Maruko X.
Yelp
Ambiance: it's a very stylish chain restaurant, located in the heart of MB village, ample parking available, spacious inside and comfort outdoor seating as well, overall very dim lighting inside
Service: overall very disappointing experience, although I really wanted to like this JOEY at MB, apparently my experience is way much better at their other location. The server mainly served our table was kind and friendly, attentively refilled water and patient with requests, but few other servers I've encountered with weren't so great. We happened to be seated next to a large birthday party group, I'd rather not being seated next to such a loud group at the first place, don't get me wrong, I felt happy for their celebration, but it's still very annoying when they took numerous photos while using flash lights, I understand it's not all the resultant's fault, but it wasn't completely full that night, and there were still plenty of empty tables further away, and they didn't have to arrange the seats back to back there if they truly consider all their guests, let alone after I asked for change of table through another server who seemed to arrange seating for the restaurant, she said she'd check what's available but then never came back saying anything, I just got completely ignored. We almost finished the meal and still waiting for the dessert, I was already so annoyed by the nonstop flash at that point and had to ask our waitress for the last time to find a different table, of course I tipped well for her service, despite hilariously the cashier made another mistake for billing in the end and I had to do the calculation and correct her step by step, totally speechless. Again, it doesn't have to be this hard.
Food & Drink: standard JOEY menu, classic steakhouse with fusion elements
KOREAN FRIED CAULIFLOWER - ** sweet & spicy korean chill miso paste, toasted sesame seeds, overly sweet and not spicy enough, the battered coating wasn't crispy and fairly soggy, the cauliflowers were shredded too much into small pieces
SZECHUAN CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS - **** sweet soy ginger glaze, peanuts, crispy wontons, spicy aioli, bold taste and fresh lettuce, recommend
JUMBO LUMP CRAB CAKE - *** crab, shrimp, corn with panko crust, average taste
INDIVIDUALLY BAKED APPLE PIE - **** hand-folded pastry, toasted almonds, tahitian vanilla ice cream, sweet and crunchy, balanced with the aroma from the toasted nuts and creamy ice cream, recommend
Price: medium portions and overpriced for most items, not totally worth $50~$60 per person, I probably won't come back here and definitely not recommend this location to friends unless you're fine with quotidian food and lack of service