* Service *
Friendly and attentive Japanese staff. I practise my limited Japanese with staff and is encouraged by them. Staff is very knowledgeable with the menu and will be happy to explain what the items are.
* Food *
I mainly come here for the amazing udon soups they have particularly the curry (beef or pork). I love their udon noodles and found it to taste like the ones I had in Japan. Whenever I'm in the area and craving noodles or takoyaki*, this is the place to go!
I also come here for the dessert $3.99. So far I've only had the green tea cheese cake which is amazing! I'm not too fond of New York cheese cake (I find it too bold and cheesy) but this cheese cake was very mild flavour in cheese but creamy in green tea texture. It literally tastes like green tea ice cream except it's not as sweet and won't melt on you! I wonder if they make it from scratch or if it's purchased at a place. I have not found a green tea cheese cake in Asian grocery stores...
*Takoyaki takes approx. 20-mins to make (but it took about 10-mins for my batch) so if you plan to go there with limited time (e.g. lunch hour) call ahead. ^_~
Note 1: Tokyo Grill (Wellesley and Yonge) has amazing udon noodles too but cost more than Manpuku. Portion seems a bit smaller and not satisfying enough for me at least for the lunch special.
Note 2: They do not serve sushi/sashimi as this place is a home-style comfort Japanese restaurant. If you are interested in a good sushi restaurant and your budget is $30+ I would recommend Yuzu no Hana along Adelaide St.
* Overall *
If you are in the area, I would recommend you trying this place out! I love this place and recommend it to my friends. The location is a bit of a "secret" but thankfully my OCAD friends told me about this place. This unofficial cafeteria to OCAD is far better than Ryerson's area because of the variety of choice (e.g. Chinese, Korean and vegetarian) and price range is affordable (truly under $10).