Manga Sushi in Beach Park Plaza Centre, Jumeirah, Dubai - Restaurant Reviews

Manga Sushi

A new Japanese restaurant proves unique. But is it too different for Dubai? 14 Reviews

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I couldn’t help but feel a bit unsettled by the sight of the bobby sock-clad waitresses at Manga, dressed to resemble anime school girls.

‘Is this UAE compliant?’ my date asked. After spotting the owner, perched at the sushi bar in baseball cap and dishdash, I figured it was. The other night, a friend had walked by the restaurant and spotted the entire staff dancing something akin to the ‘Time Warp’. On this night, however, there was no dancing, and scarcely any music, though this didn’t deter from the place’s unique vibe. Manga, for those not in the know, refers to a style of Japanese comics, and the restaurant is awash with manga references: the room’s main focal point is a screen mutedly blaring Dragonball Z and the menu – which is broken up by mini-comic strips – even boasts a dragon ball sushi roll. Though we didn’t press, the menu also stated that patrons could peruse the owner’s manga collection.

The kitsch had a magical hold over us. Try as we might, we couldn’t resist ordering the anime-themed sushi. Like the cartoon it was named after, the dragon ball roll seemed consist of an unquantifiable number of parts, all vying for dominance. Furthermore, uniting Alaskan crab claw, avocado, barbecued eel and spicy mayonnaise in a roll made it a huge, two-bite enterprise. The yakuza sushi – lobster tempura, avocado, lettuce, smoked salmon and ponzu sauce – mingled more elegantly, though it too proved to be monster sized. We found ourselves more impressed with the simple sea bass sashimi, which was reasonably fresh, appropriately tender and more properly bite sized.

We were happy to note that the venue’s quirkiness didn’t end with cute menu names. The dumpling wrapper on what we’d imagined would be a standard order of shrimp gyoza was moulded to resemble a gold fish. Happily, the interior – a gentle mince with garlic and ginger – didn’t suffer from this bout of creativity. The menu wasn’t exactly the most authentically Japanese in Dubai (pretty much every grilled item inaccurately fell under the category of ‘robatayaki’), but the quality of fare was pretty good. Though somewhat overwhelmed by rice, the soft shell crab on rice was crisp, tender and addictive. Equally pleasant was a rich scoop of green tea ice cream for dessert, and a deep fried (or tempura) scoop of vanilla (‘the owner’s favourite,’ the waitress assured me).

Japanese food in Dubai is becoming increasingly commonplace. What remain rare are restaurants with personality – something Manga has in abundance. The food may not be what draws you to Manga, and once you get there, it may not be what holds you. What will keep you coming back, however, is the restaurant’s sense of novelty.

The bill (for two)
1x Half roll yakuza Dhs32
1x Half roll dragon ball Dhs23
1x Seabass sashimi Dhs25
1x Half portion gyoza Dhs20
1x Spider don Dhs75
1x Yakisoba Dhs40
1x Green tea ice cream Dhs18
1x Tempura ice cream Dhs29
Service Dhs26.20
Total Dhs288.20