Restaurante Manga — Restaurant in Região Geográfica Imediata de Salvador

We’ve read the reviews and were enchanted by the professional photography showcasing the spectacular visual aspect of Manga Mar’s dishes. So when my husband’s birthday came around, I made a reservation for us. This being a special occasion, I asked for the 12-course tasting menu, in the hopes of experiencing the best Manga Mar has to offer. We were excited.

The menu started OK, with a small cup of broth and a piece of bread each. It was nice, and we felt like the chef wanted to build up our expectations slowly but surely. Then other little bits of things come in succession. Unfortunately most of them were unmemorable, and left us feeling like we are still building up to real food. Around the 7th or 8th course it dawned on us that this was it, a succession of bite-sized curios, with none of the pizzaz that we were expecting. Around the 10th course we saw a neighboring table get the hanging fried fish off the regular menu – and it looked spectacular, like in the pictures on the restaurant’s instagram, and we both found ourselves wishing that we had this dish. That’s kind of sad.

In the end, out of the twelve courses, more than half were unremarkable and forgettable. Only two were tasty, and another three were downright vile – especially the shot of cachaça in a brittle shell that just did not go with anything else, and especially not with the wine pairing.

As for the wine pairing, which is a (rather quite pricey) option to get with the tasting menu, it was an even greater disappointment than the food. It wasn’t structured at all, and consisted of a glass of bone-dry white wine with every course (including the dessert course). 12 glasses of one-dimensional wine was just too much, and it felt like quantity was emphasized over quality. We both wished we had just ordered one decent bottle instead.

But without doubt the biggest disappointment of the night came at the end. When making the reservation, I had mentioned that it was my husband’s birthday and asked if they could do something to commemorate, maybe incorporate a candle with the dessert course, or something like that. I was assured that the chefs always send something special when it’s a birthday. On entering the restaurant, the host confirmed that he saw it in the reservation. However, in the end it was completely forgotten and ignored.

Sure, there were a number of other shortcomings. Not being a fan of the plasticky table without a tablecloth, that I can chalk up to personal preference. The mumbling waiter that left us puzzled about what we were eating – maybe it was a speech impediment. Throwing around the names of the family that produced the wine without explaining why this particular wine was chosen for the course, let alone which country and varietal it was – as if expecting us to know the all the names of families producing obscure vintages – that’s just garden variety pretentiousness that’s very hard for any restaurant of this pricepoint to avoid. The vomiting and diarrhea afterwards – that’s probably just our weak stomachs. The brittle shell of cachaça that just disintegrated in my husband's hand and spilled cachaça all over his clothes – well, maybe that was the intention. To be fair, the cachaça shot was replaced right away, although it was so vile that he wished it wasn’t. The price of the meal, which exceeded the average monthly salary, well, maybe that was just our expectations that were not compatible with reality. But missing the only request I had, to have something small to commemorate my husband’s birthday, which was the principal reason for us to have this dinner, that was just inexcusable to me. We left the restaurant profoundly...

Infelizmente minha experiência com o Manga não foi a que eu esperava.

Fiz minha reserva com muita antecedência pois sou uma entusiasta de gastronomia elevada e logo que marquei minha viagem a Salvador para comemorar o aniversário de minha namorada, sabia que não podia deixar de visitar o estabelecimento.

Por ser vegetariana, decidi verificar o menu antes de ir ao restaurante para me certificar que haveriam opções para mim quando chegasse lá. Esta foi a primeira decepção. Não havia nada no cardápio que contemple a minha "restrição".

Resolvi entrar em contato com o staff para verificar se era possível fazer adaptações no menu e prontamente recebi uma resposta dizendo que, sim, os chefs fariam adaptações tanto para o menu degustação quanto o à la carte. Até aí, tudo bem.

Chegando ao restaurante, fomos muito bem recebidas, mas mesmo com reserva tivemos que aguardar para poder ir até a nossa mesa. O atendente perguntou se gostaríamos de uma água enquanto esperávamos e respondi que sim — visto que acreditei ser uma cortesia da casa. Mas não era.

Ao chegarmos a nossa mesa, apesar do ambiente ser aconchegante no geral, minha namorada ficou um pouco incomodada com o tamanho das mesas. Estávamos apenas nós duas e era praticamente impossível conversar e manter o tom baixo — e até mesmo segurar as mãos – de tão grande que era a distância de um canto ao outro da mesa. Ou seja, não é o lugar mais adequado para ter um encontro romântico ou coisa assim. Eu conseguia mais ouvir a conversa das pessoas que estavam ao meu lado do que ela que estava a minha frente.

Chegando na hora de pedir, optamos por dois drinques — que estavam muito bons —, o "Eugenia" (R$31) e o "São Salvador" (R$31), e logo perguntei se seria possível fazer adaptações no menu para que eu pudesse experimentar a cozinha da casa.

O atendente me disse que seria possível fazer o menu degustação todo vegetariano e adaptações no à la carte, como tinha sido dito anteriormente. Por eu ser uma pessoa que come muito pouco, não valeria a pena investir no menu degustação, então perguntei quais seriam as adaptações. Ele disse que verificaria com a chef e retornaria para dizer o que seria possível fazer.

Ao retornar, para minha surpresa, ele diz num tom que me soou quase um deboche que seria possível me oferecer uma cesta de pães (sim, uma cesta de pães!) ou uma salada de melão. Além disso também havia a possibilidade de entregar o Brócolis Defumado que está no menu normal, mas claramente sem as carnes.

Não preciso nem dizer o quanto me senti ofendida pela situação. Minha namorada nesse momento já nem queria mais ficar no local, mas eu sinalizei dizendo que não havia problema, que eu pegaria o Brócolis e, como mencionei anteriormente, como pouco e não teria problema. Seria o suficiente pra mim.

Os pratos estavam impecáveis. Muito deliciosos mesmo. Não há o que dizer sobre isso. Mas no geral, a experiência acabou sendo negativa, estávamos incomodadas, parecia que o garçom estava achando que aquele não era um local adequado para nós duas e, claro, só não pedimos mais comida porque realmente não tinham opções.

Mesmo chateadas, pedimos uma sobremesa chamada "Granola", que demorou muito tempo para chegar. Comemos e estávamos prontas para ir embora, pedimos a conta e nos avisaram que a chef estava vindo conversar conosco, o que achei meio estranho de início. Ela veio, comentei que a comida estava gostosa, mas estava já sem energia para falar o que estava ocorrendo ali. Comentei que era aniversário da minha namorada, ela ofereceu um bolo de parabéns, recusamos, ela saiu sem dizer nada e, quando resolvemos levantar para ir embora, o bolo chegou e os garçons cantaram o parabéns mais incômodo que eu já tive a oportunidade de presenciar.

Foi realmente uma noite inesquecível. Só não da maneira que...

We had the best time at this restaurant. The food is some of the best we came across in all of Brazil.

They deserve a Michelin star!

What was most great apart from amazing food: the entire table doesn’t have to book a tasting menu if one from the table wants it, the other(s) can go a la carte and still try with you since the tasting menu portions are healthy big; very good service; interesting wine pairings mostly with Brazilian wine; great food presentation.

Great cocktails and drinks at democratic prices (8USD / 40-50BRL)

Flavourful deserts.

The client is seen and the client’s needs are catered for.

We are not American (one wants to clarify these days when they aren’t!), but were visiting from the States and feel like we got great value for our money at Manga. A more modest tasting menu in D.C. is three times the price for us, and that’s before pairing it with wine! And before tax and a tip in the range of 25-30-35% (who doesn’t love those 🤣🤣). Yet we haven’t tried anything nearly as tasty as the food at Manga.

A la carte menu at Manga is great too and changes frequently enough for you to want to come back for more.

There!...