Manooben — Restaurant in Northfield Township

Manooben is the cutest little hole-in-the-wall! It's cozy, homey, and owned by the sweetest Korean mama and papa. The kind of place that makes you feel at home. The name of the restaurant is an acronym for maki, noodle, and bento lol. So cute.

I tried the hand roll combo. Two massive hand rolls, packed with fresh ingredients, and a bowl of homemade udon that hit all the spot. The broth was simple but flavorful. It was clean and refreshingly light. The hand rolls were absolutely perfect. I'd go weekly for this combo if this place was near my workplace.

I also tried the spring train maki. The texture and flavors were solid, but those rolls are so fat and hearty, it will fill your whole mouth with every bite. You can really feel the love from the papa chef with those fat cuts.

Lastly, I tried the sashimi rice (Hwedupbap). The bowl was massive, and I wanted one at home so bad. This dish is also very simple, fresh sashimi over rice, drizzled with their homemade sauce. I love a good homemade sauce. I ended up squeezing that sauce onto every bite cause I love my food saucy.

Such a small place, full of love! I can't...

Very hard to find this place because it’s way in the back and next door to Johnny’s Kitchen and Bar. The lady who served us was very sweet and attentive. The atmosphere was nothing to write home about. The food, however, really wasn’t that good. I ordered a bento box with supposedly sashimi, tempura, potato salad, see weed salad and a California roll. There was 2 pieces of white fish that was okay, but the tuna was shockingly cut into 3 slivers that was translucent! It was like they ran out of tuna and didn’t want to admit it. I’ve never seen someone serve tuna sashimi like that and it had no taste to it. The California roll was mostly rice. The tempura wasn’t with a panko coating. It was very greasy and tasted like that from a Cantonese restaurant. She also didn’t serve it with Tempari sauce. Potato salad was Korean style. I was hungry so I ate it all, but would...

Manooben was the closest thing to authentic Japanese food. This hole in the wall (like literally in the corner), was such an awesome experience. My wife and I are not in the area and was craving some lunch. With the initial Google search, this place didn't come up several times. It wasn't until I specifically types in Japanese food that it was a couple selections down.

Out of all the restaurants, we highly recommend this one. The food reminds us just like when we went to Japan. The restaurant has so much character and you can tell the owner put a lot of her personality into it! We will definitely come back!

Also, we recommend the gyoza, seaweed salad, and crunch roll for...