Manna Wok | Oriental Restaurant — Restaurant in Wichita

I should start with I know without a doubt I waited far too long to try this place. To start. I'm Korean, I spent a short chunk of my childhood in Korea, and enjoy cooking Korean food myself so in part I think part of my hesitation in coming here was "oh I can make that at home." I'm also hugely protective of the cuisine itself and hate how it's been gentrified in recent years so I tend to be pretty critical and admittedly pretentious when it comes to trying out Korean restaurants so I hold them to a higher standard than other types of cuisines.

That being said. I was absolutely blown away. This felt like the warmest of hugs from your Korean halmeoni adjacent. I know the current owner took over from the previous owners who were Korean and had owned the restaurant for decades and while I never got to try the restaurant under their ownership I am confident he is doing their legacy justice.

The inside is adorable, quaint and clean with the decor itself being charming and thoughtful. Instead of wallpaper pictures of customers over several decades cover the walls floor to ceiling. The menu is the epitome of mostly Korean home cooking and some more familiar take out Chinese dishes. Be patient as it appears to be pretty much run by two people-- one at the counter and one at the kitchen but the wait is worth it.

Yaki mandu - made from frozen but honestly, tasty Gimbap - the classic flavors that you look for are all there. This one has bulgogi in it and the danmuji is quite prominent. If you're looking for this to taste like sushi-- it will not taste like sushi. Korean gimbap has its only unique flavor and you'll definitely pick up more sesame flavoring. Kimchi - I fully believe kimchi is a personal taste. There are over 100 kinds and in every Korean home it will taste different. This was for me personally a 7/10. A hair on the salty side for me but the fermentation and spice on it was nice. Extremely generous amount for take out.

The mains is where Manna Wok truly shined for me. Everything was so unbelievably authentic, I would never have believed that a non Korean born individual was responsible for making the food if I didn't see it with my own eyes. The care and attention to detail was unmatched. Pork bulgogi - (hot) my husband enjoyed it. This unassuming dish was soft, savory, and sweet and the vegetables were tender but not mushy. Would not have changed a thing. Perfectly authentic and served with rice. Japchae - seasoned perfectly in my opinion. It was a little more garlic heavy than other recipes I've had before but honestly the more garlic the merrier for my personal taste. Noodles had the perfect familiar japchae chewy texture. If you know, you know. Tteokbokki - (very hot) Now listen. This was extremely good, you can find this basically on the shelves now in any Asian grocery store but there's just something about this dish made from scratch. Very hot was pretty much just normal spice for the average Korean. The sauce was thick and savory with a hint of sweet. And also it came with beef? That's actually not traditional so I felt like I was committing robbery by just automatically getting it with a protein so score! Kimchi fried rice - first off, holy portions. It automatically comes with a fried egg so I added a fried egg on accident so woops guess I know that for next time. It had beef also and I appreciated how the kimchi itself was left in pieces that you could see. Made it pleasing to the eye and gave a nice texture. There was a nice glisten to the rice but it was not greasy and the kimchi gave the rice a subtle tangy flavor. Just so so good and stick to your ribs savory.

There was not one miss amongst the mains. Portions were in my opinion overly generous for the prices which feel very much pre pandemic, pre inflation, pre before Korean food became trendy to me. I am just floored this place does not have a constant line out the door. For my fellow Koreans, this place is legit. For those looking to try authentic Korean food but don't know where to begin,...

When i walked in, it definitely appeared to be authentic. The previous owners were korean. The menu seemed quite large for such a small establishment. The new owner was friendly.

I am writing this based on being a Korean, and I grew up in a true Korean home. I am a huge foodie and love good food, and korean food has to be good! We are from DFW and are driving on the way home from a work trip.

I ordered the jajangmyeon, my husband ordered the bulgogi.

Presentation and taste: bulgogi looks nothing like Bulgogi. The taste is about a 3.5/10. Rice was decent, but the quality of rice tasted more like jasmine rice, not a true Korean rice. Jajangmyeon was a 2/10. It looked fabulous and legitimate, but the taste was completely off. The yellow radish that is supposed to be eaten with the jajangmyeon was the worst I have personally tasted. The trio kimchi was average: the kimchi itself was very sour, the white kimchi (or what I imagine the restaurant thinks is white kimchi) was the best out of the three but still a 5/10, and the cucumber oi kimchi was not crisp like it is supposed to be.

All in all, I was super disappointed with my meal, and probably should have complained, but a massive migraine prevented me from having an altercation of any kind.

There's a korean grocery store just 2 minutes from this establishment. In the back, you can order korean food that is authentic. The owner is korean and very sweet. I didnt even know about this grocery store until after we left, because I was still hungry and needed something else to fill...

We ordered takeout from Manna Wok based on a 4.8 star rating with over 500 reviews. This was our first visit here, and can guarantee it is our last. Honestly this was the worst asian food I've had in a long time. I am completely puzzled by how it got that high of a rating by that many people. The reviewers must be mostly friends and family of the owners because the food left everything to be desired. A hamburger at McDonald's would have tasted better.

The photo is of the Almond Chicken I ordered. This dish was $12.50. Oh and I got a fortune cookie with it. Let me say with all sincerity that this meal was 100% not worth $12.50. See the bill? No soup or rice was given or offered to my husband when he picked up our meals.

To give you an idea of what my meal was like, it smelled and tasted like Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup out of a can with almonds in it. Not all white meat either. The 2nd bite tasted like boiled flavorless dark meat chicken. My husband described the egg roll as like eating an old inner tube with cabbage stuffed in it.

I can and do absolutely recommend not going here, ever. Regarding my fortune cookie, Yes, it can...