Man Nam Korean Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Vestal

Listen- the food is fantastic. It is pricey but very good and lots of options and you're supporting local. The problem is the service/unwritten policies and lectures my group and other patrons receive every time we go here.

I understand there is a big cultural difference and the owner/waiter is not originally from the US. We've taken family here and warned them beforehand so we can try to respect what the owner prefers, because it is great food and we want to support a family owned business.

However, the food is not worth it anymore- when you are refused to be allowed to order the appetizer you have been craving for days and instead receive a lecture on how they are family owned and would lose money if people only ordered appetizers (the appetizer being $15 and the entree $16) and then sit uncomfortably for your entire meal eating the entree you were required to order without receiving the appetizer you wanted originally.

We won't be back, most likely, but if try them out: some things you need to know before you go- don't even think about making a substitution/modification you will get a 5 minute lecture about how Americans are always trying to do this and the restaurant will not change anything. You cannot just order an appetizer only (even if it is the same price as an entree) and even if everyone else is ordering entrees. You can't be seated unless your entire party is there (even if all the tables are empty). Tread lightly- it seems there are new 'rules' every time we go. Maybe we will try take-out and hope for the best. Also- 'Chicken' is a trigger word my poor SIL learned as well. Some other reviewers have mentioned...

The atmosphere of this local restaurant is nothing short of eating in your own dining room at home. It's so welcoming inside, and there are chairs to wait in while you get seated. Jason helped seat us and took our order. He apologized for the wait because it was just him there! I ordered the hot Wild Blackberry tea, and my partner got the Terra beer. Both were great, and the tea was especially tasty even without sugar. The little appetizers he brought out were so good! There were crunchy chilled greenbeans in a light sauce (my favorite), seaweed salad(?) with shredded carrots in a light mayo(?) sauce, battered and fried pumpkin slices, and pickled cabbage (so good!). For an appetizer, I ordered the Takoyaki because they're just amazing, and theirs didn't disappoint! Then, for entrees, I got the Yaki Udon with shrimp, and my partner got the Den Jang Chige. Mine was absolutely delicious, and the shrimp was such a great addition. The amount of sauce was perfectly in the middle, so I never felt like it was too dry or like I was eating spaghetti. Plus, it was delicious. The Den Jang Chige blew us away. The broth was phenomenal, and the seafood mixture (clams, shrimp, and little bits of squid(?)) had such great flavor. An absolute must to try if you're in the mood for something with broth. Plus, it comes with rice. But it's so filling with the vegetables, seafood, and tofu, so you almost don't need it except for preference. For dessert, I got the sweet rice cake with the classic red bean filling out of the fridge to go.

Support a local business...

One weekend, I came with family and so it was a party of 4. Which apparently seems to be the maximum amount of people he allowed in.

This restaurant seems to be a one man show every time I come, there's only one man doing everything. He's cooking, serving, etc. When we got there, he told us he can't do big parties but calmed down when I said it was just us four. We were holding empty cups from having bought coffee at a gas station and then he yelled at us no outside drinks. I told them these cups were empty and just garbage and he calmed down instead.

While we were looking at the menu, i asked about the lunch specials, not realizing they were only for weekdays. He listed all the Chinese restaurants that we could go to instead. It gives us the impression that he really didn't want to serve us at all and to just eat somewhere else.

He comes off as very rude and I can see why there are so many 1 star reviews. While we waited for our food, we watched him turn down a large party. I saw a 1-star review complaining about this, and believe me.. it was awkward for us watching you guys get turned down. It took a long time to get our food, but it made sense since there's only one cook. At least the food tasted very very good.

I hope he can hire more staff to make this place run more efficiently so he can be less stressed, and hopefully less rude. Because the food is actually good! I really like Korean food so, please. Hire more staff. Otherwise you're going...