Really popular at any time of the day, near all of the offices and workplaces on Eagle Street Pier, Maru is another one of the unlikely gems that are scattered around the inner parts of the city. I had attempted to go once before to be told of a half-hour wait. Now, was a second bite at the cherry - which turned out to be successful. After a success of meeting up for a cross-over, I went again to have another. Having my second meeting with IHo to meet for lunch, this was the chosen place.
Maru is giant, especially for the inner-city. There is so much in it that it needed two stories to contain it all. Beforehand, it was merely just the top level but recently they have acquired the restaurant space on the ground floor from the previous owners. You can still tell of the remnants from its bland food-court presence, here is not really got character. Go upstairs and that is where it begins. The area is quite spacious, both in floor area and the height of the ceiling. Admittedly, it is minimalist in some respects - overall though, I quite liked the feel of it.
There are two levels of service. It is well thought out, and it might confuse you at first - I was certainly first time around. Going into the first level, they ask you if you want to go up or downstairs. Let's assume upstairs, because that's where the two of us were. Next, you are asked if you want a table with a grill or not (or if you plan on getting anything barbecued). Not today, but maybe another time. Next you are left to your devices until you know what to order.
Whenever you are ready, just press the button and a bell will sound, then a waitress will be at your table in a matter of minutes, maybe even sooner. So you can definitely get more food later if you have the room. I have been impressed with this idea of service before, probably every time I have seen it. This is something that I would definitely like to see adopted more and more into restaurants, as a way to streamline the service.
Then we come to the menu, which is fantastic and extensive. Maru boasts a 100-item menu - which is modest compared to some Chinese places in Market Square, but in defense there is something round and distinct about that number "100". It is a combination of traditional staples, modern classics, twists on well-known dishes and quite a bit of fusion goes on. Just try to shortlist from all the items, much less choose one out of the selections - I dare you. This is one reason why it is best for groups.
Starting off, it has a number of cuts of meat available for barbecuing. Combos of these can be ordered for different sized groups. I am not yet an expert on Korean cooking, but I can assume it has a bit of everything. There are several kinds of starting snacks, especially with the pancakes, noodles aplenty, lots of "ziggle" dishes (this word comes from a homonym of onomatopoeia in Korean of a sizzling pan), plenty of rice dishes - think bim bim bap and deopbap, a few kinds of soup, hot pots (both individual and ones made for sharing), and their special menu which is all kinds of fried chicken and some specialty spicy options. This is just an overview, since in many parts of the menu there are some inventive dishes utilising Korean and Western influences creating something truly tantalising.
To make it better, at certain times of day and days of the week - plus the two combined, either the barbecue meats or the pocha section can be purchased in conjunction with alcohol to ring in happy hour. At lunch time, reduced prices of selected items are available in the guise of a lunch special.
Holy mackerel, just describing and perusing the menu again has made me want to visit - that is how good it was, folks, that is how much I can recommend Maru. The turnout does not lie this time around. No matter what you get, you will definitely have something that is well-presented.
IHo ordered the Ziggle Spicy Chicken. This was fried chicken, marinated in a spicy sauce with a mixture of vegetables - lettuce, carrot, onion, bean sprouts, mixed in an egg yolk and butter mixture. Words are definitely hard to find in order to describe how delicious this was. It's fried chicken - I feel that ought to be enough right there, but there was something more to it. What it came down to was the texture of the chicken, and the whole concept of the ziggle. The pan is really hot, akin to most Korean meals being served, and it keeps the food warm while giving it a light cook in the meantime - hot, black stone. How about instead, just go on a word and order it? Because this is definitely recommended.
What I went for was their "Korean Style-Sausage Soup". It is soup in a different sense of the word, and is more structured like a stew. It was flavoured with beef bone, and had pork intestine, Korean sausage, sesame, and chives. This is an unusual dish, and it is too different to compare to what IHo ordered. The soup had a smooth, slightly thick texture. There was not that much meat in it, but the taste of the meat was definitely noticeable. As a meat, intestine really doesn't have that much flavour and really is just a chewy texture. What is stranger is the sausage, which seemed more gelatin in texture than meaty. It was thick, cut into bits and tasty nonetheless. Pour this on your rice, and season with the given spices.
You get the usual assortment of sides with your meals, which always means kimchi. Additionally, crunchy noodles (or some form of root vegetable that escapes my mind) and pickled onions were alongside. For the soup, an arrangement of seasonings was brought out as well. All of them are asides to themselves, however adding them to the meal creates an even more complex flavour - it is always interesting to see what it brought out.
For some snacks on the side, an order of fried calamari was gotten. As usual, the fried calamari turned out to be reliable, as it often is - soft, tender seafood. It was in a good crumb, and was well presented - again. Three compartments, a dipping bowl, a salad bowl and a calamari bowl. Props will definitely be given to this place to paying attention towards presentation.
As one last bit of food before leaving, just something small to fill us up, who could leave without having a classical pancake? We went with the seafood pancake. This was filled with pips, prawns and squid, and flavoured with soy sauce and onion powder. It was a big pancake, and a bit hard to eat with the chopsticks - the texture is really soft that might fall apart really easily. They do not skimp on the seafood either, and it is all fresh and juicy along with the chives, and a well done batter.
This is another one of those places in which the popularity of it is very apparent, and well deserved. For the kind of restaurant it has made itself out to be, it has everything that could possibly be needed to make sure that it is a memorable and exciting experience: the service system works perfectly and like clockwork, the atmosphere is social and relaxed (even when it gets super busy), the food is some of the tastiest that is around - plus the servings are substantial, and it just rocks as a place to either meet up for a meal during the working week, or to organise post-work catch ups. It really rocks, and reeks of cool.
This is probably the best Korean that I have had. It was very tasty. The menu is extensive enough that it well and truly demands a number of return visits. With all the different modes, and specials around to entice more clientele in, I just might give it some more goes. No doubt, this is certainly one of Brisbane City's highlights for dining - Korean or just in general.
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