As part of my journey to interview the people behind our favourite Cambridge eateries, I decided to pay my good friends Ian and Lan a visit, at Manna Seoul, for a well overdue catch up.

It has been quite a while since my last review. It was on a dark and cold winter evening, so the pictures looked pretty sad. But today, on a bright and sunny day in Ely, I took advantage of the good weather to head back and see what they have been up to in this time. I must admit, I was sorely missing their Korean style of corn dogs, or “k-dogs” and my wife is a big fan of their loaded kimchi fries, so it was the perfect opportunity to catch up.

The van is like a silver bullet that proudly stands out wherever it is. You can spot it from miles away, meaning my diet never stands a chance if they are around 🤣

Ian and Lan were busy (as always) with Ian charming the queues of people with his infectious positive energy and Lan frantically grinding away in the back. The queue were long but it moved surprisingly quickly and it felt like no time until I was at the front.

Bacon & maple half and half

I noticed a few new dishes on their menu, including the kimchi wrap but I couldn’t resist ordering my favourite – the Bacon & Maple half and half.

This k-dog comes as half a Frankfurter sausage and half mozzarella with crispy bacon and maple syrup on top. Combined together, it creates a crispy, sweet, gooey, and salty dish, all wrapped up together and deep fried on a stick of absolute joy!

The cheese pull challenge

Lan and Ian like to encourage their cheese pull challenge, where contenders try to stretch the mozzarella cheese, as far as they possibly can, while biting into their k-dog. It is all a bit of fun and more often than not leads to a complete mess but what can I say? I’m a sucker for silliness like this!

Check out my cheese pull attempt here

Kimchi fries + Korean fried chicken

My wife is also a huge fan of Manna Seoul and loves their loaded kimchi fries. They now come with the option to add Korean fried chicken on top which makes it a balanced meal in its own right.

The idea that they can even call this loaded fries is laughable, as there is so much chicken on top that the chips almost felt like an upside down garnish. The chicken was loaded on top with a few little chips sticking out from the bottom. Visually, the dish was colourful, with two different sauces and green herbs on top. The chicken was served in big chunks with a sticky and very sweet glaze that made the juicy chicken an absolute delight. It was absolutely immense!

Dare I say it, but I might have preferred this to my bacon maple kdog! 😍

Watch the video here

Experimentations!

Korean style corn dogs are already a very experimental idea and definitely unique to the local food scene, but Ian and Lan are constantly experimenting and trying to push the boat out when it comes to foodie innovation. And with that, I found a dessert-esque dish in the form of a cadbury’s cream egg…in a Korean style corn dog! 🤣

Yes, you heard that right! I’ll admit, it doesn’t look very impressive by eye but biting into it was something else entirely. It was a fun way of having a sweet treat after something so big and savoury. Gooey and fun in its purest form.

Baked bean k-dog?

I just when you think things couldn’t get crazy enough, Manna Seoul now do a k-dog with baked beans and jalapenos. I suppose you could call this a British style Korean corn dog, or Bri-Ko-dog? I don’t know! 🤣

The baked beans were, quite obviously, far too soggy to hold up on a stick, so it had to be eaten in a similar way to the loaded fries. It was a hilarious novelty and made us all laugh, though I didn’t quite feel like it kept up to the standard of the rest of the dishes. It tasted great but lost its crispiness and didn’t have that subtle sweetness I have come to expect from k-dogs. Huge credit for the experimentation and innovation but I probably wouldn’t order this again.

What do you think? Let us know in the Cambridge Foodies community!!

Still my favourite food van

When it comes to food vans in Cambridgeshire, Manna Seoul Is still one of my favourites. They are constantly pushing the boat out in terms of experimental cuisine, while still offering something truly unique and unavailable throughout the rest of the county. I always get such a warm and friendly welcome every time I visit and the food is always absolutely perfect.

If you’re a foodie and live in Cambridgeshire and haven’t visited them yet, then you’re doing yourself a huge disservice! This is fun food at its very best!

Go, go!