Maru Restaurant — Restaurant in Ixelles - Elsene

I invited my friends to this place for dinner following the recommendation of another friend, but I can only summarize it as complete disappointment.

The food is clearly overpriced, yet the most outrageous thing is that as a customer, the owner almost humiliated us when she saw us leaving comments online….hence I doubt the level of service.

In terms of the food, we ordered the fried chicken, bibimbap, kimchi tofu soup and the Bulgogi. Maybe I am not in the position to judge if it is “real” Korean food as a foreigner, but they were definitely different from what I had in Korea, US, France and China - all in the worse way. The kimchi tofu was really pure kimchi plus two slices of Tofu, the Bulgogi was served in the shape of a steak but much smaller (and it was the first time that I had raw meat in beef Bulgogi).

Taste aside since it can be subjective, the food is definitely overpriced. The fried chicken is a main dish but in the size of a starter, not to mention the kimchi soup with only two slices of tofu, how can it be charged so much.

And to the part that I was most frustrated of: the owner really got pissed off when she saw a friend of mine typing on her phone after dinner to leave a comment (which is suspicious already - how can you read the screen of your customers). Seeing this, she immediately came over to our table and said we’d better know what the real Korean food is before leaving any comments online (which is a very strange comment… is it because my friend is a black girl and a white guy that we have no idea of Korean food lol?) And later she was even hinting towards that we came on purpose to complain, while moving her body up over the table to confront my friend… I respect the efforts and difficulties to maintain a business and that’s why I seldom leave bad reviews, but as a customer, I reject to be treated with bias and judged in a hostile way😂And as long as it’s fair, I reserve my right to comment on the food.

All in all, a very high expectation ending up in a terrible experience. I would...

Michelin rated with service WORSE than McDonalds. We were rushed out after being seated on time for our lunch reservation (with an option for reservation 15 minutes later than we had made!), 1 hour and 15 minutes total. Our plates were taken away before our food was finished, in fact, my friend grabbed her plate back from the waitress in order to finish her lunch. As soon as our plates were taken, our table was aggressively sprayed with chemicals and we were asked to remove our elbows from the table so they could wipe it down. We were not asked if we wanted anything else. The owner sat directly beside me, loudly eating soup for most of our meal. When I sat down, I moved the plate and cutlery away so that I could lean onto the table and speak to my friend, and the owner came by and moved everything back where it was originally. Seemingly pointless control? I was having flashbacks of being with my mother-in-law.

Absolutely not interested in providing an atmosphere of service or politeness, much less elegance.

When we paid, we were asked if we enjoyed our experience and both immediately responded “no.”

In hearing this, the waitress spoke to the owner (who we believe was her mother) in Korean, and the owner laughed loudly.

We could not have been given a clearer message: that we did not matter, and they did not give a shit about our experience. The food was quite good, but honestly not markedly better than the other Korean restaurants. I enjoy frequently around Brussels. And for lunch, my friend and I paid almost €70 each for an appetizer and entrée and wine. I do not make a lot of money and a fancy lunch out with my friend is a rare treat - and eluded us entirely at this sham of a Michelin rated restaurant. Do not make our mistake.!

A little kindness and respect goes a long way, Maru. You...

Went for a Sunday Korean lunch experience with my wife.

One thing to is sure, quality of ingredients is not in question, all that is on the menu was fresh to the taste and of high quality.

We spent 95 € for 2 people (1 suggestion of the day as appetizer to share, 2 x main dishes, 1 x beer. 1 x cola, a coffee and a 1 x dessert.

General experience is you very good.

Warm atmosphere and quality staff and service.

The owner have the impression to be very professional and open to share the vision behind her model with her Perl of wisdom being "Do not be afraid to do things different" This is evident in the dishes served in this restaurant which do not try to sell you smoke but focus on the fire meaning the core dinning experience of engaging core senses, smell, taste and good presentation.

The food was tasty no need to be specific on a particular one. I recommend to at least experience this dinning experience at least once and there likely will be a twice.

You pay for quality, here quality is not sacrificed not compromised and you are garanties that as a minimum.

See you again...