Korean Restaurant

My latest new restaurant was the Mangetsu Restaurant on Strawbridge Avenue in Melbourne. It is located on the causeway side so it is a busy intersection. I went in the back way from my house using the river view road.

My first time in this building, is was to catch a Greyhound bus back to Vermont. You heard that right, when I was in college all I could afford was a bus ticket. It was my first bus trip. Stopped at every stop between Melbourne and Jacksonville, express to New York City (stop for meals only) with a stop at the famous Transit authority in the middle of the city, and then a Vermont Transit Bus to Burlington, stopping at every small town in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont that had a bus station. It was 32 hours of hell and the last time I ever went by bus.

Since the bus station left, the place has been all kind of diners, restaurants and bars. No one has seemed to survive in this location. I think Mangetsu may make it.

It was lunchtime so I was not real hungry. I had been in the building also when it was a Chinese Restaurant and back when it was a bar. I actually sat at the bar then that now has the sushi chef.

The sushi bar area from my booth seat

The menu is large but there is a lunch section with cheaper prices. Korean BBQ is the mainstay with Japanese and Thai also included. I went for the sushi but I decided to try some Korean food too. I ate Korean as a kid when my cousin Charley married a Korean girl. She would make us dinners when I was still a kid in Vermont. I remembered that hot was very hot...

They had Bento boxes for lunch so I ordered the Bulgogi & Nigiri Combo. It came with a choice of soup or salad. I chose the salad which had the usual ginger dressing on top. Everything was very fresh.

Salad with ginger dressing at Mangetsu in Melbourne

 The Box came with a large portion of bulgogi (a marinated beef), four pieces of nigiri, five pieces of California roll, and three pieces of a deep fried roll. Ginger & Wasabi on the side. I grabbed my chopsticks and I dug in.

My Bento Box of Bulgogi & Nigiri Combo

 Everything was fresh and it was delicious. There was one piece of beef that was mostly gristle, but there was so much it really did not matter.  I am no expert on Korean food but what I tried was edible. I would eat here again and probably will. I give the place a 3 (Great). I do want to mention that the staff were very friendly and pretty quick. I drank only water with the meal.