tried Maru Bengara for the first time at a local Korean spot, and wow – it definitely leaves an impression. The fish is grilled to perfection: crispy, golden skin on the outside, yet tender and flaky on the inside. The marinade or accompanying sauce (usually a slightly sweet and spicy gochujang-based blend) adds a deep umami kick that pairs beautifully with steamed rice and banchan. That said, the flavor is intense – quite fishy and salty compared to milder white fish dishes. If you’re new to dried/salted fish preparations, it might take a couple of bites to adjust. Also, watch out for small bones. Overall, it’s a fantastic choice if you love bold, authentic Korean flavors and don’t mind a little hands-on eating. Just don’t expect a light or subtle dish. Would order again with a cold glass of makgeolli!

Great food and service. We tried a range of items including the desserts and they were all delicious. They had an English menu and English speaking staff.

+2

We had lunch at this popular restaurant in Shibuya and ordered the 'salted mackarel lunch set' and 'lunch combo special' from the restaurant's English menu. The English menu may have fewer dish options compared to the Japanese one, but they're good enough for us. The lunch set comes with miso soup, bowl of rice, Japanese pickles and <i>tamagoyaki</i>, and the grilled fish of your choice. The combo special also includes a few slices of fresh fish <i>sashimi</i> and 2 fish fillets (black cod and salmon) grilled with Kyoto style <i>miso</i> sauce (<i>saikyo-yaki</i>). The mackarel was grilled with salt only (<i>saba shio-yaki</i>). Both dishes are very good especially if you like Japanese style grilled fish dishes. They're also very good value for your money and costing us in total of ¥ 3,350 since we got free tea drinks 👍. Customer services are reasonable and you can ask for English menu. The staff members would try their best to understand your English communication, but a bit knowledge of Japanese vocabulary will help a lot. The place is not big, but has reasonable space for family style restaurant. You can pay with V/MC payment cards in the restaurant so you don't need to worry about cash in your wallet.

We were blessed to have some local friends introduce us to the amazing food here. I wish I knew more about the names of all the dishes we tried, but it doesn’t matter because I ate all of them. They are all good! Especially their unique rice filled with fish. I will always remember this 6 course dinner.

+3

We read about this place while searching for a dinner place near by. We choose the menu with unlimited drinks. Lovely service and they changed up one dish due to my allergies. The menu was varied, well plated and paced. Everything was delicious.

+3