Manon

Some of Orange County’s Thai restaurants are decidedly better than others, hewing closer to the classically sharp flavors and powerful spices served in Thailand than the softened ones sometimes served in the United States. Manon is already shaping up to be in the area’s top tier: Having replaced Fullerton’s five-year-old Wood Cafe Thai Cuisine with new ownership and cooks in January 2025, Manon bills itself as offering “the art of Thai flavors,” and is already rivaling buzzy OC spots including Manaao, Kanok, and Hanuman.

Paired with a clean, modern-looking dining room that was only half-open on our visits, Manon’s menu spans two sides of a large laminated page covering most of the predictable bases – satay, pork skewers, egg rolls, and chicken wings – plus yellow curry roti, pork ribs soup, larb, and both Thai- and Lao-style papaya salads. Four curry dishes include green, yellow, panang/choo chee and a red roasted duck option, with largely expected noodle (pad Thai, khao soi), entree (cashew, hot basil, garlic, broccoli) and fried rice options.

There’s also a single-side drinks menu that includes Thai tea flights – something we loved at the similarly named Long Beach restaurant Manaow (please forgive and note the potentially confusing names). At Manon, the sweet but consistently tasty four-drink flight includes both Bangkok- and Phuket-style Thai teas, a lemon Thai tea without milk, and a purple tropical fruit Bangkok Breeze; alternatives such as lychee-lime Thai tea (delicious), strawberry milk Thai tea (very good), taro Thai tea, and brown sugar boba milk are available solely as standalone drinks without the flight.

On our first visit, we opted for a mix of dishes that tested a number of categories, starting with drunken noodles and Hatyai fried chicken. Even ordered “mild,” the noodles were outstanding – perhaps the best of their kind we’ve found in the county – with just enough peppery punch and rich soy flavor to demonstrate that Manon is capable of legit Thai-level seasonings. By comparison, the chicken was good but not great, and different from other Thai fried chicken dishes served locally thanks to a thinner, crispier batter and pre-chopped pieces that were easy to eat. It arrived with a bowl of hot sticky rice still wrapped in cellophane.