마루 Maru Korean Bistro

I was at Maru many years ago under (I think) different ownership. I stopped in tonight on a whim. The dumplings - particularly the king beef and the spicy pork - are fantastic! Fat, well filled, delicious, and clearly homemade. They charge for sauce? Which I find odd and neither of the sauces sounded appealing so we just requested sou sauce and it was great. For mains we had the spicy squid and pork belly (the squid was a little tough, the sauce was amazing, the pork belly was just pork rather than a fatty pork belly - we added an egg for $2 but I wouldn't recommend) and the stone bowl bibimbap with beef (very small amount of protein, the bowl was not hot enough to produce crispy rice, there was no soy sauce on the table to facilitate browning against the rock bowl, and the egg was overcooked, but on the plus side the veg is FANTASTIC) Long story short - we will definitely order their dumplings again (although it looks like there's an upcharge to get them steamed instead of fried??? Again, also very odd) and probably to try some ramen but willaybe look elsewhere for classic Korean main dishes. Also, the old ownership used to have scallion pancakes that were amazing. Wish they were still on the menu!

We had a fantastic experience at this Korean restaurant! The food was absolutely delicious—full of authentic flavor and perfectly prepared. Every dish was satisfying and clearly made with care. The service was just as great. Our waitress, Erika, was friendly, attentive, and made us feel truly welcome. She provided excellent service and great recommendations. Highly recommend for both the amazing food and outstanding service!

First of all, let me say that this place seems like a waste, because the food is actually good! But the rest is a disaster... An abandoned bar and counter welcomes you. Restrooms are very dirty (see photos if you feel like it). Service is deplorable. They did not even have a single spoon available when we asked for one... And dont even think of paying cash: they dont have any change to give you. We were told to wait 15 min before we could get a table, though half of the restaurant was empty.

Food and drinks were all delicious. Service was very nice and fast, but that could’ve also been the fact that there really wasn’t any other customers there the Tuesday night we went. Highly recommend the pork wrap and the glass noodles. The matcha latte was also amazing. 10/10

The food was so good. Super flavorful and fast, friendly service. We came in around 1:15pm and they close at 2. They got all 3 of us served and fed very quickly. We left right about 2pm. Great flavors!!! Food was about $20 a person. Our bill was not over $70 for 3 people.

First, the food took a long time to arrive, even the appetizers, even though there were only three tables occupied. Second, not a single dirty plate was cleared away. There were six of us, and by the end of our visit the table was piled up with dirty dishes. My son wanted juice, but it was out of stock, and no alternative was offered — they just said there was no juice. The food was okay, but the service was disappointing. Also, the restrooms smelled like they hadn’t been cleaned in a long time.

A big disappointment following high hopes. Izumi, the Japanese restaurant occupying this classic beautiful building previously was one of our favorites, and had the best sushi (in addition to many other dishes) in the region. Went in around dinner time and there was only one other table of customers though a few more got seated while there. Our dishes were alright, nothing memorable, but my wife’s tofu entree was a bit hot without much other flavor. We asked if there would be some included side dishes like kimchi, etc., (naturally expected at a Korean place). The waitress explained that normally, there are several included gratis, but that they had "run out", but that for $3.00, we could purchase a side of kimchi. I shrugged and said OK, add it onto the meal. A 2nd order added another $3.00 which did surprise me. At the end of the meal, I expressed our thoughts on this - why add for kimchi when normally, meals include several side dishes free? She agreed that it was strange but that she was TOLD by the owners to do this. I asked her to tell the owner that a customer thought this was bad hospitality and worse, it was petty, and that this all but assured we would never return. She sympathized and apologized, but I could tell that she wouldn’t out of fear of ticking off the owners. This is not how to build a following and we realized this, the food, an a little bit of a creepy atmosphere might be part of the reason for so many empty tables.