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| - This plaza is getting some seriously crave-worthy Korean bar food. First the jjimdak next door, and now HanPan (not to mention cheesy KBBQ and taiyaki ice cream). Maru serves an impressive variety of Japanese and Korean bar food favourites, as well as a well-rounded selection for beer, soju, and sake. Service here appears disorganized/hectic and slow, with my party of four not being acknowledged by any semblance of a front of house/hostess for maybe 20 min (but then again, it was a Friday night and we were seated quite quickly thereafter). The restaurant itself is spacious, relaxed, and trendy.
The starting complimentary appetizers were great, featuring a salad with creamy black sesame/mayo dressing, tender lotus roots, and sweet pickles. The hot house sake arrived in a teapot and was quite smooth and easy to drink. My friends had previously eaten before coming but weren't prepared for what came next.
Let me say that I would not come here for any specific ONE dish. You should come to Maru for their HanPans, which are large sampler three tiered platters, with a cross-sectional tour of various delicious items on their menu flanking a butane stove heated centrepiece. We got the T.O.S (tako, octopus, squid) and Pork Feet HanPans, both in small (as recommended...no... as cautioned by our server).
The Pork Feet HanPan in the one side had onigiri, a simple omelette dressed in ketchup, and two mounds of spicy japchae. The other side had spicy chicken feet, karaage, korokke (Japanese croquette), pickled daikon slices, and four dipping sauces. The main piece was the pork feet with garlic, jalapeno, and spicy sauce on the side.
The T.O.S HanPan on one side had the omelette again, takoyaki, imitation crab salad sushi, and wasabi tako. The other side had another helping of the korokke and karaage, and hoe-muchim (greens and sashimi diced and dressed with gochujang; hoedapbap without rice). The main piece was a pan of spicy stir fry with octopus, squid, and cuttlefish, with veggies.
The sight alone of these two platters was jaw-dropping and drool-inducing to say the least. We greatly enjoyed our time just unwinding, chatting, while pouring sake down our gullets and stuffing our faces with all these different dishes. Not a single element was lacking in flavour or quality. At ~$40 per small HanPan, this meal won't run you more than thirty bucks. Quite the bang for your buck for some real crowd-pleasers.
I hope to return to explore the lunch specials, the other varieties of hanpan, and perhaps promotional/limited time dishes. With improvement in the organization of service, Maru has great potential. Recommended.
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