Maria Manso World Cuisine

I’ve never eaten at this restaurant, but I TRIED to. I booked a reservation for 12 people for my wedding rehearsal dinner in July, but then got a call from them today notifying me that they had just SOLD the restaurant, and Maria would be moving on to a different restaurant in SF soon.
They told me that their last night of service would be May 24.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Yo, Maria, and the entire crew do an amazing job creating a truly world class experience. This is that hidden spot that not too many people know about. I consider it my secret weapon when I need to impress. My hubby and I have brought family, fiends, co-​workers, clients, even potential employers here for a job interview. Everyone is in awe when they leave and vows to return. (he did get the job)
The food is exceptionally prepared with great attention to detail. In the warm months, the back patio is fun to eat under the foliage. Save room for dessert, it is well worth it.

Because the last family dinner in San Rafael was pretty not good,
I was put in charge of finding an actual good dinner for us all. After much Unilocaling and finding my number one choice was booked, I decided Maria Manso was going to be it. Good choice me!
We added two to our party at the last minute and they easily accommodated us. Right as we sat down, they brought out these amazingly warm and chewy/​crisp, red and green, bready tortilla like strips with hummus. So freaking good! We all devoured them instantly and they pleasantly refilled us three times before we had properly spoiled dinner.
Everything on the dinner menu sounded really good!
I ended up getting the whole crispy striped bass for my entre. And even thought it’s not on the menu, they had foie gras! Go me! Tortured liver is always a pleasant surprise when you don’t expect to get it. And for some reason, all their cocktails were soju based, no idea why, so I got a soju on the rocks and the family got a bottle of red.
Soon the first wave of foods arrived. My foie was great but the puff pastry it came with was overly flakey and was difficult to cut into pieces. Meh, I just wanted the foie anyways. Between the 8 of us we got most the menu and it was all great!
Not that long after, my beautiful whole fried bass came out. It was gorgeous! It’s back was split open and stuffed with some salad and came with a small side of sweet salsa that I completely forgot about while in my fishie heaven.
The skin was beyond belief! The meat was flakey and perfectly cooked, not greasy at all. I started on one side and soon had eaten all but the head. I saved the best for last, the cheek meat. I decapitated my little friend and ripped his head into two. The cheek meat and all around the head was some of the best fish head I’ve ever had! I even made sure to suck down the fried eyeballs. I have never cleaned a plate so well. I ate all the bones that were fried enough along with the fins. I just couldn’t get over how good that fish was!
Needless to say, everyone in my family loved the meal and thanked me for showing them all a new great place in the area. Viva Unilocal

Great Service, Even better food, in San Rafael? Yes! Very Eclectic menu, hence the name ‘world cuisine’, everything I have ever had there was amazing, but the best would have to be a tie between the salmon and the pork chop.
I love sitting at the bar so you can see how they make the food so good! I know grill my fish/​steak and then pop it in the oven.
Always great service, great wine, and amazing food. It’s like the one place in San Rafael that I can rely on!!!

Bullet points:
* Great food spread across many cuisines
* Five stars for great food and wonderful, friendly service
Maria Manso came highly recommended by the Check Please people at KQED, and it did not disappoint!
The décor is warm and comfortable. We went early on a weeknight, and happened to be the only customers there — as a result service was quick and personable. The woman waiting on us was one of the owners, and we could tell that she really enjoyed the restaurant business.
We opted for appetizers instead of entrees.
We had:
Green Tea Encrusted Ahi — nicely seared, and plate with a wasabi aioli and a wonderful black soy, along with wontons.
Pulled Pork Cabbage Roll — the pineapple salsa was marvelous, but what was incredible about this dish was the pork. It was succulent, and tasted of roasted whole pig. On the plate was also an ample supply of guava glaze. Yum!
Coconut Curry Shrimp — skewered, grilled shrimp along with a Persian cucumber nishiki roll. This sat atop a generous pool of an amazing (and quite spicy) red coconut curry! A Japanese roll with this seemed unusual, but it went well with the other flavors.
I had a bowl of soup — green lentil with squares of puff pastry on top, and a drizzle of white truffle oil. Delicious!
We also ordered sides of Sweet Plantains — a must try — and a plate of perfectly sauteed French green beans.
There is a wonderful selection of wines, along with spirits to have with dessert.
The menu has a LOT of interesting dishes, and we were told that the menu changes frequently. We’ll be back to try more!

We’ve been to this restaurant about a half-​dozen times now, and the food, service and ambiance are all delightful. Yo and Maria have created a classy, upscale place, with fine sculpture and artwork, well-​designed lighting, muted earthy colors. If the weather is good, don’t miss the patio out back, which is a fun alternative to the dining room.
The whole crispy fish and the Havana pork chop are both first class dishes, with nice surprising twists. For example, a salad is served inside the fish, which paired really well with a dry Iron Horse rose. The pork chop came with a light sauce with nice citrus accents, again, not quite what you would expect, but delicious. I’m looking forward to trying the roasted duck next time.
Other great dishes are the coconut shrimp and green-​tea crusted tuna appetizers, and the ginger cod. They have an interesting drink menu also, but we haven’t checked it out yet.
Their wine list is a treat. Check out the spanish chardonnay and an italian soave that is superb… and ask Yo for a wine recommendation. She comes up with pairings that are unexpected and take the dinner to a different level.

There were a couple of things that I enjoyed about the place, and many more that I didn’t. We were met promptly upon entering the restaurant and sat by the restaurateur herself. I found that to be a nice touch.
We ordered the arugula salad which was presented nicely, but lacked a tremendous amount of flavor. The cabbage appetizer with pulled pork was a bit chewy and served lukewarm. Perhaps it was meant to be served at that temperature; we never found that out. The «whole crispy fish» was delicious with just the right amount of spice. It was the saving grace of our meal.
The service was a bit spotty; the waitress and her food runners – yes, there were two of them – were either all over our table, or not present at all. The restaurant was never very busy and there were always empty tables around us during our visit there this evening, so it was perplexing to me that the runners came by constantly to try to pull our plates. One even tried to pull my ¹⁄₃ full wine glass. We were never done when it seemed that they wanted us to be. The constant table interruption was a bit of a conversation killer between my friend and me.
After the meal we ordered coffee which came tepid. No problem, we drank it. The waitress came to offer more coffee which we politely refused by saying that we were done. I then took out my wallet in the hopes that the bill would be dropped off. It wasn’t. With jackets on and feet tapping to the Buena Vista Social Club soundtrack being played over the sound system we looked in vain for our server. Eventually one of the runners came by and dropped off our check.

Overall, very good food and service for the price ($ 120 total bill for two). The wine selections are pretty good. They offer «by the glass» specials each night. We tried a pinot noir and a 2003 grenache (supposedly made from an 80yr old, un-​grafted vine). Both were tasty, but the grenache was my favorite, especially for $ 6.50.
We had the fried green tomato caprese salad, which was spectacular. One dish was pretty bad: the green tea ahi tuna appetizer. The fish didnt taste fresh, and it was sitting on top of some oily tortilla chips. Did not make for a very good texture.
We split the entrée, which was the fried whole fish served with a green salad. The fish was firm, yet tender and very fresh. We ordered two side dishes: plantains and the black beans. They both were great. The beans are vegan, which surprised me, because they tasted so rich, like they were made with bacon fat. For dessert we had the flan, which was firm, yet creamy. One complaint: not enough caramel sauce!
The night we went, the restaurant was extremely stuffy, so we ate out in the back patio, which is very cozy (seats about 7 two-​tops and 1 five-​top). Lots of foliage, and we could hear the frogs croaking.
Totally worth the drive over either bridge.

Four of us just visited this restaurant last Saturday night for the first time and really enjoyed it. Some of the stand out dishes were the tuna appetizer, the avocado salad, the pork chop and the flat iron steak. We shared the dessert platter, and enjoyed all of the offerings.
The vibe is good — it’s laid back, but elegant and our server was really nice and knowledgeable. They were a bit short staffed on the night we visited, but with plenty of good cocktails and wine — we didn’t mind too much.
Would definitely go back — this is the kind of restaurant you wish was right around the corner.

Maria Manso is a great chef, and has set up an excellent restaurant in downtown San Rafael. The night I dined there was quite busy, yet that didn’t at all hinder my receiving an excellent meal. My flatiron steak and shrimp was succulent and delicious, as was my warm caprese and sauteed spinach. The service was both intimate and very friendly, and prices weren’t at all extreme. I loved the ambiance and décor, as well as the back patio… certainly a pleasant place to enjoy your meal on a warm summer evening.
Aside from excellent food, Maria Manso has some amazing drinks on the menu– Try the mango soda! I had a very enjoyable time there, and am sure I will be back for some more wonderful world cuisine. Thank you!

I found the food pedestrian at best. I didn’t want pickle on my sandwich and the wait person suggested I get my meal how the chef intended. I found the décor, as well as the staff to be somewhat cold. My credit card was charged twice for the exact same amount. I give almost every restaurant a second chance, Maria Manso’s included. I won’t go back.

Went here last Friday, and it was solidly good. The place is warm and inviting and the hostess was more than hospitable. We had the whole crispy fish (which was great), the black beans (which were amazing), the Salmon carpaccio (which was just ok), the Maui pulled pork dumplings (which had great flavor and an amazing pineapple salsa, but the won ton skins were a little thick. and they only gave us 4 dumplings, when I could have really used 6), and the crab cakes which were the best I have had (lots of fresh crab and served with a great sauce that complimented it). We also had the endive salad, which was pretty standard for a decent restaurant.
The dessert I had was ok. The flan is of the dense variety, which was flavorful, but made more like Pilipino leche flan than spanish style. This means it will be more dense than creamy, and is best shared for fear of an instant heart attack.
Overall, I really enjoyed the ambiance and the service. I really like what she was doing with this place (the chef) and look forward to trying other things on the menu. I would return for the fish, black beans, crab cakes, and dumplings. They also have this pork chop on the menu that looks incredible, but the fish sounded too enticing this last trip. If you are unsure… ask the servers for advice. They seemed to know the menu very well, and even presented the food in the order that would best match flavors.

Good food, A bit pricey, But definitely affordable.
The chef used to work at Asia De Cuba (Clift Hotel SF) and has created quite a nice menu in downtown San Rafael.
They do not serve hard liquor but they do have Soju (a Korean grain alcohol) which they make anything from Margaritas to Mojitos with.
The service was great. Very attentive waitress and the food was a nice mix of Asian fusion and couture bistro. Great place for a date or a nice dinner with the family. Also in the warmer months they open up the back balcony for a pleasant atmosphere.