Maki & Ramen — Restaurant in Leeds

Traditional Japanese cuisine and Sushi UK restaurant chain, serving up warming bowls of ramen, fresh sushi, stir fries and much more including some theatrical cocktails. Recently opened this year (2024), this Leeds branch is proving to be a very popular City Centre venue. Maki & Ramen also have restaurants in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle.

One Saturday afternoon in June I met up with some of my Wakefield Food Blogger friends for lunch at Maki & Ramen in Leeds as we had seen a lot of great posts about the food and drinks here. We booked a table a week or two ahead which was a good idea because the restaurant was pretty full.

If you follow my blog then you know I love a noddle stir fry, well now I am loving Ramen too and this was one of the best I’ve had so far.

I enjoyed;

TANTAN RAMEN (£13.90); Sesame infused tonkotsu broth, served with diced pork, chilli oil, pak choi, cucumber, spring onion and a marinated half ramen egg – this was so tasty and packed full of ingredients. For the price it was a very filling bowl of comfort. I couldn’t stop slurping this up and probably made a mess but I don’t care it was so tasty.

PRIDE RAINBOW ROLL (ON LIMITED SPECIAL PRIDE MENU, £13.90); Tempura Salmon, Nori (seaweed), Cucumber, Avocado, Mayonnaise, and Garnish – Between 4 of us we shared this Sushi Dish (8 pieces in total) from the special Pride Menu (was only available for June). It was fresh and tasty and looked amazing.

Totally forgotten the name of the Vodka based cocktail I had but it featured dry ice and looked amazing. However was a little too sweet (even for me). It reminded me of leftover melted red ice pops.

In summary for 4 main meals, sushi meal to share & 4 cocktails the bill came to £116 which isn’t too bad especially for how delicious the food was and that we all really enjoyed it. Portions are quite big for a lunch time too. If you’re a ramen lover I would definitely check this place out.

Opening Times; Monday – Friday: 11:30am–10:00pm, Saturday – Sunday:...

Been here three times now, and unfortunately our last visit will be the final one. We came in on a midweek evening and the restaurant was almost empty. Staff were very friendly and seated us quickly, but the front door was left open the entire time and it was freezing inside, so we couldn’t take our coats off or get comfortable.

Because the door was open, the smell of people smoking kept wafting in, and when we left, we realised it was staff smoking outside. I completely understand they need breaks, but it really dampened the experience when you could smell it inside the restaurant. I’m not sure why the doors were kept open the whole time on such a cold evening.

The food took over 50 minutes to arrive, and we’d only ordered a few basic sushi rolls. Delivery drivers were constantly coming in to collect orders, so it felt like takeaways were being prioritised over people dining in. Around 40 minutes in, the waiter came over to say the eel was sold out and offered an alternative. We agreed, but by then we were already wondering if we’d have to find somewhere else to eat.

He told us the food would be out in five minutes, and two of the three rolls arrived just before that. The third took so long that we ended up cancelling it. We were given 50% off and the service charge was removed, which we appreciated, but it would have been better to be told about the delays and unavailable items upfront.

In the end, we left hungry and went to Wingstop instead, where the food arrived quickly, hot, and tasty. Maki & Ramen was somewhere we knew we could rely on for decent sushi that was a step up from Wasabi. Sadly, it’s gone downhill over the past year. Seeing a sudden wave of overly positive reviews mentioning specific staff also feels a bit questionable. If the focus is mainly on takeaway now, that’s fine, but diners shouldn’t be left waiting almost an hour for sushi rolls. Think I’ll stick to Blue...

Visited last week with my wife as a treat so that we can get away from the kids for what should have been a nice evening. I absolutely love Japanese food as it is not normally cheap so you would expect the service to be above and beyond your typical establishment.

We were greeted by a very unenthusiastic petite lady to wait at the bar to be seated at a table. So far, a very 'dry' interaction.

We waited about 20mins to be seated which, she promised, should have been no more than 10mins, given the fact that tables were available.

After finally getting seated at our table, she then took a very long time (about another 20mins) to take our order. 40mins in, it feels like ordering from Deliveroo would have been far quicker delivered.

Food started coming out within about 10mins, which I felt was impressively quick, considering the quality and presentation. They did however miss our Chicken Katsu Curry which only became apparent when my wife was practically finished with her meal.

I feel this was a rookie mistake, as even the waiting staff at Wagamama check that you received everything you ordered within a few minutes of serving.

Now time comes to settle the bill. The same lady (which I think was part of management as she didn't have a uniform like the waiting staff and was probably new as I never seen her before on previous visits) brought us our bill. Now considering my experience so far; TLDR long wait to be seated and order taken with missed main, they still had the audacity to include a 10% service charge which a) wasn't explained to us and b) it was only me and my wife, not a group of 6 or more!

I decided at this point that I didn't want to make a fuss and just pay the bill to go get back to our kids after a long evening of shocking service.

The food was good but we will definitely not be returning given the...