Mana Food Bar

.

We went to dinner at Mana Food Bar in Wicker Park after seeing it on Check Please.  It is a vegetarian/vegan restaurant that focuses on meatless dishes from around the world (there are no meat substitutes)

Horchata

Most of the food options have a small and large plate option.  We decided to go with small plates so we could try more of the menu. 

We started with drinks - horchata with almond milk and a chocolate, banana, peanut butter and almond milk smoothie.  Natalie requests that Nick makes smoothies like this more often - it was a good blend of the 4 ingredients.  The horchata was nice, but tasted pretty similar to traditional rice water horchata.

Smoothie 

Maki

Here is the food we ordered:

Maki - raw vegetables wrapped in collard greens with ponzu sauce (sushi style).  This was like a sushi roll but it was filled entirely with vegetables - carrots, avocado, asparagus, mushrooms and lettuce. Nick liked the freshness of the dish but Natalie missed some more of the traditional sushi aspects such as sushi rice (and seafood).

Curry

Curry - seared okra in a spicy tomato and hominy sauce with corn chutney garnish. We were worried that it could be too spicy but it was just right. Nick actually tried the dish with the restaurant's hot sauce and it complemented it very well. The okra were well cooked and due to their texture we didn't miss meat in the dish at all.

Rice noodles - with green curry, sweet potatoes, garlic chives and spicy peanuts.  This was the spiciest dish of the night. It had a great flavor profile and reminded us a bit of pad thai with all the peanuts.

Rice Noodles

Mushrooms and Polenta

Sauteed mushrooms over creamy polenta. There were a few different kinds of mushroooms in this dish and they tasted amazing with the smooth polenta. It was a break from the spiciness of the noodles we had just eaten. We definitely could have eaten the larger size of this dish. 

Ravioli - spinach filled ravioli with tomato sauce, ancho-hazelnut pesto and asiago cheese.  Excellent ravioli but perhaps least interesting in terms of the vegetarian aspect of it because except for the anchos this dish could be found at most Italian restaurants.

Ravioli

Potato Pancake - sweet and white potatoes with a quince and currant chutney and crema. The potato pancakes were very light and thin and not super filling (unlike what you would get at a European restaurant). The fruit chutney sweetened it up and almost made it seem like a dessert.

Final thoughts on Mana Food Bar:

Potato Pancake

Food - All of the food was fresh and delicious.  We did not really miss having meat.  But that being said we felt the raw/vegan restaurant Karyn's was a more unique experience for us because of the creativity that goes into making vegan options (i.e. cheese) without cooking it above 120 degrees. These vegetarian options were nice to have all together in one place but are certainly dishes that could be ordered at other restaurants.

Service - We got there right when the restaurant opened so we didn't have to wait for a seat.  The service felt a little slow in the beginning and there didn't seem to be many items coming out to any table for a little bit.  Once the food did come out the waiter and kitchen did a good job of pacing the meal so that all of the items didn't come out at once.

Atmosphere - the interior of the restaurant itself is quite small so we were lucky to walk right in. It sounds like there is a patio space for more tables in the summer. It is a trendy spot with modern decore. There was a mix of patrons and it seems like the couple next to us were there for the first time and had also heard of it through the Check Please program.