When it comes to teriyaki, I generally go it alone. This time, however I had an accomplice which somehow resulted in a situation that was marred by confusion. Inevitably, the ordeal left a bad taste in my mouth, both literally and figuratively. Below is my recount of the experience...

Manna Deli is in Greenwood just off Aurora Avenue. I had been there almost two years previous before my teriyaki reviews began. This day seemed like a good time for an encore. Unfortunatley, I was in for a grave dissapointment.

As usual, I ordered the regular size #1 chicken teriyaki. My accomplice asked for a "special" chicken teriyaki wrap, their highly advertised "healthy" option. We would stay to eat.

Now the cost for the two should be $5.99 and $3.99, respectively. Unfortunately, my tab, as recounted to me by the woman behind the counter, was $13.73. And I have the change to prove it.

So the question becomes, was this over charge an honest mistake or did the owner intentionally pull a fast one? The language barrier was definitely a hindrance to our conversation, one in which I verified the charges twice, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. Then again, maybe I won't because... there is more...

Word on the street is a teriyaki order at Manna comes with a free can of soda. However, nothing in the store's signage verifies this rumour... except for another interesting anecdote that also occurred on this day.

While the owner and I were sort of discussing the cost she asked me if I was having a soda. She didn't say, "this comes with a free soda," but instead just said, "you want soda?" Again, I was confused so I mumbled "no thanks." $13.73 already sounded too high for my order so I wasn't about to find out if the next stage in our odd owner/customer dance was another addition to the bill.

As for the teriyaki, itself...

Everything about the Manna meal was overdone. The mainly white meat chicken was tasty but grilled to the point of being charred. The rice was likewise overdone with each grain floating by itself in the sweet sauce and having a bit of a hard chew to it. The salad was typical ice berg lettuce with the standard creamy ranch dressing. However, Manna upped the game with one excellent addition: crispy chow mein noodles on top. Big props for the chow mein noodles!

The portions involved in the Manna meal were adequate but nothing to write home about. One thing, however was obvious: the chicken was definitely given the short end of the portion straw. Unfortunate.

In the end, I ate everything as usual but on this occassion I felt like shit afterwards. Was it MSG sneaking into the proceedings? Was it the absurd traffic on the way to the dull Skagit Valley Tulip Festival? Or was it some messed up vibe from the Manna experience itself carrying over into the rest of my day? Whatever the case, it wasn't good.

Overall, the taste and portion of Manna Deli's teriyaki was average and would elicit about 2 stars. However, because the entire cost confusion makes it impossible to judge bang for the buck, a major criteria in my rating scale, I must dock another 1/2 star as I warn against patronizing Manna Deli. Perhaps some day I'll give it another chance, but with so many other excellent teriyaki shops proving their worth time and again my next trip to Manna won't be for a long time.