Mannaza Korean Restaurant

I think this is the only Korean place in Newcastle. I used to work in a Korean restaurant, and I don’t get the chance very often to revisit those flavors. Four of us made a booking for a Saturday night, and found the small restaurant busy but not full. My partner and I split mixed side dishes, one rice, and a side of kimchi. We also got the Meat Sharer Platter A, which had marinated beef, pork, and chicken. A little side dish of barbecue sauce came along with the meal. Though you can get meals cooked to order which looked delicious, we had lots of fun cooking in the grill on our table. The meat is sliced so thinly, it only takes a few minutes to cook, and it keeps you from eating too fast since there’s some work involved! The marinade tasted great, especially on the beef. Loved the flavor of the BBQ sauce with it. I resented slightly having to pay for side dishes and kimchi, which at most Korean restaurants just come with the meal as they’re really like condiments. Seasoned spinach, bean sprouts, and other little pickled vegetables. Everything went great when you mixed it all up in one big bite.
Pretty affordable prices, and the food was really something different. I’d love to come back and try something new!

If you like wagamamas, week you’ll love this place, small backstreet gem, delicious food with fast service and a streak at the prices, you can even cook at your table!

Oh how I love Korean food! One of the benefits, if you’re adventurous and don’t mind it can be a downside as well, is that it doesn’t seem to have gotten anywhere near stabilising yet… I think it’s neat see the same dishes approached in different ways, made with regional changes, etc. Chinese food moved into standardisation long ago and Thai is inching ever close, but Korean still seems to be without that level of commercial takeover.
Korean food gives you a few options, grilling yourself at the table is popular, and is best enjoyed by people who enjoy both meat and vegetables… it’s always fun to order a few of the grill dishes with an assortment of the vegetable side dishes. These aren’t your typical English veg dishes, and aren’t huge, but I also haven’t met anyone that hasn’t liked the exciting little variety dishes either.
I would say that if you’ve never had Korean food, but like the idea of it or adore Asian food then you would probably really like this place… heck, I like this place and have been several times, it’s just that some of my favourites here don’t pack enough flavour in comparison to some of the other Korean places I’ve tried (and that’s on a sliding scale based on expecting differences)… I just don’t love the Bulgogi or Galbi here, Bulgogi being a Korean staple and probably one of the most famous dishes… it lacks a bit of the subtle sweetness many other places have so after three or four attempts I’ve given up on ordering it at this particular place. Luckily the Tteokbokki, Korean rice cakes (think squishy, not your Japanese rice cake) with seafood cakes in a spicy sauce, has shined on each try so 1 out of 2 isn’t bad.
The other downer here, which will mean more to some than others, is that every time we’ve been the drinks have been fairly warm… bottled beer of that variety just shouldn’t be warm, and while not having been to Korea itself I’ve been to many Korean restaurants in a few different countries and cold beer was always the norm… on a subsequent visit I switched to Diet Coke just hoping it would have been from a different fridge, sadly that didn’t seem to be the case as it was also warm — this is a fairly easy thing to fix so here’s hoping they get the memo!
The place itself is suitable, it’s nothing flashy, but has a good enough atmosphere and has a few longer tables for groups… due to the way the food is eaten, and the previously mentioned side dishes, etc., this place is definitely enjoyed more with a few friends. (One note, it’s a little hard to find if you’ve never been so t may be worth looking for Blackfriar’s… if you’re looking directly at it then Mannaza is to your right on the corner.)
So I’m with three stars on this one… literally A-​OK. I’ve been several times, and would happily go back again, but some of that is down to lack of an alternative in the area to be honest. If you haven’t experienced Korean food and like the idea though, or like me are in Newcastle and just really crave it, then it’s certainly worth giving this place a try.

Went here a few weeks ago food was lively and the staff were very helpful explaining what the dishes were we has a main in w clay pot with an egg where they added a sauce at table, as we were unsure of the aside they let us taste it and only put some in leaving us to add more if we wanted to. It was small and busy although hidden away and would have known it was there without or offer but they were busy doing out the room nest door to expand.