Weekday date nights and we wanted to get out and have more Korean BBQs before the summer really kicked in. We didn't want to queue up at the city, so we went out of our way to try out Maru at Cannon Hill, one of Queen V's favourites.
Although there was no queue, it was a full house and it was lucky we booked. The area was spacious and well ventilated.
As with most Korean BBQ restaurants, the main focus of the menu was meats. There was a wide selection served a la carte, but we opted for the set menus because those came with standard sides. In addition to the meat dishes, there was also quite a few set meals such as bibimbap which we were interested to try next time.
Despite the menu, ordering was done on the ipad affixed to the wall, which made the menus somewhat redundant. At least that saved us having to flag down waitstaff.
The side dishes came out fairly quickly. There was an assortment of kimchi, pickled onion, pickled cabbage, fresh salads, kelp salad and lettuce for wrapping meat. It turns out that the set doesn't come with rice, and there was a bit of confusion with staff as to whether our set came with or without refills for our sides. In the end they settled for one refill only. As for the sides themselves, the salads were fresh but my favourite was the kelp salad which was both crispy and crunchy. The absence of fish cake was also quite noticeable too.
Our combination came with a variety of cuts including various wagyu, pork belly as well as pork jowl. I was impressed by the crunchy pork jowl which didn't have much pork smell to it, as I don't often see it included in combos. The wagyu was buttery but not overly fatty and the overall meat quality was quite good and tender. I'd say that it's probably better than a lot of what can be found in the city lately but probably not as good as meet and meat at market square.
The Wednesday special was the bulgogi, so we had a serve to share. This was well seasoned and deliciously sweet and umami with soy flavours. The beef was tender and thinly sliced, it also wasn't too fatty and went well with the salads.
In a nutshell, we had quite a good time at Maru. The prices weren't too cheap but I guess nothing really is these days, but the meat quality was definitely a lot better than its competitors. I would definitely come back again if I was in the area.
Taste: 8.5/10
Value: 6.5/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10
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