Champa Lao & Thai Restaurant - Manchester, Connecticut

Sarah L.

Cozy, small one room restaurant with just a few tables, but you can feel the love that goes into each dish. My boyfriend and I had dinner here one night while visiting Providence and ordered the pho and khao soi. Both were delicious and perfect for a cold night! The portions were huge. I definitely would love to go back and try some of the other dishes

Crystal S.

What a hidden gem! Remember that scene from the movie Ratatouille where the food critic tried the restaurant's Ratatouille and it immediately reminded him of his mom's food? That's what happened when I had a bite of the Larb.
Best Larb I've had in a long time...reminded me of what my mom would have made when I was kid.
Really good and authentic. Looking forward to trying more menu items from this establishment. Will definitely go back.

Julio P.

Homemade. It’s the first word that comes to mind to describe the food at Champa, a Lao and Vietnamese food restaurant, where the flavors of Southeast Asia are present in Manchester, with the kindness and charisma of its owner, Johnny, who always serves with a smile.
I’m a regular customer, and I must say that I have tried the house specialties, and I’ve always been surprised by the quality of their food. This time I decided to write about my last visit because I ordered the simplest food possible, and it was of an equally high quality as the special dishes on their menu.
I started with pho, a delicious rice noodle soup, to which I added shrimps with bean sprouts, napa, and scallions. The broth is spectacular and the flavor is quite delicate, with a truly delicious taste, as if my mother had made it.
Then I ordered Kai Ka Prow, a dish made with ground chicken sauteed with garlic, bell peppers, string beans, fresh basil and Thai chili paste. It’s a little bit spicy, but you have the option of ordering it without spice or with more spice if you wish. It is truly spectacular, I was pleasantly surprised, and I am sure I will order it again on my next visit.
To finish, I always order Thai iced tea,the best of all I’ve ever tasted. And all because, according to Johnny, they import the unprocessed tea leaves directly from Asia, which gives a delicious flavor to this refreshing drink.
Champa is small, but very cozy. Their menu is quite extensive and has delicious starters that I’ve tried before, such as dumplings, Thai egg rolls (my favorites), curry puffs (a big surprise!), crab bag (the best ones), chicken wings (crispy and marinated in Thai herbs and spices), and the delicious fried tofu (deep-fried until golden and served with ground peanuts in pineapple sauce).
You can find that and much more in Champa, a real surprise in Manchester, Connecticut.

Tyler S.

This has been my go to Thai place for the last couple of months. I generally get the pineapple fried rice here and it is very good, good taste, good amount, etc. They are always packed and busy so parking can be a bit tight where they are. If you are getting takeout, call them instead of ordering online and it'll be a lot smoother due to the company they use for online orders not listening to the restaurant.

Viraj N.

If you've never been there before, the place is quite small with 3-4 tables and a 2-3 person staff, one of whom acts as a server and manager. We decided to revisit this place after a long break, as we really liked it before COVID. This time, we ordered Drunken Noodles with Tofu and a House Special - Orange Chicken, for takeout.

When we called to place the order, they told us it would take 45 minutes, but when we arrived to pick it up, it was still not ready. The Drunken Noodles were better of the two dishes but not as good as we remembered from previous visits. The fish sauce flavor was too strong and overpowered the other flavors.

We were disappointed with the Orange Chicken. The sauce and steam from the packaging made the coating soggy, and the vegetables were a bit raw and chewy, likely compensating for the lack of crispiness in the chicken.

I initially thought of giving a 3-star rating but added an extra star for their past excellence. We will take a break before considering a return visit.

Pu G.

Amazing food and people. Loved fresh spring rolls, drunken noodles, orange chicken, dumplings. Everything was delicious!! Server was very nice too! We had larb tofu first time, very different and yummy!!

Helen Y.

The food was fantastic, super flavorful with the right amount of spice and the portions were huge. We all came hungry but left with a lot of leftovers which we were very happy about to enjoy the delicious food for another day. We got the pad thai (amazing with their PHENOMENAL house made chili oil), red curry (so creamy, spicy, and flavorful one of our favorites), pad kee mao, and pad see ew which were both delicious classics. For drinks we all got Thai ice tea which was so creamy and perfectly sweet. We also started with the crispy green beans, Thai egg rolls, and chicken dumplings which were all good and came out hot in a timely manner. While the food is amazing, their customer service is somehow even better! The wonderful man who took our order was super energetic and so kind, he gave us free dessert (which was insanely delicious) and also a discount to commemorate UConn’s championship win. In fact, everyone who came to our table was kind. I could not recommend this restaurant more, the food and customer service are unmatched and the prices were fair. We will definitely be back!

Ty W.

I went there with one thing on my mind. It was for my favorite dish Som Tom aka Thai Papaya Salad. I added a side of Thai beef jerky and boy was I transported in time. It was like sitting in my mom's kitchen when I was a boy and I would help my mom prepare the dish as her official taste tester. I got to have a great conversation with the owners. The place is great for some home cooking whether you are Thai/Laotian or not. The food was so good I had to bring some home for the family.