Maru, W1.
As part of my birthday present, the GLDHI booked Maru, a sushi joint raved about by Coren. We went last night.
On the tube journey there, I wittered about it apparently being hard to find saying that a reviewer had resorted to asking a newsagent where it was. It was indeed hard to find if you haven’t yet learned how to use Google Maps and your eyes. Go to the indicated spot, look up, see the word ‘Maru’ above a matte black door and enter.
A long, thick, blonde wooden counter awaits which in non-Covid times seats 10, but currently seats 6. Two sittings/night. Omakase only - though, with prior warning, they did replace the oyster with octopus for the GLDHI.
There’s much to admire about the ethos of the place - a focus on sustainability and a real focus on local sourcing; 80% from the UK (mostly Cornwall and the Orkneys), nothing from further than Spain (the tuna). The wasabi root is grown in “Dorset” (though I could have
sworn that the only UK grower farms in Sussex). I say nothing from further than Spain. That applies to the food ingredients. I’m pretty certain that the excellent junmai daiginjo (made in Niigata prefecture) was from a little further away.
There were 21 courses (£170/head, food only). The majority were fish (though no uni or hamachi due to his food miles policy), with the addition of a pretty good duck dish and an excellent root vegetable medley.
The quality was good; very good occasionally. He’s precise, and all the dishes were technically strong and clean. His sauces were excellent in the main. It’s clearly rooted in traditional sushi, but he’s expanded the repertoire - sometimes, but not always, to good effect.
We left.
“Well?”
“Everything was a little, err, bland wasn’t it?”
“Quite”
A lot to admire, quite a few individual components were very good to excellent, but the one-word review is ‘bland’. Odd. I’m not quite sure how he pulled that off.
As I predicted on the 2021 thread, it’s not as good as Sushi Tetsu, despite Coren’s ravings. It’s probably the second best sushi I’ve had in the UK (far better than the style over substance at Endo), but if Sushi Tetsu scores a 10 (it doesn’t, it scores 11+), then Maru scores a 6.5.
By all means go if you’re after a teaser of what sushi could be like if only the chef were, err, better.
Edit:
“I’d say 6.5 is harsh” says the GLDHI
“Really?”
“Yeah”
“What would you say it should be then?”
“7”
“[small snort]”
Whatever.
Edit 2:
“You didn’t say anything about the textures. They were good.”
“Hmm. Yes, they were”
“Especially the trout, the mushrooms [a medley of 12], and the octopus”
“I wouldn’t know about the octopus, you wouldn’t give me any”
“It was my favourite dish”
“Thanks for that. Why don’t you post your own review?”
“On NSC, you mean?”
“No”
As part of my birthday present, the GLDHI booked Maru, a sushi joint raved about by Coren. We went last night.
On the tube journey there, I wittered about it apparently being hard to find saying that a reviewer had resorted to asking a newsagent where it was. It was indeed hard to find if you haven’t yet learned how to use Google Maps and your eyes. Go to the indicated spot, look up, see the word ‘Maru’ above a matte black door and enter.
A long, thick, blonde wooden counter awaits which in non-Covid times seats 10, but currently seats 6. Two sittings/night. Omakase only - though, with prior warning, they did replace the oyster with octopus for the GLDHI.
There’s much to admire about the ethos of the place - a focus on sustainability and a real focus on local sourcing; 80% from the UK (mostly Cornwall and the Orkneys), nothing from further than Spain (the tuna). The wasabi root is grown in “Dorset” (though I could have
sworn that the only UK grower farms in Sussex). I say nothing from further than Spain. That applies to the food ingredients. I’m pretty certain that the excellent junmai daiginjo (made in Niigata prefecture) was from a little further away.
There were 21 courses (£170/head, food only). The majority were fish (though no uni or hamachi due to his food miles policy), with the addition of a pretty good duck dish and an excellent root vegetable medley.
The quality was good; very good occasionally. He’s precise, and all the dishes were technically strong and clean. His sauces were excellent in the main. It’s clearly rooted in traditional sushi, but he’s expanded the repertoire - sometimes, but not always, to good effect.
We left.
“Well?”
“Everything was a little, err, bland wasn’t it?”
“Quite”
A lot to admire, quite a few individual components were very good to excellent, but the one-word review is ‘bland’. Odd. I’m not quite sure how he pulled that off.
As I predicted on the 2021 thread, it’s not as good as Sushi Tetsu, despite Coren’s ravings. It’s probably the second best sushi I’ve had in the UK (far better than the style over substance at Endo), but if Sushi Tetsu scores a 10 (it doesn’t, it scores 11+), then Maru scores a 6.5.
By all means go if you’re after a teaser of what sushi could be like if only the chef were, err, better.
Edit:
“I’d say 6.5 is harsh” says the GLDHI
“Really?”
“Yeah”
“What would you say it should be then?”
“7”
“[small snort]”
Whatever.
Edit 2:
“You didn’t say anything about the textures. They were good.”
“Hmm. Yes, they were”
“Especially the trout, the mushrooms [a medley of 12], and the octopus”
“I wouldn’t know about the octopus, you wouldn’t give me any”
“It was my favourite dish”
“Thanks for that. Why don’t you post your own review?”
“On NSC, you mean?”
“No”
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