some crispy fried things on top, tons of raw red onions, sliced up hard broiled egg, & a wedge of lemon. I thought it was just ok, kinda boring after a while.
Restaurant is new only about 3 months old (another co-​worker told me, I didn’t ask anyone working there), 2 Pioneer Elite flatscreen TV, 9 4-​top tables, kinda cold inside when we went.
Tea given automatically –Stassen pure ceylon Jasmine green tea –from a tea bag. I liked it fine. Ask for water if you want it.
They have appetizers, over dish dishes, noodle dishes, side dishes, desserts, beverages, & beers.
Credit cards taken though minimum amount $ 20. Mints given w/​the bill.
Open daily. 10a-​9p
Website: