Dine-out with Alea at Maru

Upon hearing that Alea (a friend and much like a younger sister to me) came here for a month of vacation after 5 years of residing in the US, I immediately contacted her through Facebook and text message that we should meet up! We agreed to meet in Robinsons Place Manila after I got off from work.

It was a rainy Friday evening and as planned, we decided to have dinner while catching up in this Korean restaurant called MARU, just beside Arya.

Upon entering, the restaurant looks spacious (though it's not too big), clean and well-lit. There were tables with chairs and cushioned seats on the right side of the restaurant. On the left side is an elevated platform wherein you have to take off your shoes before taking a seat. Of course, we chose that area. On the tables were built-in burners where you could grill.

The waiters approached us to take our orders. I must say that they are very accommodating and friendly too, explaining to us every dish to help us easily pick our orders and especially because I have quite a number of questions since it was my first time to eat in a Korean resto. Considering that there's only the two of us, we opted for just two dishes. We ordered the non- marinated Beef strips (which I forgot the name) and the Japchae. For drinks I ordered a mango smoothie while Alea ordered soda.

Japchae

While waiting for our orders, they served us with cold water and soup. The soup tastes sort of bland and spicy at the same time, but surprisingly, I liked it. Then they served about 8 appetizers or starters (which is for free). There were Kimchi, tofu, veggies, green chili and others I'm not familiar with. They taste both spicy and sour though I did not try everything because some doesn't look too appealing for me! Haha When our orders came, the waiter started to  pre-heat the built-in burner and placed the beef strips to grill while Alea and I started with our almost endless chatter! Haha We only paused for a while when the waiter told us that the beef strips were ready. He cut it and separated the bones. I felt excited to eat! We first tried the Japchae. Japchae is a Korean dish made from transparent noodles, stir-fried in sesame oil with a variety of vegetables such as carrots, radish, onion, spinach and mushrooms. Mmmmm.... it tastes so good! My taste buds were dancing with glee! :) The noodles were very tasty and the stir-fried veggies adds to the flavor of the dish making it more delicious. As for the non-marinated beef strips, it tastes heavenly as well. The meat is very tender and oh-so delicioso! Sooo flavourful! Two thumbs up pati paa for this! You see, even though I don't know how to use chopsticks (and because I have no choice but to use it), I still ate a lot. :) They gave us a cup of rice too pero hindi na namin nagalaw. HahaDine

I was so glad that I had a good dining experience with my first try in a Korean restaurant thanks to Maru! With their great food plus very accommodating and friendly staff, I definitely recommend for you to try this restaurant. :)

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MARU Korean Restaurant 
L1 Alfresco Midtown Wing, Robinsons Place Manila