REVIEW: Manna Korean Snack (Duluth, GA)

Hey readers,

Living in Gwinnett certainly has its perks! It seems as if every other day, a new restaurant pops up on the corner, especially a new Korean restaurant. In an area overrun by dozens of similar establishments, it's almost crazy how all of these businesses are essentially fighting for the same customer base. Having dined at nearly every Korean restaurant in Duluth over the past decade or so, I've managed to see Duluth lose and gain some great restaurants, mainly gain. When it comes to listing Korean restaurants by the types of food they offer, I can automatically name every single one down the list, whether it's korean BBQ, snack foods, soups, tofu houses, tonkatsu plates and more-I've had them all! I've written a handful of reviews of places in Duluth, but I've yet to scratch the surface of many other ones I've dined at in the past since it's been years since I last dined there. With the growing number of restaurants in Duluth, it can be hard to keep track, but I try my best to stay up to date with all of the new openings so that I can share them with you all and give you an in-depth insight of where you should go and where you should avoid if you ever find yourself in the area, which brings me to Manna. Located in the shopping center in front of H-Mart (where SunO Dessert and Taqueria El Dorado are), Manna is a recently opened Korean snack restaurant serving up light bites and popular "hangover"-type snack foods like spicy rice cakes, kimbap (Korean-style sushi rolls), fried rice and more. Rather than eating pizza and burgers like typical Americans (I'm guilty of this too!), Korean teens and adults love noshing on these snack foods after a night of drinking-trust me, I know due to personal experiences in Koreae. Although Duluth already has 4-5 other restaurants like it, each establishment brings its own unique touch to the scene, which in my book, is exactly what Manna has done.

Let's get started:

✽Exterior

✽Interior

✽Modakjigi (spicy rice cakes, tuna kimbap, fried dumplings and tempura fried japchae noodles)

✽FOOD (5/5): If you can't decide on what to order, go ahead and order the modakjigi combination plate seen above! You get to sample some of their most popular items without having to commit to ordering a lot of different things and it's incredibly affordable! For $12.95, you get a huge platter of spicy rice cakes, Korean style sushi roll and some lightly fried goodies as well. Personally, I like being able to try as many different things as I can whenever I dine at a new restaurant, so combos like these make it so much easier and worthwhile since it drastically cuts down the amount of time you spend flipping through the menus. Starting with the spicy rice cake, the sauce had the perfect balance of sweet and spicy, just like the way it should be made. There's plenty of sliced onions and cabbage to give it the right amount of crunch and TWO hard-boiled eggs as well. It's no surprise that I love eggs and most places like Manna usually only give you one, so to receive two is already a HUGE plus in my book! The rice cake itself is tender and chewy and the addition of the fish cake is great as well. Likewise, the tuna kimbap (Korean style sushi roll) had plenty of fresh veggies, imitation crab meat and tuna as well. [Tip: Dip the kimbap into the rice cake sauce-it's AMAZING!]. The fried dumplings were pretty standard, but the tempura fried japchae noodles  (Korean style glass noddles) were absolutely delicious! Wrapped in seaweed and lightly fried in tempura batter, the inside had a nice, chewy consistency while the outside had a tasty, crispy crunch to it. I loved every bite of it and contemplated why no one had thought of doing that before! 

✽SERVICE (5/5): Despite dining in during what my mom calls a restaurant's "zombie time," which is between 4-5PM, service was fantastic! Upon entering, we were immediately greeted by one of the young servers and seated near the register area. As she handed us the menu, she asked if it was our first time dining with them and when we mentioned that it was, she walked us through the menu and also made some recommendations on both her favorite dishes in addition to popular ones that customers often order. Once we placed our order, she brought over our drinks and shortly after, brought out our order. Throughout our meal, she came by our table to check up on us several times, brought us refills and additional napkins all without having to ask. Friendly, helpful and attentive-she was all the things you could ask for in a great server! 

✽DECOR (5/5): The interior was clean, bright and spacious. The white walls and chairs contrasted nicely with the lime green and orange decor. Additionally, the writing on the walls are actually phrases of different types of foods that they offer at Manna, which I found to be unique and different. The menu hanging above clearly depicts their menu offerings which are accompanied by a description, price and picture of the dish as well. There's a couple of TV's placed throughout the restaurant, all of which are playing Korean music videos or dramas, lending to its snack house type of vibe, which is what you'd typically expect at a restaurant like it in Korea. I love that there are no tacky writings or drawings on the walls like I've seen at other places, which gives Manna a sophisticated, yet playful look. 

Overall, I'd highly recommend checking out Manna for all of your Korean snack eats! They've got an extensive range of items on the menu and are highly affordable considering their generous portions! Whether you're in the mood for tonkatsu, spicy rice cakes, noodles, omelette rice or other snack foods your heart desires, they can certainly fill that void for you here & be easy on your wallet! Ever since my first visit here, I've already been back a good handful of times and have tried a number of other items on their menu, but I somehow always manage to come back to the modakjigi-it's the dish that's won my heart over and over again and I know it will yours too!

Have a wonderful day,

-Sandy

FTC: I was not paid or compensated for this review. All reviews and opinions expressed are my own.

If you'd like to invite Bella Vivere to cover & share your restaurant's media events, tastings or parties, feel free to shoot me an email at bellavivere {at} gmail {dot} com-Thanks!