Raw Mana Sushi Lounge

ALLLOOOOHHHAAAAAAAAA!!!
I felt like I was in a club in Hawai’i!!! For realz!!!
I came with a group on a Wed night and we occupied a couple tables. There’s a Hawaiian band that comes in playing original pieces as well as cover songs. It was awesome!!!
Luckily we were able to take advantage of the Happy Hour. We ordered some Primos, Calamari, Spam Masubi and Loco Moco. Straight up Hawaiian.
The food is decent, but the Primos stole the show! I love me some Hawaiian beer!!!
It’s crazy that you start seeing people you know. Literally, like a club…

I think I’ll have to agree with Unilocaler «Joel A.» that the quality of the food here just isn’t cutting it anymore. My hubby and I used to go here from time to time, but last week was pretty much going to make it our last time.
For the prices and the degraded quality of food (the «cucumber» in our roll was 3 slices of thin cucumber SKIN. None of the actual cucumber, just the skin. and the roll was PACKED full of rice.) — followed by a pretty significant wait time (considering we were the only table in the restaurant and there were about 4 servers and 2 sushi chefs working) — I’m sad to see our go-​to-​while-​at-​the-​mall sushi spot get scratched off of our list.
Edamame was also old. How I knew? Well some were brown and some were green. And if you haven’t ever tried old edamame — consider yourself lucky and stay far away.
The server was nice and our water was always filled — hence the two stars.

We went to Nordstrom’s Rack to get some clothes for holiday parties, and on our way back to the car we saw Raw Mana. We walked in and were promptly seated. We noticed it was an annex to Seau’s. And, lucky us, we walked in during happy hour!
The food was good, the service was good, the food was good, the happy hour deals were rad.
Go there.

3.5
I would have given this place 4 stars because of the quality of the sushi but the service was so bad I knocked it down half a star.
I came here on a friday night and the place was pretty dead. The boyfriend and I were looking to have some good sushi, get a little tipsy drinking sake and then head to the movie theater right next door. Our server, I cant remember her name was very inattentive. We kept having to flag her down to order something which was ridiculous considereing we were one of two tables in the place. She wasnt knowledgeable at all about items on the menu and they were out of the kind of beer we wanted. Another minus was they only had two 3 kinds of sake, one hot sake then one cold unfiltered and one cold filtered.
Ok on to the positives. We sat at the sushi bar and the guy behind the counter making our sushi was friendly, helpful and really took great pride in his work. Our rolls were very tasty and the presentation was excellent. I believe the chefs name was Juan. The fish was fresh. Our total order was 1 miso soup (which was far too salty for my taste and the tofu was mushy) baked mussel appetizer, a seared ahi roll spicy garlic edamame and maybe five carafes of sake. We really enjoyed the mussels and ahi roll and I would definitely go back for the sushi, just avoid the miso soup and that one server lol.
Our total bill came to $ 74 not including tip, but I think thats because of all the sake drinking. The rolls were priced around $ 12 for the special rolls and 8 or so for the regular ones

Live band and sushi at happy hour prices all night for «Aloha» Wednesday!
Last night was my 1^st time at the sushi lounge and glad it was on a Wednesday. This place is awesome! Enjoyed the live island music of Kahi Lofa which really set the tone for the night. I do advise to get there on the early side, band starts playing around 7pm to close. By 9pm this place was packed.
There’s adequate seating inside at the sushi bar, at the tables inside adjacent to where the band was playing and also patio seating outside. No matter where you sat, you can hear the band. It does get pretty loud, but enjoyable.
Me and my party had the Spicy Garlic Edamame (Soybeans served with a bold flavor of garlic, lemon, lime, and chili spices) to start. To drink we ordered the raspberry and apple sake, Tsingtao, Asahi, and Primo beer (beers only $ 4.50 for 22oz bottle). We all ordered off the happy hour menu… spicy tuna roll, philly roll, spicy salmon and scallop hand rolls, ahi poke mixed with seaweed and masago, and miso soup. Food and drinks were great!
Good food, atmosphere and service at this place.

Coming here on Wednesday’s is quickly becoming the norm! Got here after 7pm and was seated quickly. Our waitress Dawn is awesome and on point. Happy Hour specials continue to make me smile. And best of all, I saw someone order a Spam Masubi! Turns out my menu was missing a page! But there’s always next week.
It’s nice to go to restaurant, listen to live Island music while drinking a Primo…

«Aloha Wednesday» is the best time to visit Raw Mana Sushi Lounge located in Seau’s Restaurant Mission Valley. Live Islander Music and Happy Hour all night. I was also shocked that they served PRIMO Beer. Yes, Hawaii’s Original beer for only $ 4.50.
There’s a private dinning area that can accommodate a larger party, chairs and tables located on the outside patio with heaters, seating surrounding the sushi bar where you can watch the sushi chef prepare your order and regular seating around the lounge. Absolutely a great place to meet new and old friends.
My experience here has always been a positive one. There is only one incident that I was a little disappointed. I’ve ordered the crunchy tempura roll quite often and it is always wrapped perfectly and bite size to fit my mouth. Let me reiterate that just once did this happen to me and I’m not sure if it was a new sushi chef training or not so nothing held against them. My crunchy roll was double the size and the rice was not packed/​smashed together. Whenever I bit into my sushi it fell apart. I watched another sushi chef wrap a spam musubi really good that I wanted to have a piece of that so I ordered one. Just my luck it wasn’t the same sushi chef and just say I would’ve wrapped it better. He didn’t smash it together that it was just falling apart. Overall, the taste was still there but messy. Again, nothing against the new employee as you need to start somewhere.
My all time favorite islander band that entertains on most Wednesday’s is «Stateside Islander Crew». Check them out! When Ben and the gang starts playing «Love I» from The Green, I make sure I get on that dance floor and dance my butt off.
I am definitely a fan of Raw Mana Sushi. It reminds me of Mai Tai’s in Hawaii (for those of you who knows about Mai Tai’s, it’s almost the same kind of crowd just no big Hawaiian local guys). Whenever I need my Hawaii Islander fix, Raw Mana Sushi is the place I’ll be.

I’ve been going to this place since inception. This is a great place to come hang out and have good sushi with your friends. I love this place when its NOT packed. I’m basing my review on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
Service:
I’m a tad bias on this since I know people that work here. On that note, I love the service that I get here! For me, top notch!
Food:
Sushi is always fresh and awesome! I usually let the sushi chefs go on a rampage and have them make whatever they want. They have ALWAYS surprised me with nothing but awesomeness! Granted I know the sushi chefs here too. But let the chefs know what your in the mood for and let them go at it. You won’t regret it.
Poke salad is amazeballs here! So go get some!
Beer and a semi-​full bar is always a delight. Did someone say, «Sake bombs»!? They have them here to with a variety of flavored sakes.
Overall:
This a great spot to come hang out and have some sushi. Wednesdays are great too, but don’t keep your hopes up too high on getting quality service when it’s packed full of people. Same with sporting events. Hence, why I like going there on the «off-​days/​nights» here.

Raw Mana is located at the back of Seau’s (or I guess at the front depending on which way you come in). It has a couple of tables, a sushi bar and a separate dining room for semi-​private parties. It also has an outside patio with heaters, which is where we ended up when we decided the music inside was too loud.
On Wednesday nights Raw Mana has happy hour all evening long. In addition, they also have a live band who plays ok music but a bit too loudly in such a small space. But with it being happy hour, I guess they figure more drinking, less talking.
I ordered the gyoza ($ 4) and the sushi on the happy hour list: Philadelphia Roll ($ 4.50 for 8 pieces) and the Spicy Tuna Roll ($ 4.50 for 8 pieces). It’s a pretty great deal price wise and the sushi is tasty, but nothing to rave about. And this is a picky preference, but I don’t like when the rice is sprinkled in sesame seeds. Weird, I know.
However, the service here is friendly and fast. We had two servers since we switched to an outside table and our orders came out correctly and quickly. The place fills up with people drinking, mingling and swaying/​dancing. A pretty packed place for a Wednesday evening.
Note: They will split checks for parties of 3 or less. Also, beware if someone comes wandering onto the patio asking you for spare change. Luckily, he didn’t linger long.

3.5 stars!
The last time I went to Raw Mana was about 10 years ago, it was my first sushi experience and they were packed… so I decided to give them another try.
Went this last Friday evening, pretty slow so you would expect the servers to be pretty on point. Not, so… had to remind our waitress about things we had ordered a couple different times.
Sushi chefs were pretty friendly until we started talking about karaōke and I told him he needed to find some place better than the Lamplighter to sing! That place is NOT bragging worthy!
To sum it up, sushi was great! Lots of options but I wanted sea urchin and they didn’t have it. But, the manager did tell me when I could come in and try to get it again.
Sake with Midori, GREAT!
Prices are OK and service could have been better!

Raw Mana has the best Sushi chefs!!! They’re skilled at what they do, and also put heart into their creations. I like it the most when they create sushi that are not on the menu. I remember one time I tried this one creation that had spicy shrimp, avocado, cucumber, some sauce (unk. to me, but hella good) and it was just delicious. They have happy hour that’s pretty extensive here’s a link that I found for that info.
The set up Raw Mana is very relaxing and you have options! They do have bar seating at the bar, then there is seating at the Sushi bar, where you can interact and watch the chefs make your creations. Then there’s table seating by the sushi bar, AND they have nice comfy lounge chairs for dining too! Service is great and really personable, I feel good coming into this place.
My only suggestion is to work on the bar area. I’ve been here on special occasions at night, and I’m pretty confident there is some magical determined way to make the bar more accessible. It may be a budget issue, but hey I’m only person, and I want to place to reach full potential. Thanks Raw Mana, you folks are awesome possum!
I like it Raw… Mana at SYU! (I’m such a jokester!) pom pom

I love sushi. I love good music. I love fine looking women. I love this place for these 3 reasons. But I have a bias because ¾ of the employees there are my friends.
But seriously though, the food is good (and the women are fine)

The 3 stars is funny because I really want to give 3 ½. The actual Seau’s menu is ehhh. Typical deep fried delights offered in the appetizers. BUT at the sushi bar the deserve a 4star rating.
I wanted to order a pitcher (we were there to watch the fights) but the drafts weren’t working. I’m sure that’s beyond there control, but still. That was a bummer.
I asked my sushi chef Leonard to make me a surprise roll and to this day I don’t know what was in it, but I wasn’t allergic to any of it and it was delicioso!

Aloha Wednesdays are the best. Happy hour specials all night and great Hawaiian music from 7PM to close. (normal happy hour is 5PM-​7PM on none event nights)
It sometimes can get pretty packed, so if you want a place to sit down plan on getting there early.
My favorite happy hour deal are for 2 hand rolls for $ 4.50, specifically the scallop hand roll.

We had their sushi there and it was pretty good. The only thing is a LOT of their sushi rolls had cream cheese in it which I thought was a little weird but we enjoyed our selections. Did not have any sashimi though. What we did have tasted and smelled fresh. We also had their tofu appetizer and that was awesome. The waitress was also very nice.

Sushi is just average.
It’s mostly busy during Twitter Tuesdays. They offer a free roll «victory roll» (with a purchase of one) if you mention the saying of the week. BUT the service is horrible. And if you enjoy a quiet dinner this is definitely not the place for you. (TUESDAYS ONLY)
The dj (even tho they are my friends) play the music waaay too loud I can’t even have a conversation with the person next to me without yelling in their ear. Our waitress stopped serving our table and started bartending. I had to walk over to the bar and ask for the check and handle the bill at the bar.
Raw Mana basically turns into a lounge. My friends love coming here but it’s not really a place I enjoy personally.

Location: It’s inside Seau’s. Enter the front door and and it’s tucked away in the far right hand upper corner.
Happy Hour: There were about 10 sushis to choose from and we ended up ordering one Cali, Philly and Spicy Tuna (all $ 4.50 each!). They also have drinks on the list, but I’m not a drinker so I have no info on that. Saw-​ray!
As I tried to pick up a piece of sushi w/​my chopstix the sushi almost fell apart. So, some were a bit too soft in texture. But, overall, I still enjoyed myself watching the Lakers v. Celtics game!
Celtics won by the way… (I’m sorta indifferent, but rooting for Celtics because I’m a follower… of my bf, ha!).
Our friends ordered a tempura roll or something like that, which I really liked! RECOMMEND IT (but don’t think it’s on the happy hour list)!
Seating: Few seats at sushi bar, some tall tables and lounge area. You can bust an owl move and just keep your head still and just look in every direction because you will see flat screens everywhere!!! Pretty cool place to watch a game.
Service: Our server was super cute and nice! For the most part, she was really on top of things even though it was hectic and busy.
Overall, pretty cool game spot with decent food!

If you’re in the mood to feel the the aloha vibe on a Wednesday night, go to Raw Mana Sushi Lounge inside Seau’s to get your fix.
I met my boy BFF here last night for some good eats and some good olé q.t. and had a great time. A lot of my friends go here regularly every Wednesday night because a group of four guys bust out their ukeles and sing songs from the islands along with other chill beats (Jason Mraz’s song I’m Yours was sung last night). I don’t go as often as them, but I’m glad I did. Junior was there in the patio chillin’ having a great time as well.
The sushi is good, they used some type of other crunchy stuff than what I’m used to when I eat crunchy rolls, but it was still tasty and satisfied my hunger pangs. The staff is still wonderful and bust their tails when they have a packed room of hungry and thirsty patrons.
If you’re wondering what to do on your Hump Day, I’d encourage you to check these guys out when they perform (I wish I can remember the name of their group). It’ll make you want to go to the islands, lounge on a hammock while sipping on a Mai Tai, I’m itchin’ to go back. to Hawaii that is! Shaka brah!

Ive eaten sushi here maybe 3 times and I’ve probably eaten at the regular dining area maybe a dozen times.
Its just that if and when I go to Seaus, its to watch a game, most likely at the bar and order off of the regular menu.
The seating area is pretty cool with those chairs though. It looks like a lounge. Sit at the bar if you’re looking for the best service possible.
Its decent and I would come back here. I have alot of sushi snob friends that wouldnt come here for sushi. Thats why they’re snobs. Whatever. I’ve actually worked with some guys that used to be sushi chefs here and I know that they do a good job and care about their reputation.

The best thing that I love about Raw Mana is the all night Wednesday Happy Hour! With it’s chill atmosphere, I find that Raw Mana is a cool place to hang out, with friends. The sushi deals for happy hour are pretty cheap, too. The sushi itself is just decent, nothing exceptional. But, it’s the price the draws me in. Cheap drinks — large $ 4 beer. Cheap eats — two sushi rolls or hand rolls for under $ 5.
Can’t complain when I spend an average of $ 12, everytime I come to this place.
This place can get pretty crowded on Wednesdays, so show up early! It’s also not great for huge groups. Though they do have a side room, seating tends to be tight and limited. But if it’s just you and a couple of friends, I find it worth the wait, especially with good company.