Just a quick review before I head out on a business trip to San Francisco. As its name suggests Makana serves Hawaiian and Japanese BBQ. The Hawaiian BBQ is served “lunch plate” style with sides of rice, mac and cheese, and salad, while the Japanese BBQ is Teriyaki served Bento box style with rice, California roll pieces, Shumai and salad. I tried the Hawaiian Kalua pig, which was a mix of pulled BBQ pork and cabbage, which a definitely recommend.
The Dumplings: There are pork, vegetable and seafood gyoza available in the appetizer section of the menu and some of the dishes come with Shumai. I tried the seafood gyoza which, judging by the flavor, seemed to contain a mix of shrimp and some white fish which had been processed together into a “seafood” filling. The flavor was reminiscent of fake crab legs that are put into California rolls and I am certain these are a commercially produced, frozen dumpling. The dumplings are deep fried, which in this case was not a bad thing at all.
The Dipping Sauce: Makana serves a light ponzu style dipping sauce that has a slight spiciness to it, which pairs well with the seafood gyoza.
Location: Makana is located in the Manhattan Valley neighborhood of Manhattan which is on the West side between Broadway and Central park between about 96th and 110th streets. This area seems to be on an upswing with quite a few new bars and restaurants opening up over the last couple of years along Amsterdam Avenue.
The search for the world's best dumplings 