Manna

A couple friends and I stopped into Manna when we were starving and looking for a cheapish lunch. We walked in and the place was filled with Chinese, so we assumed it would be decent and authentic. We each got the lunch special — 3 course for 6.99. We each picked an appetizer and a main and asked what the third course was — turns the third course was the rice! I thought that was a little rich. A lot of people were going up to a little table in front that had a buffet of various items on it. I asked if that was perhaps included and she said no, that was part of the «Chinese Breakfast.»
We sat and waited for 20 minutes for our soups to come out while the Chinese people around us were scarfing down their food. When the soups arrived, they were so, so salty. The hot and sour soup came with bits of shrimp and eel, which was a pleasant surprise.
We then waited another 25 minutes for our mains while more Chinese people were seated, fed and long gone. It was some kind of sick joke; I wish I knew what they knew. Anyway, the wait was straight up preposterous, and I came as close to walking out as I have ever in my life. The food was ok — we came for cheap Chinese food and that’s what we got.
We were also supposed to receive free tea or coffee. My two friends ordered tea and received a pot of what tasted like dirty dish water. I ordered coffee and it never appeared. This place sucks.

This brilliant Chinese place in the middle of Dublin’s Chinatown is worth a visit for filling, tasty Chinese food. It’s cheap with all the usual suspects on the menu as well as a few more authentic dishes if you can read/​speak Chinese. Great chunky soups and not too greasy chow meins and noodles. Recommended for a cheap but reliably good meal.