Manna, London

(See our 2011 post about Manna here.)
We loved this place! Cute area (near the Museum of Everything) and the place was elegant yet "homey" (read not pretentious.)

We started with the "Manna Mezze" where you select three of their starters or salads.
We chose the 'quinoa & millet croquette'
(a pressed cake of these ancient seasoned grains, served with our beetroot hummus and a salad of rocket and cumin roasted carrot & hazelnut)
the 'mushroom tempura'
(juicy seasonal mushrooms tossed in tamari, cooked in a light gluten-free sesame seed batter with a Japanese pickle accompaniment)
and the 'soup of the day'
(Cauliflower, carrot, and parsnip? with homemade foccacia bread.)
It was incredible! The tempura was amazing, the soup fresh and hot and was best with a dunk of the homemade bread. The croquette was pretty good but our least favorite I suppose. There was a beetroot hummus that was excellent too.


Deanna got the "Sonora Fajita"
(a southwestern delight, tortilla filled with sweet potato & black beans, served with a rich chipotle sauce, Spanish rice, guacamole and mango salsa)
We thought it was more like a chimichanga with the crispy tortilla. Deanna enjoyed very much, the sauce was a tad spicy but she liked it. And they actually had proper guacamole, a rarity outside of California.
On a 1 to 10 scale she gives it an 8.


I (Ed) got the "chef salad"
(a changing seasonal delight, now featuring Jerusalem artichoke, roasted candy beetroot, basil potatoes, raw carrot, avocado, balsamic roasted onions, sun blushed tomatoes, green beans, caper berries, alfalfa sprouts, toasted seeds, mixed leaf salad, served with crispy marinated tofu)
100% awesome. I wanted to eat some greens a have a healthier dinner so I got this. Very good, fresh, and with all sorts of different flavors and textures.
I would give it an 8 too. Respectable.


Deanna liked this so much she made me shoot it twice.

For Dessert we went a bit crazy (as we are prone to do from time to time when there are too many choices) and got 3!
Deanna chose the "chivu's timbale"
(a long time favourite daily special, a chocolate sponge and cheesecake layered combination)
It sounded better on the menu than it was. They don't even mention that the main flavor and taste is blueberry, a point that the menu should for sure explain but fails to. It was perfectly fine until she got a taste of mine, then in comparison hers lost it's lustre. I got the "Chocolate Pots de Creme"
(a decadent rich chocolate custard delight)
Understatement!!!!!!!!! I had to share it with Deanna because she couldn't believe how good it was. It was our best dessert in Europe! A major statement since we try a lot of desserts. Deanna gives it a '10' (the "pudding" from Saf gets a 9)
We also got the "petits fours"
(a plate of truffles, chocolates & small biscuits)
But only tried the lemon cookie, and took the rest home to snack on later.
Overall, we can't wait to go back here. It will no doubt become our jam in London. Reservations recommended, the place was going off.