Manna Uptown — Restaurant in Centerville

We decided to try Manna out the other day for my Wife's B-day and will not be going back. It is a very beautiful restaurant with poor service, long wait times and even worse food.

I called ahead to see if we needed a reservation, and the hostess let us know that the time were were looking at arriving would be during their happy hour, and it wouldn't be necessary. What they didn't mention was for happy hour they have a limited menu with 4 items and some cocktails on sale. We arrived the next day excited about the happy hour, walked and and waited for the hostess yet no one ever showed up. After getting tired of waiting we decided to just go have a seat at the bar a surely the bar tender could help us, but yet again no one was there. We ended up waiting another 10 min or so before someone walked in and asked us if we had been helped.

We decided to stay an get a few drinks at least just to check the place out. We were handed some drink menus then told all their seasonal cocktails were unavailable due to the changing their menu. I was a bit disappointed since that was most of the unique drinks that we came their for, but yet again decided to stay. My wife got a drink from their happy hour sheet, and I order one from another page of their menu only to find out, they were out of that as well. Getting a little more disappointed now but held a good face for my wife and got a smoked Mia tia. The drink's were decent, but a bit overpriced for what the were. On a good note the bartenders were very knowledgeable and friendly.

So next we asked for a food menu and here is where we found out they only had a limited menu during happy hour. I asked my wife if she wanted to stay at that point and reluctantly we did. We ordered some calamari and had another drink waiting for the dinner service to start. The calamari was OK, it was in a lemon beurre blanc with a pepper sauce on top. The heat kind of washed out all the flavor so it was just hot, and bitter.

Yet again we decided to stay, and now we were on to dinner. We were taken back to their main dining room which I do have to say the place is amazing looking inside. We sat down and were greeted by our server, she gave us water and some menus for us to decide what to have. My wife excited to try duck for the first time, it was served with sweet potatoes, pearl onion confit, and parsnip puree. While I had the skirt steak with chimichurry, asparagus, and a squash risotto. The duck was terrible, it had bits of raw fat on one side and it wasn't rested before they put it on the plate so when she got it the juice and parsnip puree they sat it on had mixed into a pink chunky liquid, almost like vomit. I took her plate and gave her mine. She didn't want to send it back since it was her B-day she just wanted to go with it. The skirt steak was actually well seasoned, but tough from being cooked way to long, and the asparagus lacked salt, which they don't have on the table, but the risotto wasn't bad.

Finally it was on to desert. Now our server knew it was my wife's birthday, and asked if would would like to order a dessert. My wife had also wanted to try a pavlova, so we decided to order one. Our server the came out with the pavlova and a free piece of their lavender cheesecake as well. We were a bit surprised and would not have ordered a dessert if we knew about the free one. Oh well, we tried the pavlova first and it was as solid as a rock, nothing short of a hammer and chisel would get through that thing. Next was the cheesecake which had way too much lavender to be edible. We ended up taking a bite each and just pushing them aside. At this point I was ready to have a talk with someone but my wife wouldn't let me in the end.

Overall we were their for about 3 hours, and it was a pretty bad experience between the poor service, lack of options and poorly prepared meals. Then add on the fact we spent around 200 dollars, and I feel like I was robbed. Do yourself a favor and stay away...

We dined at Manna last night and had a very good time. I’m excited to have this great new option right here in Centerville. This is Manna’s first official week open, so of course there were some kinks. But overall, we were very impressed.

The great: The food and drinks are delicious. The food was cooked and seasoned perfectly, and the mixed drinks (especially the Manhattan) were by far the best we’ve had in this area. The restaurant is stunning. There was obviously a lot of attention to detail, and the seating is very comfortable. The employees are very friendly and personable, and made it a great experience.

The not so great (some of this is to be expected for a brand new restaurant): Our dinner service took about 2.5 hours, and we only ordered entrees and drinks. This wasn’t the end of the world, we enjoyed chatting and not feeling rushed, although we did grow quite hungry while waiting. They were out of several menu items, so we had to change our orders a couple times. Also not a big deal, most of us were having a hard time choosing between delicious options anyway, so that just helped with the decisions. The entree portion sizes were extremely small (especially for the price), and we left still hungry. This was my only real “negative” for the restaurant.

The only reason I took off a star is because of the small entree portion sizes. My entree was comprised of 4 small slices of duck, a couple tablespoons of parsnip puree, two pearl onions, and a few thinly shaved carrot rounds. Others in my party got the filet, the salmon, the chicken, and the strip steak. All were similarly small portions, and we were all still hungry after finishing and ended up making a fast food run. All the food at Manna was delicious, but there just needed to be more of it. If the portion sizes increase, this will easily become a 5 star review, even if nothing else changes.

A couple things I hope to see in the coming weeks and months: An increase on entree portion sizes — just a small increase is needed for the main proteins (maybe 20-30%), but the vegetables and starches should be about doubled. Provide some type of small bread service if the time between ordering and receiving the first round of food remains above the hour mark (and especially above the 90 minute mark).

All that to say, we will absolutely be back at Manna again! I’m confident that all the little kinks will get worked out as they go. This is is a perfect date night or special occasion option, and makes a great addition to the Centerville...

Finally made it to Manna. We were originally told to skip this place by some friends who went early on when they were still ironing out some of the kinks. Our experience was amazing and quite the opposite.

We parked in the back (lots of spaces, but it’s tight, particularly if you have a large vehicle). The rear patio is visible while walking in, and I imagine this will be great to try when the weather is a little warmer.

We arrived a little early, so we took a seat at the bar (absolutely gorgeous) and had a drink. The list of signature cocktails is impressive, in addition to some great wine and bourbons to choose from. The bartenders were friendly and talked with us, telling a little about the chef and her story before our table was ready.

We were seated in the middle floor section (ask them to tell you the concept of the three different levels). There could be some improvements made here. The seating is very tight, with each table using a cushioned bench and a chair opposite side. If you’re in a chair, you will more or less be in the way of traffic. Each time someone entered or left, I was trying to pull my chair in. My wife sat on the bench and she said it was quite uncomfortable. She had to sit forward or would sink back too far and the seat cushion was uneven. This is our only gripe though.

The service was outstanding - our server answered lots of questions and gave suggestions. We ordered prosciutto and grilled vegetables for an appetizer. It was very tasty. For entrees, I ordered the Ponzu Salmon and my wife got Chicken Gnudi and we shared the plates. Let me say the salmon was cooked to perfection (med rare for me), and it was absolutely mouthwatering. The accompanying potatoes were excellent and savory. The Chicken Gnudi was one of the best things we’ve had in a long time. It had a brown butter sauce that was unbelievable. I can’t recommend this dish enough - outstanding! Bravo!. The chef is extremely talented and understands these dishes and flavors well.

One of the managers came to talk with us a couple times and welcomed us. We were thoroughly impressed and both agree we can’t wait to go back again. I wish the restaurant great success. We have missed having a quality French Restaurant so close (used to frequent Rue Dumaine back in the day), and with the recent closing of Watermark, we have wanted to find another fine dining establishment close to us. This place did...