Adrian A.
Yelp
I came across Man Man some time ago while walking from Duxton Road to Keong Saik Road. I only mention this bit of information because Man Man is tucked in the back of a shophouse which faces Keong Saik Road, while Man Man itself faces a pedestrian access path / park that people typically use as a shortcut. Despite it's hidden location, apparently queues here for their dinner service can reach up to an hour or more. Having just had lunch there (I hate lining up), I can see why people go through the trouble of waiting.
At the top of the steps and just inside the glass doors leading into Man Man are 3 large, thigh-high tanks with water flowing into them. These tanks are home to live Anguilla japonica - Japanese eels, or (once grilled) "unagi". It is quite fitting that one's first encounter upon stepping foot into Man Man is the main course because it truly is the star of the show here. The restaurant has tables spread out in the oddly shaped space, along with a bar counter that faces both the chopping board, where the eels presumably shuffle off their mortal coil, and the binchotan grill where they get transformed into unagi.
The menu features several types of hitsumabushi (a specialty of Nagoya city), unadon and smaller side dishes (such as unagi cooked in tamago). I settled on a large unadon, which was served within 5-10 minutes and was the perfect size for lunch. Without going into too much detail, not all unagi is created equal, and sometimes you end up with something that has the consistency and texture of chewing on a rubber hose. This is NOT the case at Man Man, where they serve the real deal, and which is the perfect combination of flaky meat combined with the slight crunchy/chewiness of the charred skin.
Barring a plane trip to Japan, this is one of the most authentic unagi meals you will ever have anywhere (with my benchmark being Marushizu in Tokyo). Coming to a total of S$45.65 (after service and tax), it is also a lot cheaper than that plane ticket. For that price, you will not leave hungry as the unagi is served on a generous portion of rice, with a small tofu appetizer, gari (pickled ginger) and a bowl of suimono (clear soup), along with a cup of cold barley tea. The only thing I recommend is asking for the sansho pepper as a touch of the ground pepper really rounds out the flavor of the unagi.
Oh, and they have takeaway too if you really hate lining up!