Maru & Maru Sake Bar

I came to Maru & Maru last week for a friend’s birthday party. It was little confusing to find, but I just walked south on Yonge (It’s cause there was a yonge street address and a northtown address… mans was confused!)
Anyways, after I found it, I saw my friends sitting right front.
The décor was nice, with interesting benches and dark blue lighting.
I was kinda excited after looking at the menu, because a lot of the things seemed innovative.
I ended up ordering the
1. Beef Tataki — I found this a bit too cooked and stale. Usually its thinly sliced and super blue, but this was completely cooked to almost a medium. The beef had a weird taste to it too. I dunno, I felt let down.
2. Takoyaki — This was great. Fresh raw octopus dressed in like a lemon wasabi vinagrette, which was awesome. Super fresh tasting and yummy, it was served with nori sheets and tostitos.
Notes:
We were there on a wednesday night, and we were the only table there… but I found the service to be quite bad. When I got there, my friends had already ordered. so it was super hard for me to place an order.
Many times I felt like I was looking at the server directly in the eye as she stared back at me, but she never acknowledged me. Mans wanted to order some drinks!
I dunno, it was a nice place, but the food was so-​so and the service kinda really sucked. Doubt i’ll be back here.

The atmosphere is stylish and friendly. Warm colors, dark wood and a illuminated bar area that features a live-​edge wood bar. The lighting is intimate and the seating is flexible to accommodate large or small groups.
The food was excellent with stunning presentation.
Welcoming, friendly, and efficient staff. Excellent venue for a group.

I dropped by here last week for a drink and noticed a nice area upstairs that could possibly accommodate my group of friends (20+ people) for my birthday the weekend after. After a quick phone call, it was arranged with no minimum spending, deposit, etc. They even told us we can bring a usb key when we asked if we could play our own music.
So the staff said the long communal table can sit maybe around 16 – 18 people, with a couch on side, but of course we didn’t have enough seats. The waitresses kindly brought out more stools, and although it wasn’t enough, the private area upstairs allowed people to get up and walk around, or even chat by the bar (yes there’s a separate bar where you can watch the chef work on our food directly in front of us).
So it was my birthday and I remember the drinks only :) Although it’s a sake bar, their soju mixed drinks were great, they have a small tap selection (pitcher of Sapporo for $ 18, but a bottle of Keiths and etc for $ 4) and if you prefer vodka or whiskey, they have it all.
My friends seemed to enjoy all the tapas-​styled menu and it was a good mix of Korean and Japanese food. I tried the spicy chicken with cheese on a hot plate and that was actually spicy but delicious.
I can’t say enough thing about the friendly staff there. Although they had to make numerous trips up and down the steep flight of stairs to our area, they were very attentive to take our orders and deliver our food and drinks.
I highly recommend this place for a group gathering or even a just a random night out.

PARKING in that area SUCKS. Luckily, there is a 2 hour of free parking in the Metro underground parking lot (enter from Doris Avenue). When you go down the ramp, turn LEFT towards Metro. Do not park at the Triomphe condo visitors on RIGHT side. you might get towed away!
Okay, now that’s out of the way, let’s get on with my 30 seconds review :)
This place is GREAT for drinks on a random night out, nice «BLUE» vibe lol, opens late, attentive service, good food (but small menu!), has an upstairs with a large chef’s table (can host private events… yay!)
If you order the tasting menus, you pretty much would have tasted most signature items on the menu. You can also select different sizes for a lot of the dishes — personal size $ 5, share size $ 7, and entrée size $ 10.
Unilocalers, you guys are right about the seating. I love it because it is VERY ROOMY but I also hate it hahaha… wish there were some sort of cushioning on this wooden bench! I was moving around my seat the WHOLE NIGHT XD
Last but not least, Maru & Maru, you have REALLY nailed it with the Kumamoto Shooters! They are so darn delicious! I’m gonna come back because of you lol… and also because you have You’s Time sake, you get another (+10) right there XD

The atmosphere is that of a normal lounge but with blue lighting on overdrive. Seriously, blue lights and ONLY blue lights along the walls. It’s really cool when you first enter and sets the mood of relaxation, but gets annoying after awhile (especially once the sun sets and you get tired of feeling like you’re part of the Blue Man Group). Menu’s and décor are very artsy and you can tell they put thought into every details of the setup of the place. My only complaint is that the seats (aka wooden benches) were painfully uncomfortable (a tiny cushion would have gone a long way). They give you caramelized popcorn with each pitcher of beer, which was the tasty costco variety. The only food i ordered was the cooked scallops and they were also very good ($ 10 for about 6 pieces).
For drinks the only beer they have on tap is Sapporo, which if you like it is a good thing since it’s ~$ 18 per pitcher. They also have a bunch of other drinks (and a huge variety of sake). I found some of the sake’s to be overpriced but not unreasonable.
Service was amazing, they never bother you but were always standing nearby when you needed something. Also they were very accommodating when we had a extra person show up and pulled up a bench for them so we didn’t have to change tables.

I randomly visited this place on an off weekday night when I was craving sashimi at 12 am! I called them and found out that they were open until 1. Just enough time!
The ambience is very nice. Nicely decorated with stylish seating and blue lights. However this may not be the most comfortable choice for eating. The chairs dont have back rests and the room is too dark.
The food was very good and so was the service. I has the green dragon roll and 3 sashimis for $ 1!!! And a friend has the spicy salmon roll. Presentation was fantastic and so was the food especially for that time of the day!
I’m yearning to go there to try their sakes and the famous soju that everyone seems to be talking about!
Service was great and they actually didn’t kick us out and let us stay and finish!

Came here after a nearby house warming so yes we were pretty fuelled and in a jolly mood around 12am.
The place is really new and has the kind of table layout where your back to back with the table right behind.
Sapporo beer on tap! That was totally awesome along with the samurai sword style beer tap which a bit later on I half expected the manager to pull out and chop some heads. We also order a cool looking bottle of sake, black and gold for $ 50.
While watching Korean boy bands consisting of so many members, who are so pretty that if I saw them in the fifth I would think they were chicks and buy them a drink (before 12am), we continue with our chit chat and general merriment.
My only problem was when the manager lady came and asked us all to quieten down as other customers were explaining. WHAT!!!
Its 1am there is already kpop playing in the background and the chatter of a full bar yet people come here for quiet conversation!
Is that not like going to muzik and asking the manager to tell the prep school group to stop dancing because it hurts your eyes?
Did we listen… no of course not and sure enough after I had a short stab at the complaining group they got up and left…1−0 to fun people.
I would like to come back here again because the beer is so awesome and I love pissing off people who deserve to be pissed off.

Can I get a ‘Gangnam Style –Eh, sexy laday’?
I came here as part of Jennifer K’s UYE.
Maru & Maru (No, not the loveable fat cat with the affinity for boxes
) is a K-​pop lounge. I’m just kidding, but if it’s not it should definitely house some K-​pop karaōke with their soju.
Having had the ebi, spicy tuna with chips and a huge bowl of salmon sashimi, I can easily say that the food here is worth it. The staff is extremely hospitable and attentive.
MM is not just an after meal stopover. For the DDs I can vouch for the virgin cocktails, even though it may not have the punch –with some k-​pop boybands dancing their way through ever song, you definitely don’t need it.
The underground parking is the mess you’d expect from condo parking. I recommend parking in the Metro underground, if you can get away with it.
I can’t wait to be back again.

Located just south of Finch on Yonge in the K-​town area of north york, newly opened sake bar and sushi restaurant. A true gem amidst the sea of similar competitors
The offering is similar to others BUT what sets them apart is their prices and the customer service. $ 1 for 3 pieces of salmon sashimi… say whatt!!! I ordered $ 5 worth cuz im «a baller like that» (Edwin A)
We had the private dining aupstairs area all to ourselves as the chefs were within eye site across from us in the kitchen turning out our orders with precision. Sara K had some interesting opinions about the… ummm «intimacy potential» of this area.
The purpose of the evening was a UYE to try this new spot out and for me to try Soju for the first time. Suju was described to me as a falvoured version of watered down vodka. Word to the wise, it is not that watered down at all. After several small glasses I was feeling a little lighter — holy crow it still packs a wallop. We ordered Lychee, lemon and blue berry flavors my favorite being the Lychee. Compai!!!
To begin a few appetizer bowls were brought out. My favourite was the spicy tuna resting on greens with tortilla chips to scoop and dip. It was prepared expertly and I would recommend this as a FOR SURE, on your next or first visit. A appetizer first for me was the deep fried shrimp heads… not sure how I felt about these, but I’ll eat anything 2 – 3 times and by my third I was ok with this delicacy (didn’t hate it BUT didn’t love it)
The main course soon followed and we all shared in Sashimi platters. We were served generous (and fresh) cuts of Salmon, Tuna, and Mackerel. The latter of the three is not always my fav because of overly ‘fishy’ taste but somehow I actually really enjoyed the taste — a testament to the cook and his fish selection.
Something new which we tried was the sushi tacos which were a unique fusion spin of a few of my favs (basically sashimi, greens and spicy mayo served inside a mini tortilla which was then cooked on the grill).
By the time the complimentary watermelon came around to close out our meal my Soju and sushi urges were well sated. Will I return? With the right group for sure, and heck with all the Korean Pop music going on (and Fresh Prince of Belair as well), It was a great vibe and totally worth a second round.

In an ever growing effort to embrace my inner Korean-​ness I was fortuitously invited by the lovely Jennifer K to experience the sexy Seoulju UYE and try out the hot new kid on the north block, Maru & Maru Sake Bar.
Walking into the dark space accented with black lights I couldn’t help but conjure up possible sightings of dancers named Mercedes and Lexus clinging to day-​glo poles, but the only thing salacious here at Maru is the unending undulations by androgeonous K-​Pop Idols and airbrushed Korean male shirtless torsos via a continuous feed of MTV Korea videos.
Maru offers a good representation of Sake-tini’s and «Bitch Drinks» and the snack food offerings like the (very) spicy yakitori with gochujang and mozzerella offer an interesting contast to the sake & soju based libations menu.
I ordered the shrimp rolls which we’re okay, but judging by the concensus of my Unilocal peers, it’s all about the sashimi here at Maru. It’s a well known fact that I am not a fan of the sashimi and raw fish delicacies, but growing up the daughter of a Japanese restauranteur, I know good quality sashimi when I see it, and Maru served up a chic parade of fresh and creative sushi/​fish dishes that could easily hold their own against any high-​end Japanese establisnment.
Service here is supreme as Chef Andrew and the servers made every effort to attend to our needs in a gracious friendly manner. On a random note the ladies facilities were very clean and had a toilet seat covers dispenser and a TP caddy, which scores a bonus in my books!
My one regret for visiting Maru, is that it made me realize that unlike my «Seoul brothas & sistas» I do not have any K-​pop dance moves game whatsoever
:(

We came here the other night for a UYE and were really taken care of by the wait staff and chef. It was clear they aimed to impress and they did.
There was a selection of complimentary appetizers consisting of Spicy Tuna with Chips and a Sashimi Platter containing Salmon, Mackerel, Shrimp and Deep Fried Shrimp Heads.
Now I’m not a big fan of Tuna but the Spicy Tuna and Chips were fantastic and definitely an item I would order again. Plenty of textures and flavours going on in this dish!
The Sashimi Platter was beautifully displayed and the items were fresh and delicious… I even tried the Deep Fried Shrimp Head (had to stop at the eyeballs though).
They also had a Sashimi special for us… 3 pieces for $ 1.00. I can’t say no to that so I promptly ordered 15 pieces! My husband and I also ordered the Corn & Kong Cheese from the menu page.
The Sashimi, although fresh, delicious and nicely cut was served a tad warmer than I would have preferred. But I’ll take freshness over temperature any day.
The Corn & Kong consists basically of corn and edamame topped with cheese and baked. A unique dish. The corn and edamame were cooked perfectly however, I found the amount of cheese on this dish made it a little to rich and… almost ‘heavy’.
There was also a Spicy Tuna Taco floating around that we were able to sample. Arugula, Baby Sprouts, EVOO and Sriracha Mayo (which is brilliant, I must say) wrapped in a seared Tortilla. Again with the Tuna… and again, I loved it!
My only disappointment is they don’t have a dinner menu… that being said, I’m sure I would have no problem coming here to fill up on appetizers!
The atmosphere is great and I highly recommend booking the ‘chef’s table’ upstairs if you’re having a larger get-​together.

I came here for a UYE and a lot of food was comped so its not really fair to judge those items so here goes.
The sashimi platter was decent so kudos for that, nice presentation and the shrimp heads very an interesting item on the plate. The Spicy Salmon with nacho chips was and odd combo.
I ordered some items on my own, Tako Wasabi (one of my go to items at a local Izakaya) This one didn’t come with nori, no problems there all I had to do was ask and I was given a generous amount of nori to wrap it up. Full marks for service here. Taste was OK with lots of octopus chunks though wasabi root was missing and daikon as an unnecessary ingredient.
Also of note was the 1 $ for 3 piece of Salmon Sashimi on weekdays (how can I not order that) sashimi was again decent and at that price a no brainer.
They have good drink list and all major Japanese beer are well represented. I am not a Soju drinker but they list here is sure to satisfy the people who crave it. Also the list of sake is good.
The setup is modern and the sound plays K-​Pop which can be quite entertaining if you watch the videos as well :)
A decent place to kill the night in this area. 3.5 stars

Walked by (and drove by) this place many times, didn’t know that they serve great restaurant like food in a bar like place.
Drinks menu looks good. I had the takara plum wine, it’s a Japanese style plum flavor wine made in USA. $ 8 for 5oz, I think it’s a great price. (especially you can’t get it at LCBO yourself)
I think it would be great that they have more Korean wine/​drinks mix, ie. Soju mix with Bek Se Ju, or Soju w/​Hite Beer combo. (these two you can mix at home…)
the menu had some really tasty choices.
Spicy Yakitori, looks like a Italian Parmesan Chicken, with Korean Spicy hot sauce replacing Marinara sauce, taste really good.
Spicy Taco, not bad, but tortilla really covered up the taste of the fish. may be a rice paper wrap would be better?
Sashimi and Sushi are really good, it’s like you are in a Japanese sushi restaurant.
Interior, I like the table & chairs now.(see pics)
If they add a big TV on the 2^nd floor with Korean MV playing non-​stop, it would be a 5 star for me. ;)

Wow. A cool, sophisticated sake bar right in my neighborhood. I’ve seen many pubs open and close at this location, sometimes within a few short weeks of opening! This one looks like a keeper.
Looking for an after movie spot to take your date for a few libations? Maru provides an intimate yet fun atmosphere. Dark woods, low lights, purplish/​indigo lighting accents. Add in a sophisticated sake menu and a menu featuring some exotic bar foods that won’t break the bank, you’ve got a winner of an establishment here.
Service is attentive and the staff is fluent in English. Not a given here in K-​Town North, especially for some of the drinking establishments that cater to the Korean students that make up the majority of patrons. Don’t be shy, whitey.
Food wise, we sampled the sashimi. Loved the generous, thick cut salmon and the rich, meaty red tuna (not that white tuna crap). Great presentation too.
I’m certainly going to be back, probably for the spicy taco platter.
I’d love to see some more Korea drink choices, notably some Korean beers. There are some Japanese beers and Korean beers won’t win any awards but if you’ve lived in Korea, you do develop a fond taste for OB, Hite, and Cass. And get some makkoli on the menu too, although I do realize current LCBO import rules seems to make makkoli (Korea’s version of Boones
) ridiculously expensive.

I was a bit disappointed in the sake selection at Maru, seeing as how they call themselves a Sake Bar but most, if not all, of the sakes are available at LCBO. Also the cheapest bottle of cold sake costs $ 25 at Maru and is only 300mL in size. And that same bottle costs $ 6.55 at LCBO! I know alcohol gets marked up in restaurants, but how am I supposed to get drunk at that price? Anyway, I think Korean drinking is a much better deal, with so many Korean bars to pick from in the same area.
The thing that saved Maru from a 2-​star review though, is the food which was pretty yummy and cheap. The menu has some great snack foods that are full of flavour to go with the drinks. The spicy yakatori ($ 5) was delicious, and so was the tako wasabi salad ($ 5). Also beer and hot sake were reasonably priced, I think it was between $ 4 – 7 for beer and $ 5-​$ 10 for hot sake.
The décor is ultra modern bordering on cheesy with the neon blue lights, and the restaurant is very dimly lit. Downstairs is nice for a date or small group, and upstairs they have a nice big table that is great for large groups to be rowdy.

3.5 Star
Maru & Maru Sake Bar is a brand new restaurant that just opened along Yonge Street. When my friend walked by the other day after lunch, we not even sure they are open for business yet as no business hours is posted, but I decided to drop by on a Saturday early evening to check it out.
Bingo! The «OPEN» is ON! I am IN! Walking into a dark empty restaurant is a little intimating as I stood in the front with not a human being in sight. Too early for some sake? Anybody Home?
Friendly waitress seated me at the table while I looked over the menu. Good selection of bottled Sake with some draft and beer selection. Cocktail though surprising limited. maybe since it is still Maru’s Soft Opening. A temporary menu with some tapas and bar grab Japanese/​Korean/​Fusion Style and new permanent menu will be available soon.
Complimentary Spicy Tuna Sashimi with Chips was offered as snack. Free and Tasty!!! I love it!
Spicy Tuna Taco ($ 12) is nicely plated. Filling a little sparse (arugula, baby sprout, extra virgin olive oil, siracha mayo). great as a snack.
I guess I have to come back with my other Unilocal friends to sample more food and try some Soju cocktail and even sharing a bottle of Sake or 2?
* Weekday specials that includes $ 1 for 3 pc of Salmon Sashimi?!! I think I definitely will be back!