White Manna

White Manna
358 River St., Hackensack, NJ 07601
(201) 342-0914
Mon.-Sat. 8:30am-9pm, Sun. 10am-6pm

For the past year every time we made our monthly trips to the Costco in Hackensack, NJ for bulk food and supplies (we are tiny people but we can consume!), my parents and I always noticed a small diner-looking place.  It would always be packed inside, sometimes with people piling out the door.  We ventured to try out the place one day last month to see what all the fuss was about.  A month later we came back again.

The first time we went to White Manna, I was shocked at how tiny the place was.  There was a U shaped bar/table and stools facing a central hot plate, where sliders were cooked an additional seating on the side.  The seating was pretty limited, with most people standing, as they placed orders for take-out.  Our first experience there was a real pain in the butt.  Being the novices we were, the three of us piled into the packed restaurant (if you can call it that) and took our places as sardines #14, 15, 16.  After about 5-10 minutes, one of the four people who worked there took our orders and another 15 minutes later, we finally got our food to go.  The second time around we were smarter potatoes.  We called in and placed a pick-up order 20 minutes before coming to grab our food.  Trust me, that's the way to go.  It's like the VIP pass as everyone's waiting to place orders, you just go in say "Here for a pick-up" and voila! Food!

Both times we ordered cheeseburgers (with onions) and fries.  The burgers were exactly the same as the two times we had them - think White Castle burgers but slightly messier and on steroids.  The buns were little larger and the meat was thicker than White Castle sliders.  They have this method of cooking the burgers on a hot plate where all the meat's juices get absorbed by the buns.  So you can imagine, the buns were really savory, with the meat's juices and the gooey, sloppy cheese slathered all over it.  I normally don't get onions on my burgers, but I did for White Manna.  The onions are thin and don't over power the burgers, but rather proves nice flavor to them.  The meat on the other hand was probably the least flavorful part of the burger.  It feels somewhat overcooked (kind of has a steamed taste to it) and under seasoned.  The optimist would say that the buns sucked up all the juices.  The fries were pretty good.  They were steaming hot, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. 

I wouldn't mind coming back here again, but probably only when and if I have the craving for sloppy, oozing burgers with juicy buns and thick, but somewhat bland meat.  -9/13/09

OVERALL RATING: * *
FOOD: * * 1/2
SERVICE: * *
AMBIANCE: * *
VALUE: * * * * 

PROS:

• Juicy buns, gooey cheese
  
• Cheap
  
• Hot, crispy fries
  

CONS:

• Long wait
• Under seasoned meat

SUGGESTIONS:

• Call to order in advance
• Get your burger with cheese and onions
• Place your burger order with the person tossing the burgers and your drink/fries orders with the person who's taking care of the burgers (they get annoyed if you don't)