Manna BBQ
I haven’t revisited Manna since it first opened over a year ago. Everytime I pass by though, I see a line out the door. This weekend, I was craving Korean BBQ and thought it would be a good time to try out the lunch special at Seoul BBQ. But when we arrived, we saw that they were closed for three weeks for renovation.
So with Manna being right next door, we decided to pay it a revisit. While there, we also saw signs for their new restaurant, Vibe, which seems more like a nightclub type of restaurant and is around the corner from Manna.
Unlike Seoul, Manna does not do any lunch specials and offers the same prices for lunch and dinner, $19.95 per person for a limited selection of meat choices or $24.95 per person for the premium flight. Having tried the limited one last time, we decided to try out the premium one.
Once you sit down, a flurry of panchan dishes are brought out. When you order, you can choose up to three meats at a time to be brought out. There is also a selection of cooked items like steamed egg (Gaeran Ggim) or soybean stew.
Soon after we ordered, our first meat orders came out. The waiter helped put the meat on the grill and came back later to cut up the filet meat for us after it had been cooked about halfway.
It’s hard to take many appetizing pictures when eating Korean BBQ. It’s basically raw meat or cooked meat. Here’s some of the things we ate:
Manna seemed pretty much the same as my first visit. The prices are higher than other Korean BBQ places but they also offer higher quality meats and more attentive service (helping you cook some of the meats, cutting the larger meats for you.) Service was also very quick and we got our meat orders right away. We came during off hours so that might have helped with service as well since it wasn’t busy when we went.
I think Manna is a good place for Korean BBQ in San Diego though I really wish they would do some price specials which would bring me back more often. You can read my previous post here.
Manna BBQ
4428 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
I absolutely love Manna BBQ. My boyfriend and I go there so often, they know him by name. I don’t mind paying more for better food as last time I went to Seoul BBQ, I found a bug in my salad, the ddukssam was soggy, and the meat was much lower quality. But I do agree that Manna is a bit more of a luxury so I have cut back on the number of visits and wish they charged less for lunchtime. Then again, they get so much business even with the higher cost that they don’t really need to lower their prices to get customers
Yeah I like Manna, but it is expensive. Around 60ish for two of us after tax and tip. It seems so odd not to offer a lunch special. I’m so used to restaurants doing that and plus I feel like I eat less for lunch compared to dinner.
I LOVE Korean BBQ – the AYCE specials are dangerous for me! haha
I love it too, though I always feel a little sick after eating so much meat. hehe
Haha just last night, the BF said that he was craving Korean bbq – and I’m sure once he reads this he’ll insist that we go immediately. What’s the lunch special at Seoul BBQ? We’ve never been there.
On a side note, I agree that it’s so hard to take interesting photos of Korean bbq – but you did a great job!
The lunch special at Seoul is $11.99 for all you can eat. Hopefully they will still have it after renovations are complete. Jeong Won is another good spot for Korean BBQ. They dont have as high quality of meats but they have a lot of people’s favorites and lots of panchan options and you get it yourself so you dont need to order it. And it’s a little cheaper and they have a cheaper lunch price too.
I like Manna, but I wish they gave us smaller portions when it’s just the 2 of us. We never get to try too many different meats because we just get too full! I also recently learned that on the weekends, they only take reservations for parties of 20 or more!
Oh, actually you can request smaller portions! I had the same problem when it’s just the two of us. Then this last time during lunch, I heard the table next to us who only had two people ask for smaller portions. Like he would say half order, or just 3 pieces of this, or just a little of us, and they did it. And so I did that at the end too. There wasn’t any line for lunch which was a relief. I always see such a long line for dinner. I don’t have that kind of patience.
Wow! Great post. I also visited Manna and I have to agree with their fast service! I will definitely come back for more. The money is worth it. So what’s your favorite Manna dish?
I really like the Jumooluk and the steamed egg