Maki

Maki is a Japanese restaurant that opened in Richmond in November 2007. A friend told me she had noticed it from the bus recently, but hadn't tried it as yet. I decided to beat her to it, and dragged hubby there for lunch the day after she mentioned it.

Arriving at Maki, we tried not to be put off by the empty dining room - there was one other couple, and a family of four. The friendly welcome from the manager helped, as did the sign advertising their lunch special - Bento Boxes at only £6.

We both ordered a Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box, which came with Miso soup, salad, Vegetable Gyozas, rice and Teriyaki chicken. The meals certainly looked nice on first impression, and flavours were fine, though nothing amazing.

The waitress who served us was not very friendly, and I hated the way she cleared hubby's dish while I was still eating, and the way she attempted to clear our glasses when we hadn't finished our drinks yet. The music was terrible too - an odd mixture of bad classical music with some Christmas songs mixed in.

Oh well, our meal was pretty cheap, and the manager was nice. We won't be rushing back, though perhaps I will return one day and sample their sushi once business picks up a bit for them.

** I gave Maki 2 stars based on this visit, but have since returned and upgraded the rating to 4 stars **