Super friendly, greeted us as we entered even though they were busy. Fast casual Korean food. I ordered bibimbap with beef and egg and he had the kimchi fried rice with egg, spam, and seaweed flakes. We were told the wait could be 25-30 mins so we also ordered the red bean bing su so that we could have something quick just in case. It was soooo good. If you love peanuts you'll love this. The portions were incredible. The veggies were so fresh on the bibimbap. The fried rice was so comforting and delicious. We will absolutely come back even with the hour drive! read more

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I was so happy to see a Korean dining spot on Mass St. The vibes of the actual cafe itself is great for a relaxed meal with friends! They have a range of Korean comfort foods on their menu. I ordered the Tteokbokki and Sweet & Sour Pork (tangsuyuk). Their tteokbokki has a unique twist of thin fried fish cake topped on top of the dish, different than the usual. The rice cake itself had a great texture and the sauce was good. The sweet and sour pork was crispy and fried perfectly. It was battered in rice flower giving the meat a nice chewy element to it. Highly recommend trying these two dishes! read more

Cafe The Mani - Tteok-Bokki - Korean Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

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The food is delicious- my #2 lunch special came with spicy pork, rice, a little cabbage salad with peanut sauce (there was a choice between the salad and kimchi), and masked potato with carrot, corn and peas (even though the menu said that last item would be pickled radish). They give you a buzzer for when your order is ready. My order took about 25 minutes, and everything tasted fresh and yummy. I took away a star because of the disappointing amount of single-use plastic and styrofoam for dining in- this is why I usually opt dine-in, to avoid waste. Even the chopsticks came wrapped in plastic! I think they can do better in this department. Maybe they don't have a kitchen set up to wash utensils, plates and glasses in, I'm not sure, but this is Lawrence, and compostable, plastic-free packaging is featured in many other restaurants here. I urge the owners to reduce waste! And I urge customers to BYO water bottles and utensils. read more

Cafe The Mani - Excessive single-use plastic and styrofoam for dining in - Korean Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

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Authentic Korean food in Lawrence??! Sign us up! Why did it take us so long to try this place out? Don't make our mistake. Go here now. We had the jap-chae and the bi-bim-bap and they were both incredibly tasty; we would have again. We felt the spices and flavor was on point, and all the ingredients seemed very fresh. We are excited to try out their other dishes - their take on sweet & sour pork caught our eye at another table You order at the front, and the service was fast. Everything was super clean and they were very accommodating about modifications. Highly recommend. read more

Cafe The Mani - Bi-Bim-Bap - Korean Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

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it was literally like 30 minutes before closing and I called asking for a quick order since I wanted a fast bite to eat and I love Korean food, called and they said it was perfectly fine even though they were already cleaned up! I had ordered the jjangjangmyeon (correct my spelling) and I had ordered it on a whim, I had tried it at a different place and didn't like it. Let me tell to whoever is reading this- ORDER IT. It's so good, it's very comforting and just overall very yummy. The softness of the noodles and the sweet and savoriness of the sauce...SO GOOD. I want to go back already. I wish I could've eaten inside the place since it was very cute! I'll have to go back some time! read more

My first time here & an overall positive experience. I got the #1 lunch special, which is BBQ chicken. It came with a potato salad & a kind slaw salad. Good flavors all around & fresh ingredients. Portions were large enough that I had leftovers. Staff is very friendly. The only downside was there isn't much in the way of ambiance. It's a lovely old building but the decor is very sterile. read more

Cafe The Mani - #No.1 Chicken BBQ Lunch Special - Korean Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

I mostly come here for the chicken. Perfect level of crisp to it, even thinking about it is making me hungry. While the chicken is good, the pear juice they serve is the perfect drink for me. Sweet but not overwhelmingly so. Much prefer drinking it over the fizzy syrup water most places have the gall to call "soda". If you like Korean food or just want some good chicken, and are willing to shill out a bit more for quality, come here. You're unlikely to regret it! read more

2nd time here, first time reviewing. Both times the food has been exceptional -- flavorful and fresh. Each flavor of the fried chicken is delicious in its own ways. Our 7 year and 10 year old kids -- both particular in what they will eat -- loved the soy garlic and original. Kimchi is on point. As is the kimchi fried rice. Bi-bim-bap was super fresh and yummy my kids loved the bing-su shaved ice (strawberry) All in all it's one of the best fast casual dining places in Lawrence read more

DELECTABLE FOOD we were worried about the price ($50 for two of us) but it was so much food we both had leftovers! You could definitely get away with one entree. The food was spiced perfectly and so flavorful. The employees were very nice and the whole store was very clean. The regular spicy chicken wasn't unbearably spicy and the combo came with rice that had some kind of sweet sauce on it. YUM! The kimchi fried rice was SO GOOD and the egg was $1 extra but totally worth it. I was also skeptical about the $1.45 up charge for dried seaweed but there was so much in the container it overflowed the bowl. Impressive place I would recommend to anyone I like! read more

Cafe The Mani - Spicy Fried Chicken Combo Dumplings Kimchi Fried Rice - Korean Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

A triumphant return of Korean food to Lawrence! We came here soon after it opened. Food was great, and I'm excited to try out more of the dishes. Ask for extra napkins. read more

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Have been here only twice but got the veggie sushi (vegi gim bap) and the TTEOK-BOKKI and loved both.

First of all the food is really good, but there are a lot of small things keeping me from a five star review. For one I don't want to be yelled at multiple times to get my food for a dine in order. Please bring my food to me. Also, there should be napkin holders around. You are given one napkin and it isn't enough. I really wish these places would just serve their food with silverware instead of all of this plastic. Its very unappealing and considering the price of the meal I think it makes sense to have metal forks (I use chopsticks, but still...). The music was WAY too loud, and because of this it sounded bad. I ordered a very soupy noodle dish and had was given a styrofoam box for the leftovers. I had to ask for a to-go soup container. Considering all of this the food was really good and you should definitely try it if you are into Korean cuisine. read more

Some of the best wings I've had. Great service and great prices. Will be making this a regular spot. read more

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The spicy pork and spicy fried chicken are delicious. Some of my new favorite dishes in town. Huge servings and taste great.

Great food, lunch special is delicious, the tteok bokki is spicy (for a real kick, get it extra). Will be back!

The food is amazing! I love the spicy fried chicken as well as the spicy pork! The portions are fairly large, so it will leave you full and with leftovers! The service was great as the staff were friendly! The atmosphere was nice and the restaurant was clean so that's a plus! read more

While they seem to be still working out a few details, the food is really good. They easily have the best fried chicken wings in the area. The 10 piece spicy order is big enough for two people, especially if you order a side of rice, and really delicious. The Kim Chi is outstanding, as are the pickled radishes. I look forward to trying more dishes. read more

I was really looking forward to this restaurant's opening. But after trying it I was greatly disappointed. The reviews on the day they opened were so so good and it definitely made me think I would be back "mani" times. However, I feel like a lot of these reviews are lying or trying too hard to defend the owners. I understand if they're friends with the owners however, saying it tastes like "authentic" Korean is a huge stretch. The pricing wouldn't be so bad if it tasted okay. The spaghetti noodles for the jjajangmyeon (자장면) and jjamppong (짬뽕) is crazy. I've never had them made with spaghetti noodles as they're usually suppose to be made with chewy wheat noodles and the flavor of jjajangmyeon was not at all what I've ever eaten. The sweet and sour pork (탕수육) was also a huge disappointment. It was 90% batter and 10% meat and to top it off I had many pieces where it was just fried batter and it was so rough to eat. I understand the lack of vegetables but my friend also ordered and my sweet and sour sauce had one small slice of cabbage and hers had only pineapple. There's no consistency at all. The bibimbap (비빔밥) was also very disappointing. For $2 the beef portion is a little atrocious and again what I received was totally different compared to the images on the reviews from when they first opened. The wait time is understandable as they're short-staffed but it did get frustrating to see that a group after us who ordered more receive their order before we got ours despite waiting over and hour. As someone from Jeju, to the person who said the food tasted like how it did in Seoul, I think you should go back and try it again because it definitely does not. I will unlikely be back again. read more