Tuesday 15 November 2011

Maru Korean Bbq


Maru Korean BBQ
3/5
157 Elizabeth St Brisbane CBD
I noticed Maru’s appearance a few weeks prior to its actual opening. It’s located where David’s, a Chinese restaurant, was; just up from the Irish club. An addition to the already good downtown Korean scene, my anticipation for this BBQ place was palpable.
Like many of the new Korean places, Maru have done a great job in their fit out. The feel is a fresh, bright minimalism, which for BBQ works really well in accentuating the sociality of the dining.
A combination of light and dark timber fittings is paired against a rather spare, small tree in the centre of the room. My only complaint is probably due to the fact that they’d just opened, but the shelves above the bar were conspicuously bare.
Like almost all the Korean restaurants that have popped up in the last few years, the employment of table call bells ensure service isn’t an issue. Maru gets bonus points for also have what’ve been probably the quickest staff in existence.
Maru has a far shorter BBQ menu than its competitor up the street, but it contains all the important cuts and neither of the plates we ordered, pork jowls and sliced beef, came out frozen which is an obvious positive. The quality of the meat was good and on par with other major BBQ places.
Maru uses electric grill plates and although they take a while to heat up, they have the advantage over charcoal in that they don’t cool down, but they do lose that smell and flavour of charcoal that is as much a part of the experience as the flavour it imparts.
The sides that came out weer all of a good quality, my only complaint could be the lack of size in the lettuce leaves. This wasn’t too much of a negative, more just one of personal preference and could be considered a positive by those who do BBQ differently to me.
Maru is a great addition to the Brisbane food scene, the fact that at least at the moment it’s quieter, probably makes it my most likely eating destination, however I doubt it’ll be like this for long judging by my experience the other night.
Maru is open for dinner most nights
The plates of meat cost $17 each and there are combination plates available that make each portion cheaper
Maru is licensed and has a variety of Korean drinks available including HITE which cost us $4 per bottle. 
Maru currently don’t have a website

Maru Korean Bbq Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Thanks to theo for editing this post.