Galbi tang at Maru - new Korean restaurant where Seoul Korner used to be

Bob, Kim, Margaret and I went out for lunch at Maru today. Bob and Margaret had the bi bim bop, and Kim had a bento with spicy chicken (and a side of macaroni). I had the galbi tang, a big bowl of steaming delicious beef short rib soup for $9.

We talked about a bunch of things, and it was pleasant.

Maru is about $1 or $2 per dish more than Seoul Korner was, and for that extra you get table service, somewhat bigger portions, more banchan (we had 4 for 4 people), and a broader menu. I'm really happy with the lunch I had, and I'll go back. They did a little bit of remodeling in the restaurant to expand a bit and to provide indoor access to the bathroom. One thing I noticed is that the romanization of the hangul is different from most other Ann Arbor Korean places, so it's "galbi tang" on the menu instead of "kalbi tang" that I'm used to. (갈비탕)

There are a few reviews on Arborwiki, and there's a mention of Maru in Kitchen Chick's post on Ari Rang, and one Yelper has been there. Chowhound raves about Ann Arbor Korean food. No Ann Arbor News review yet, and I don't know if the Observer is going to get to it this month.

One Fork, One Spoon has a review of the best galbi-tang in the world.

Technorati Tags: annarbor, restaurant, review, korean, galbitang, kalbitang, 갈비탕, 48104, michigan, chowhound, kitchenchick, maru, arborwiki, bibimbop, yelp

Comments

[KathyKat]

Hi, I was Googling for some info on Maru and I landed on your blog. I was one of the reviewers on ArborWiki. Now about the romanization they use. I'm pretty sure they're using the official romanization system used in South Korea, which you can find out more about here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revised_Romanization_of_Korean

[Spencer]

Did they recently change the name? The restaurant has been a sit-down table service place for at least a year. Or maybe I just didn't notice that the name had changed. Or was there a name/chef/menu change after the change to table service?

[KathyKat]

I think Ed meant that the drinks had been self-service. The sign outside still reads Seoul Korner, but the place is under new management. So now it's called Maru and there's a new chef, who is also the owner if I recall correctly. Hope this cleared it up!