Maru Sushi

Best sushi presentation I’ve seen so far (but what do I know, I’m from Arkansas). This restaurant was clean, modern, and inviting. Staff was friendly and knowledgeable (however not Asian by any stretch of the imagination). Our waitress knew the menu well when posed with a question of the differences between two rolls. She didn’t hesitate a bit to describe them both and offer her opinion. Food was all fresh and hot. When I visit Lansing again, I’ll most likely have to drop in again.
We went around 12:30 on a Sunday afternoon and had zero issue with being seated. No reservation necessary.

Went today and ordered the amaebi nigiri. Waitress Maria brought out ebi nigiri (pictured). When I tried to politely point out error, she (who was never friendly or smiling to begin with) just stared at me and shook her head, insisting that it was the amaebi. Let me state that again… STARED AT ME AND SHOOK HER HEAD… B puhlease!!! Management, please make sure waitstaff is informed! She did take it back without charging me however and bring out what I ordered. The plate arrived smelling like old seafood. The amaebi, which translates as sweet shrimp, tasted weird and bitter and the deep fried heads, normally packed with succulent flavor tasted of dry sea-​stuff ambiguity. Not sure how many people are in charge of making sushi-​meshi but today it sucked… totally tasteless and falling apart. Also, my tea was brought out inside a french press with one little cup. While french presses are trendy and all, anyone who knows something about tea brewing will see how this is problematic. Will not return. I suppose it’s my own fault for trying to get sushi in Lansing. As another reviewer stated, staff is mostly a bunch of stupid ass non japanese college kids. Hope I don’t get sick later.

Our favorite sushi restaurant in the area. The sushi fresh, the menu is extensive, the staff is friendly, knowledgable and professional. This is obviously a reflection of the management.

Food is great. Don’t expect to get in without a reservation.
We walked in on a Friday evening around 7pm. Told a 15min wait. 45 minutes later, after they filled every empty table with reservations in that time… We were told it would be at least another 45 minutes. Really? Next time just tell us it’s not happening. Don’t make us waste an hour + for no reason.
Owners, the place is small and busy. You have enough walk-​ins, you don’t need to rely on reservations.
While waiting with multiple empty tables we saw three different couples (not including us) within 10 minutes walk out after we were told «we hold reserved tables for a half hour». They eventually walked out, just like we did– all while there were four empty tables in the restaurant.

I’ve gone here for lunch, dinner, and special occasions! The servers are very friendly, the place is very clean, and the food is inexpensive and great at the same time. There sushi usually ranges from $ 6-​$ 17.00 with a lot of sushi. I love there Salmon nigiri.

Been to Maru several times and this time didn’t disappoint either. There are numerous vegetarian options to try from the menu that have made it a place I have frequently visited. First off, the edamame is a great starter that you have the option for asking with sriracha salt for an additional charge. I would definitely suggest this! Next, the salad is fresh with a dressing that is unique to maru. For the entrée, I would suggest the super mario veggie roll or the rio grande veggie roll. If you don’t like seaweed, you can substitute it with rice paper! Finally, I would suggest either the cheesecake or truffle mousse. I have been to 3 out of the 4 locations and the service and food is consistent across all locations

We’ve been to Maru a few times for different occasions and we haven’t been disappointed. The service is very good and so is the food. We’re vegetarians and we love the vegetarian rolls as well as the hot veggie dishes. Their tofu dishes are delicious.
I will say that this is a place for special occasions though – at least on our budget. ;-)

The food is good. Sushi is always very fresh. Service is good.

Really this place gets 10 stars. It’s so hard to explain this, but Michigan has the best sushi place ever. Maru! They are so creative and the fish is always fresh. I love that you can also watch them make it. I’ve never had one bad dish and have had pretty much everything on the menu and then some. Definitely try the chef’s choice! Choose flavors you like and be sure to tell them what you don’t like the chef just come up with various sushi dishes. ALWAYS SUPRISED!
The salad dressing here is the best I’ve ever had, so when I come to Michigan, I always buy some to go. Glad they started selling it! Excellent wines and craft beers. The ambiance and décor is nice. but the sushi is FANDAMNTASTIC!

Well, I love the food served by the Maru in east Lansing. And when I found there is another Maru nearby in the okemos, I was excited to give a try. I would say the service is good and the waitress is nice. But when it comes to the food, it is a big disappointment! Especially the fried pork with the curry sauce. The pork is too thin and too dry compared to the one served in east Lansing. And the curry sauce only fills half of the tiny little bowl. While in the store of the east Lansing, the fried pork is crunchy but also tender inside, with a full bowl of curry sauce, which is also my favorite of all the dishes served by Maru. When I asked the waitress for more curry sauce, she told me it came with right portion and I need to pay extra money for the ‘extra’ sauce… Ok, I do not care what’s going wrong in this store and that’s gonna be my last time for the Maru in Okemos.

I was visiting from Houston where there are many great sushi bars. This place would rank up there with the best of them. I would have given 5 stars but the place is very small. They need to expand the area. Great sushi!

Great sushi. Everything was fresh and delicious. Creative rolls.

My husband and I came here last weekend with our 8-​month-​old son. We were visiting campus and wanted a somewhat light dinner in a nice atmosphere that would accommodate our little one. When we pulled up, I was a little nervous that it wouldn’t fit that bill, but I was wrong. The atmosphere is so pleasant but welcoming for all groups. There was a family next to us, a group of high school girls behind us and a group of college kids in front of us – everyone was having a great time :) The rolls were really great. I thought $ 15/​roll was a little much (where we live in Indianapolis, rolls are $ 7 – 15), but they were huge! Not to mention beautiful. I asked the server (who was extremely pleasant) for her recommendations and got the blue mango, the cosmo and one other (it’s escaping me at the moment). All were PHENOMENAL! I highliy recommend.

The food is soooo good. The tonkatsu here has always been on-​point! And the portions are always so generous. Comes with a sweet & tangy dipping sauce, yellow pickled radish, and a small bowl of curry. So filling and so delicious!
I would also recommend the Sexy Bacon roll, good for anyone that loves bacon. As well as the Soy Joy roll. Never disappoints.
The atmosphere of Maru is the best, both outdoors and indoors. Whenever I’m craving sushi, I think of Maru. It’s so conveniently located in my home city as well, Grand Rapids. See you soon, Maru. ;)

Hands down the best sushi in the East Lansing area. That’s above Sushi-​Ya and Sansu, both of which were my go-​to spots during college. (I don’t think Maru was around when I was in college, but I wouldn’t have been able to afford it either.)
The rolls are creative: got the blue mango, which is spicy tuna, avocado, kampyo, mango, topped with shrimp, wasabi aioli, eel sauce, and wasabi tobiko. The tuna wasn’t terribly spicy and there was something about the softness and coldness of the mango that didn’t make me completely love it, but it was still good. And also the crouching tiger: panko fried shrimp, cream cheese, crab salad, topped with shrimp, avocado, fantasy sauce, eel sauce, honey wasabi aioli, masago and scallions. Good flavor, even better presentation.
Because yup, love cream cheese in rolls. My friend and I also had the fried mushrooms, which were stuffed with crab salad, cream cheese, scallions and served with honey garlic sauce. Sharing two rolls and an appetizer was more than enough for the two of us.
We had great service with prompt refills of water. Not terribly busy on a Friday evening, although we did call to make reservations and so didn’t have to wait. There’s also a nice-​sized patio too.

I really think this is more of a 3.5 star review. The positives are the atmosphere and some creative dishes. The service was also very good. To start, I visited on a beautiful day and took a seat outside. The outside seating area is very pleasant and pretty. There is enough room and the service doesn’t decline when seated outside. The waiter that took care of me was very attentive and professional.
So, many positives. The sushi was tasty and had a couple of unique flavors. It was also such a little treat to have an extra inari sushi come with the meal. The udon was good, a bit bland, but liked the consistency of the noodles. The sushi set came with a small salad and a very small bowl of miso soup, adequate, but on the tiny side. The dressing that came with the salad had a wonderful ginger taste.
The reason for not giving this place a huge rating is the limited menu. They do have sushi offerings and udon choices, but there isn’t a whole lot to choose from otherwise. I would suggest giving the patrons some additional choices.
Other than that, nice place overall and clean as well! I enjoyed the visit.

We were driving through and decided to try this place instead of continuing to Sushi Sen in Brighton. We ordered the crunchy shrimp roll, archer roll, simple green roll, cosmo roll with salmon, and the soy joy roll. All of the rolls were very fresh and this place is extremely vegetarian friendly with lots of complex rolls. Not a fan of the maru dressing, but the green goddess dressing was very good. Service was very friendly and courteous, but we did wait a bit for our food. The presentation was beautiful and overall worth the wait.

Here’s a easy to get into friendly spot close to the Medridian mall. Great menu and friendly staff. Chefs are great at presenting sushi in beautiful fashion. I had a salad that was packed with exceptional salad items with sashimi. Awesome!
I rarely have a roll but tonight I let the chef surprise me with chefs choice wow sometimes you just have to let go and be surprised. It was excellent

I visit Okemos pretty frequently to see the in-​laws, whose idea of eating exotically is switching up their you-​pick-​two order at Panera. Last time we were there, I gently suggested we try something new, while assuring Grandma that YES there was teriyaki chicken on the menu.
We made a reservation and ended up getting a great booth towards the front corner. Service was great, and the food was for real! There is a bigger selection of vegetarian specialty rolls here than at any place I love in Chicago. GOOD WORK.
My parents-​in-​law were very impressed with the quality and flavors of their rolls, as well. They were serious champions and I’m proud of them. We will be back!

I am a regular at maru and love their food!
Couple weeks ago i went to the one on lake lansing to eat dinner with my boyfriend. He got rib eye hibachi and i got yaki udon with tofu. His rib eye was very chewy with lots of fat. My yaki udon was very VERY salty. Maru’s yaki udon used to be my favorite yaki udon in town but it has been disappointing me lately.
The worst part was that we found a hair in my bf’s food… Manager came up to us at the end and apologized for it, but it is gross to find a stranger’s hair in my food.
I have not visited maru ever since… maybe ill try to go to okemos one?