Maki

My daughter and I went there for dinner last night. It as great. We ordered volcano roll and ramen, and seafood ramen. We loved them! We also ordered dongo for dessert but it was not too good.

This place is a good alternative if you’re not willing to travel far for good ramen. The broth and noodles are not as good as other ramen places in DC or NY but the location and price is more reasonable.
The spicy miso broth was better than the volcano broth but both lack complexity that ramen broths generally have. The spicy pork belly buns were probably my favorite part.
Location and portion sizes are good. Only worth it because I got the lunch special ramen for $ 9. Wouldn’t pay more for the quality of ramen here.

The first time I came with my s/​o was probably it’s height of how delectable this ramen is. However with each time I swung by after that with my friends, I have been leaving with disappointment and this lackluster feeling.
Long story short: If I were you, I’d stick with the tonkatsu base. The most recent visit my friend got the spicy miso base and it was SO RIDICULOUSLY SALTY that we poured about a cup and a half of water to dilute it): I’m not sure if they know soup base can be flavorful without the salt… the tonkatsu base was great, though. It didn’t leave this oily feeling and didn’t feel too heavy.
I also recommend getting the kakuni belly. It is on the heavy side, but it’s very soft and buttery, pretty much feels like it’s melting in your mouth. The grilled pork belly is a hit or miss, sometimes it comes out too charred, too salty, etc… but the portions are great! I would venture to say char shu is a good option as well.
Come during weekdays lunch and they have specials from 11−3pm, including rolls and ramen.
Overall, okay place to come to get your ramen fix. I suggest coming at off hours, as I feel like they do a mediocre job when the place gets packed to get things out quick.

Small menu, yet it offers a lot of odd delights. I was lucky to land there with an adventurous date who merely grinned when he arrived to find raw wasabi octopus and grilled beef tongue already on the table. Everything we wound up eating was delicious.
The only issue you might run into is this: the whole place is basically about the size of my living room. A large party, say 6 or more, might have trouble getting in. And on a weekend night, whew, it can be a squeeze to get in. But if you can make it for a late lunch or on a weekday, it is seriously worth the extra effort.

Ramen Burger w/​Bulgogi 3.5÷5 — Not bad not bad, especially in the DMV area for ramen burger; since we pretty much don’t have much of it here yet. Was pretty tiny for $ 8.50. Felt more like a slider than a burger. The bulgogi meat on the burger was good.
Tonkotsu Ramen w/​Kalbi 4.5÷5 — the kalbi was grilled and seasoned perfectly. The ramen noodles were great. Soup tasted fine but no wow factor to brag about.
Beef Tongue appetizer ⁴⁄₅ — Was good especially dipped into the dark sauce that comes on the side. A bit chewy and pricey at $ 7.50 for a few slices.

I had been dying to get some Japanese food for the past few weeks and was so excited when I found a restaurant only five minutes ways from where I live.
My friend and I went around 5;30 pm on a Saturday and the first thing I noticed was how small and crowded the parking lot was. Folks, maki’s humble restaurant space is competing with two other very popular restaurants in the area so keep that in mind when you get here — you might have to circle the lot (if you can even call it that) a few times or wait a bit to find a parking spot. We ended up eyeing people who left the restaurant and casually followed them to their car. lol not creepy at all.
Now moving onto the restaurant. it had a very cozy atmosphere. I saw a lot of families with their children and high schoolers come in for an early dinner. We were quickly seated (as we beat the dinner crowd by coming in early. more on that later) but it is a very small restaurant. I mean it when I say it is tiny…
My friend and I already knew what we wanted — the donburi, Since we knew that we could find ramen almost anywhere. We were quickly given the side salad and miso soup that came with the entrée and then after about 15 minutes were given our delicious pork belly and kimchi donburi. We were even kindly given a small portion of kimchi to enhance the already delicious flavors of our dish.
The waiters and waitresses were quick to refill our water and habitually checked up to see how we were doing with our meal and they were very helpful if we needed anything like an extra spoon or chopsticks.
But as soon as 6:30 hit, there was a line going out the door. Poor things were waiting outside holding their umbrellas to get into the restaurant. So my friend and I quickly paid for the check and made our way out with our satisfied wallets and most importantly tummies. The food itself was pretty standard Asian food, but if you want a nice sit down restaurant with a cozy atmosphere, good service and food that will fill you up, then I would recommend checking out Maki. Maybe next time I’ll try their ramen.

I came here with a friend for lunch on a Thursday. I was curious because I had read so many great reviews for this place so I wanted to try it out for myself.
Food: we both got spicy grilled pork belly and kimchi ramen. My friend got the spicy miso soup base and I got the volcano soup base. It was definitely spicier than I imagined but it was still tolerable. I really enjoyed the flavor but not enough to drink the soup lol because I think it would have been too spicy. The ramen was delicious! The pork belly had great flavor but was a little burnt. You could kind of taste the charred parts so I didn’t really like that (which is why 4 stars instead of 5). The pork belly and kimchi came on the side, which is nice because I wouldn’t want these Korean flavors soaking into my ramen soup base.
Service: amazing service! They repeatedly checked on us to make sure we had everything we wanted and needed. Water was always refilled promptly so I never even ran low on it. Food also came out really quickly!
Price: the spicy pork belly and kimchi ramen was on the lunch special for Thursday and it cost $ 9.50

Really great, little ramen shop! They also have a variety of other things like donburi, sushi, and izakaya starters. Donburi isn’t all that great… it’s dry and not exciting. The ramen however is very tasty and fresh. The broth is creamy and flavorful.
I usually get the tonkotsu soup base with the tonkatsu topping — btw, the way that the ramen works here is you choose a soup base (tonkotsu, spicy tonkotsu, volcano, etc.) and then you get a choice of meat topping (tonkatsu which is fried port cutlet, cha shu pork, shrimp tempura, bulgolgi, etc.). This system is the same for udon.
Can’t go wrong with any of the toppings. Each bowl ranges from $ 11−15… the portion is pretty good considering you get a healthy portion of meat toppings (which comes on the side — not actually on top of the ramen).
Overall great place to get your ramen fix in the area. They are usually packed around busy hours so be prepared for that.

A must for Ramen and Bulgogi Steak Buns! Sashimi is okay.
Located next to Phở Nom Nom, my favorite go to phở restaurant, Maki has some tasty ramen at decent prices. To order ramen, you’ll choose a soup base and a type of meat. My favorite is the Volcano soup base, which is hot spices mixed into their signature tonkotsu base. It is topped with an egg, narutomaki, nori and scallions. The flavor is extremely spicy, but soooo good. Spicy miso ramen is equally spicy, but has miso paste which provides a strong bean taste. If you’re not in the mood for spicy, then try their miso soup base. This is your classic ramen flavor soup base and is great on a cold winter day!
For the ramen meat, I either choose the grilled pork belly or the bulgogi. In the future, I would ask for the meat on the side because I don’t like it soaking in my soup, but the flavor is great.
I’ve been here quite a few times now and plan to come back! With many other options such as donburi, sushi and specialty rolls, sashimi, udon, yaksoba, It’s one of the better ramen shops on Rockville Pike! They also offer lunch specials from 11−3pm.

I like the idea of having sushi with my ramen when I’m feeling greedy and I was feeling greedy when I checked this place out. Sadly I was let down by the ramen but it did not bring down my enjoyment of the sushi. The ramen here was just blah. Tasted like the tare came from a packet and there was no depth that a backing broth or stock would offer. The noodles themselves were slightly overcooked so they offered no comfort. The kakuni pork belly buns were mediocre, more on the tough side, nothing to write home about and made me appreciate some other options for pork buns in the DMV.
The service is kinda weird, especially with a bit of a language barrier. The workers are not Japanese but I assumed the server would at least know what cut of meat the chasshu was made of. Belly or shoulder, loin perhaps? He had no idea and didn’t bother to offer to check. I guess you can’t expect that much insight into the ingredients here. Turns out it was pork shoulder when the food came out.
I think I’d be back for some cheap decent quality sushi but definitely leaving my ramen cravings for some much better places available! Reading some other reviews I’d be interested to try some of the appetizers as well.

This place is so tiny but the menu is very big! My boyfriend popped in for a small lunch since we had big dinner plans that night. We came in around 2:30 on a Saturday and it was packed, we didn’t have to wait too long before a table cleared up though. We ordered the spicy pork belly buns with yuzu sauce, shrimp tempura roll, and the spicy miso ramen with corn add on and chashu. Everything very much hit the spot. I thought the pork belly was perfectly charred and delicious but I would have liked more filling to the bun.
We were both fans of the shrimp tempura roll, although it was a little strange to have lettuce in a roll but we didn’t mind.
The spicy miso ramen was the star of the show. The broth wasn’t too spicy but had a nice little kick. The noodles were a great chewy texture and the chashu was hearty and gave a nice meaty flavor.
Most of all, I enjoyed the prices of everything. Ramen in DC is quite expensive and this place is pretty affordable for fusion fare.

Lunch outing with QB is always a foodie fun of fellowship.
I’ve passed by here numerous of times & made a mental note to stop by & try them out. On a chilly & misty day, why not?
We got a nice table in the middle of the close knit restaurant & was offered Green Tea as soon as we sat down & got situated. Free refills until you say ‘when’.
The menu offered a simple view of selections, yet with an many options to choose form. Joseph our Server provided every aspect of outstanding service. He was most gracious in answering our questions & if he wasn’t sure, he was too kind in stating he would go ask the Chef… this happen a few times over.
We were able to swap out the Shrimp for Vegetable Tempura, it was battered & flash fried to perfection… very good I might add. After we broke down the menu, I decided upon the Black Pepper Salmon that came with onions, bell peppers in a succulent, tad bit sweet black pepper sauce. Instead of the rice, I got a half portion of ramen noodles that I used to create my own special stir fry. This is part of the Donburi section that comes as a rice bowl, miso soup & mixed green salad. Since the Miso Soup was made out of a meat base (1^st time I heard that), I opted for the Salmon only. It was amazingly delicious.
Great prices, enormous portions & fantastic service made my gal pal lunch outing an A+.

Since Teado opened up next door, it has been packed and parking is ridiculously hard to find. But if you’re not absolutely starving, the food is worth the wait. I started with the kakuni belly buns with spicy mayo, it comes with 2 pieces per order. The meat is good, but the lettuce is a little weird. I definitely like the traditional Taiwanese style of buns a lot better. Next, the main dish! I got the Tonkotsu ramen with kakuni belly, the broth and meat tastes amazing. One of my favorite parts is the runny egg. It’s not easy to find a yummy ramen place in Rockville and I will definitely be back!
Only issue I really had was the service, they only had two waiters when I was there. I definitely understood, but it still took way too long to order and get our check.

Craving Japanese food, I decided to come here for lunch.
For starters, we had the beef tongue. Freaking delicious! The sauce that came with it was just the right touch. A bit chewy and it had some type of spice to it. But damn was it good.
Now with my main dish… A bit of a disappointment, but I guess I can’t complain much as I did finish it with satisfaction. I was in the mood for getting the curry chicken katsu. I strictly remember and pointing it out to our waitress that I wanted the curry Japanese katsu. So, after telling her my order, she asked me if I wanted to try ramen as well… I told her no, I wanted my curry chicken katsu. So what does she give me? Ramen with a small side order of chicken katsu. I was trying not to fuss about it. But they already made my meal and I’m not the person to waste already made food. So I sucked it up and dived right into the ramen noodles. I don’t even know what type of ramen this was, but it was alright. It had a nice egg, seaweed, veggies and narutomaki on the top with some type of fish broth. The chicken katsu was freaking delicious. It’s just missing the rice and curry.
I’d love to come by again to give this place another go. The atmosphere had a nice Japan feeling it to. But they really need to step up and listen to orders.

Holy crap, that volcano ramen is spicy! Usually ramen doesn’t get very spicy, but Maki’s volcano broth actually has a good kick and is delicious. We arrived early evening on a Sunday and was sat right away, so no problems with the wait. A line did form a few minutes afterwards.
I really liked how they gave the toppings separately on the side so that you can control the amount that goes in the ramen. The topping portions were generous, and the spicy pork belly was cooked perfectly. It was interesting in that the employees were Chinese in a Japanese ramen restaurant and served Korean food like kimchi. Loved the fusion though, and the flavors worked out really well.
Come early for seats because there’s not much room to wait around. You’d be standing awkwardly next to some of the tables.
Will be back the next time we’re in the area!

My sister brought me here so she could satisfy her ramen craving. Very glad we stopped in!
Wahoo’s:
+The spicy kalbi and kimchi ramen with volcano soup. Drool. The kalbi was juicy and you could taste all the brown sugar and soy sauce marinade.
+ The bulgolgi with volcano soup… I can take spice pretty well so the level of hotness wasn’t a five pepper level more like one. The broth was very flavorful with all the spices. I wanted to drink all of it! The bulgolgi was the best part. Cooked and marinated to perfection!
+Rock shrimp. large shrimp drenched in a «spicy» mayo sauce. It was more like crack shrimp.
+Chicken Katsu with Tonkotsu base. Mild but flavorful. The Chicken is deep fried with panko like breadcrumbs. The kids loved it!
+Very friendly service
+Presentation of the food was beautiful
Yikes:
–Very limited seating, be prepared to wait a few during prime time eating hours
–A bit pricey for ramen noodles $ 11-​$ 15
Will definitely visit again!

I’ve been putting off this review for no particular reason. I went here for my friend’s birthday last month and it was great! It was a Saturday night and they were pretty busy but the four of us were seated really quickly.
The entrees took a little while to come out and they messed up my sister’s order the first time. It was okay since appetizers arrived quickly and we had plenty of conversation to keep us occupied, as well as whatever old school animé it was that they were showing on their tv.
Needless to say, I was really excited once the food arrived. I tried the ramen on my friend’s recommendation. I opted for the shoyu broth with chashu — my go-​to ramen combo for any place I go. It was delicious! The broth was flavorful but not too salty. The chashu was nice and tender and not dry. The presentation was lovely as well. I finished off my entire bowl.
Service was okay, because they were so busy servers were hard to flag down when we wanted to order more food. Our table was pretty much neglected once we got our entrees, so I didn’t get a chance to order the melon ice cream soda — which I really wanted to try. (*sad face* Maybe next time.)
Good food, okay service, nice atmosphere. Overall, it’s a great place to eat with friends. Would definitely like to return if I’m back in the area.

My group came here to celebrate a friend’s birthday per his recommendation, and for my first time trying ramen, it was AH-​MAZING!
The place is a small, cozy restaurant tucked away in a busy shopping center. We dined on a Saturday evening, and we waited about 5 to 10 minutes for a table. Upon first impression of the menu, I thought to myself the prices were super reasonable. (I later compared the prices of their menu to the ramen places near home, and this place surely has the better deal!) I ordered the spicy belly buns with spicy mayo, grilled pork belly ramen with a spicy miso base, and a Kirin.
The spicy belly buns were a dream. The buns were so moist, and the pork belly was grilled to perfection. Man oh man, I savored each bite. The ramen came in a big bowl with plenty of ingredients, and it’s smell was tantalizing! The spiciness was well-​balanced, not overbearing but enough make you work up a sweat. The grilled pork belly once again was on point and did not disappoint. The side plate of it had plenty of pieces, and I had a lot to take home afterwards.
The service was alright. They were quite busy the night we visited, so they weren’t as attentive as they could’ve been. Quick to fill drinks, but no eye contact or conversation to make sure everything was alright with our orders.
Nevertheless, I can’t wait to return to Maki for another satisfying bowl of ramen.

There are so many options here! Tried the volcano ramen with pork & kimchi. The ramen is pretty good. Loved the spicy pork buns with spicy mayo sauce. Definitely want to come back to try some other food on the menu.
My boyfriend and I went here on a Saturday afternoon and the place was packed! Prepare to wait especially if you are coming with a lot of people. The staff were friendly and helpful.

I heard of Maki through word of mouth from college friends. The Maki Café is located on a busy strip off Rockville Pike with limited parking. Since they don’t take reservations, I’m glad I called ahead to put my name down and reduce my wait time. When I arrived, my party of 3 had to wait 20 minutes. There were a few parties ahead of us and we were all scrunched up in the small waiting area. The interior of the restaurant reminded me of a café in Yurakucho district of Tokyo with the tree wallpaper on one side of the restaurant and red lanterns hanging from the ceiling along the entrance.
For drinks, you had choices among beer, sake, wine, and non alcoholic beverages. My parents shared a hot sake while I ordered a hot tea. For the hot tea, they gave me Genmaicha.
The menu offers a variety of dishes such as curry, ramen, soba, udon, sushi, buns, donburi, and rolls. At Maki Café, they offer endless possibilities of ramen — 6 types of broth base and 13 types of toppings. I liked how they had vegetarian friendly options and gluten free ramen. In addition to the menu, they had two specials: Bulgogi Steak Ramen Burger and Curry Bolgogi.
The three of us shared the following items: Grilled Baby Octopus, Vegetable Gyoza, Bulgogi Steak Miso Ramen, Sashimi Deluxe, and Shrimp Tempura Roll, most of which were recommended by friends.
The Grilled Baby Octopus was marinated in a sweet soy sauce laid over lettuce and shredded radish. It reminded me of a tasty delicacy I had at Shabu & Mein in Boston except the portion at Maki Café was relatively smaller.
The Vegetable Gyoza was made with spinach wrapper with a mushy filling consisting of mushroom, carrot, celery, and cabbage, pan fried and served with Gyoza sauce garnished with scallions.
The Bulgogi Steak Miso Ramen consisted of a thin, yellow, wheat noodles (‘ramen’) in salty blend of miso paste and dashi broth served in a bowl with the Chinese character meaning longetivity and topped with boiled egg, a piece of cured fish surumi with pink or red spiral pattern that resembles the Naruto whirlpools (‘narutomaki’), seasoned bamboo shoots (‘seasoned menma’), dried seaweed (‘nori’), and scallion.
The Shrimp Tempura Roll consisted of crispy shrimp tempura, avocado, and lettuce wrapped in rice and then dried seaweed, garnished with caviar, and drizzled with a sweet sushi sauce. It was one of the tastiest Shrimp Tempura Roll I’ve had to date.
The Sashimi Deluxe consisted of five kinds of sliced fish include red tuna, salmon, white tuna, scallops, and white fish. Even though I felt that the red tuna wasn’t very fresh, I liked how it came with a leaf topped with salmon eggs and a bowl of sticky rice topped with rice seasoning.
We were a bit too full for dessert but next time we will come back to try their Dango :)