Manzo Japanese Restaurant (Izakaya) - Richmond, BC

"What do you wanna eat?" - the dreaded question everyone asks everytime anyone gets together.  Monkey and I can't decide after watching the most awesomest movie ever (that's The Avengers btw) and in Richmond, the problem isn't that there's a shortage of restaurants but the opposite - there's too many places to choose from.  Second problem - there's plenty of places but what's open after 9 pm on a Sunday??  Unfortunately, the entire Lower Mainland likes to typically shut down at 9 on Sundays.  Woe to anyone who likes to eat in the late evening...

After a systematic elimination of cuisines, calculating the likelihood of a restaurant open and various brainstorming schemes, we just end up on Alexandra St because we figured there would be something open late on the "Street of Eats".  And there is!  Huzzah!  Manzo Japanese Restaurant is open and Monkey says it serves a style of comfort food and there's a special dish in store for me.  Sold!  In we go...

Warm, comfy, inviting...  the hostess asks if we have reservations.  I don't see why it matters when there's a series of tables open but whatever...  We sit, order and wait while sipping tea...

Oyster Motoyaki - $3.95

Oysters and mushrooms cooked with a Japanese mayonnaise concoction.  Looks fantastic when it arrives at the table but I've never been a fan of this dish and Manzo hasn't made one of me.  Monkey says it's good but everything is just a bit bland for my taste and the oysters are rubbery from being baked.  Grey masses in a white mayonnaise sauce...  meh.

Ika Karaage - $5.50

I generally love squid and when it's deep fried, I can eat it with gusto but the version here is disappointing.  The squid is tender, no doubt, but the breading just comes right off.  It's served with a side of lemon wedge but once you squeeze that on, the taste of the squid is lost.  What's the point of having squid when you can't taste it?

Grilled Beef-wrapped Enoki Mushrooms (Enoki Beef Maki) - $6.50

The beef is tender, there's a bit of that charring taste that I LOVE and the dipping sauce of sweet thick soy and garlic is a match made in heaven.  The mushrooms however are lost within the beef - the taste is completely lost and I wouldn't know it was there save for that crunch the mushrooms give.  The beef needs a vegetable with more bite to be in the middle, maybe asparagus, so that it can hold it's own and the taste is more pronounced.  The enoki mushrooms aren't bad but it's kind a waste of a beautiful ingredient when you can't taste it.

Grilled Chicken Cartilage (Nankotsu) - $4.95

Crunch crunch crunch!  Dip!  Dip!  Munch!  Munch!  There isn't much meat on these skewers and it's on the dry side but that's the way it's supposed to be.  It's not about the meat here but the crunchy white cartilage and almost jerky-like bits around it that we mostly discard when eating but THAT is a mistake my friends.  Manzo gives the cartilage that lovely charring flavor and with a quick dip in that excellent sauce and you've got yourself the perfect accompaniment to your Sapporo.

Grilled Chicken Skin (Kawa) - $4.50

Monkey's special dish in store for me and it's....  A-W-E-S-O-M-E.  A few skewers of this and a bottle of Sapporo and we're gonna be alright for the night....  I know what some of you will say, "Ew!  That's disgusting!  You're eating only the skin of the chicken???!!!".  Monkey and I had a discussion about this and we decided that if you don't want to try it, you're the ones missing out.  It's called head to tail consumption, where every bit of the animal should be used and in this case it's used extremely well.  There is more crispiness than fatty skin - just think of pork rinds but grilled over a flame served hot with charcoal undertones and OH SO MORE DELICIOUS.

Kimchi Fried Rice (Kimuchi Chaahan) - $9.95

Looks great but falls short on taste.  It's a bit bland for a kimchi based fried rice - how can the taste of kimchi be absent?  The spicy, savory and salty is all missing from this dish.  The beef is dry and for some reason there's also pickled mustard greens in here as well.  The mustard greens are so sour it drains the fried rice of any flavor when you eat it together.  This Piglet recommends you skip this dish and if you want good kimchi fried rice, go to Haroo across the street or save yourself the $9.95 and get more skewers.

I gotta say, the grilled items here were super tasty and I'd come back just for the chicken skin but there's also several other grilled items I'd like to try so this Piglet will definitely be back.  As for the other items, I just couldn't care much for them.  So I'll recommend this at Manzo: grab a giant beer or some sake and order the grilled items to your hearts content.  Bon appetite!


Pros:

• Awesome grilled items
• Reservations accepted
• Excellent ambiance - great for dinner or just some snacks and drinks
• Cheap to moderately priced
• Free parking behind the restaurant
• Open late

Cons:

• Other menu items were on the disappointing side
• It's only free parking if you can find a spot in that messy lot (PEOPLE!  Stop making your own spots in the driving lane and DO NOT park in the fire lane that is labelled NO PARKING)
• Can be busy on the weekends and evenings