While doing my usual homework of sniffing out searching for new eateries, I got to learn about Manpei from the online Japanese magazine, Oishii. It wasn’t an article about them. Instead, Manpei had placed an advertisement. Good marketing move. Keke.

With my recent interest in oden, I got my InstaGram GirlFriend (IGGF) to have dinner with me. And coincidentally, she had also read about Manpei from Oishii too! Great (foodie) minds think alike. Keke!

Reservation was made for Friday, two days prior to our dinner.

However, when we arrived on Friday, we were told our reservation was made for Thursday! Impossible. When the lady repeated our reservation details over the phone, I clearly heard it was for Friday. Hmm…

But thankfully my IGGF and I always meet for early dinner. We were the first to arrive at 7pm, and decided to go with table seats instead of our favourite counter seats.

And from the menu (pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11), we ordered:-

1) Cream cheese, $9 (above) – I love my cream cheese, and this was served with fermented fish liver. It was a first for me to see such a combination, and it surprisingly worked out even though both fish liver and cream cheese were salty. Yes… Somehow, the dish wasn’t overly salty. Instead, the saltiness was balanced out by the creaminess of the cream cheese. But my IGGF didn’t enjoy this as much as I did.

2) Nattou aburaage, $7 (above) – Nattou, fermented soy beans, is really an acquired taste. It’s either one enjoys it, or don’t enjoy it. We ordered this because we know how to appreciate it. Keke. But my IGGF said this taste better with some fermented fish liver (from our ‘cream cheese’ dish).

3) Oden soup takoyaki, $8 (above) – And these would be octopus balls; Ball-shaped Japanese snack made of wheat flour batter with filling of octopus. This was certainly different when served with soup.

4) Deep fried squid leg, $7 (above) – Before my IGGF and I ordered this, we spied to see what other tables (of Japanese patrons) had ordered. Haha. We like to check if we are trying the ‘must order’ dishes. However, we were a little late cause we only saw empty black rectangular plates. So when our second round of orders were served, we were very excited to see we had found our answer. Yes, deep fried squid legs served on black rectangular plate. Keke. And this was really good! A must order.

5) Chicken tar tar sauce, $12 (above) – This was ordered upon the staff’s recommendation. And yes, this is a must try! Even the shredded cabbage tasted great!

6) Clam with butter, $10 (above)

7) Grill yellowtail neck, $14 (above) – Unfortunately this, which was from the special menu, was a let down. The fish was not fresh. Needless to say, we chose not to finish this and saved our stomach space for other dishes.

8) Fish soup, Complimentary (above) – We were surprised when we were served this. “From the kitchen”, said the staff. And it was really good although it wasn’t easy eating this as there was lots of bones. My IGGF and I joked that this must have been given to make up for the disappointing yellowtail neck cause the complimentary fish broth was not an item from the menu. Hmm…

9) Oden with options of:

  

(A) Steamed cabbage roll, $4 (above)

(B) Yam cake ($3), white radish ($4), egg ($3) & boiled kamaboko ($3) (above) – Skip the egg. I was expecting soft boiled (ramen) egg, but this was hard boiled.

(C) Chikuwa fishcake ($3), kombu seaweed ($2), kurumafu ($3), mochi kinchaku ($3) (above)

10) Custard cake, $6 (above) – This was pretty unique. Don’t think I had something similar unless I forgot with my goldfish memory. Ha. And what I thought was made with tapioca flour should be sago skin.

It was a pity we ordered the grilled yellowtail neck. Cause if we didn’t, our dining experience at Manpei would have been awesome instead of great. (^^lll) But I would still recommend Manpei. Go easy on their oden and stick to the cooked dishes. Their oden items were average. Ie, not outstanding. I had better elsewhere. It’s also a personal preference that I preferred the items to be served individually. But their cooked dishes were good!

If I need a place to go for supper, I would definitely return to Manpei. There are still items on their menu which I would like to try if my IGGF and I weren’t already feeling full. Like the hokke atka mackerel, salmon fried rice, deep fried gyoza and stir fry squid with ink! =p

Related posts:

Dinner @ Kappou Japanese Sushi Tapas Bar Dinner @ Donpachi Sake Bar 本家呑八 Dinner @ Kappo Yorito // CLOSED Dinner @ Nobu-ya Dinner @ Tamaya Dining