One of the most exciting parts about the Glasgow food scene has been the explosion of new Asian cuisine restaurants with everything from Thai and Vietnamese eateries to Korean and Japanese venues opening up around the city over the past few years.
In the city centre in particular, bigger chains like Yo Sushi and Wagamama rub shoulders with established restaurants like Dim Sum and Nippon Kitchen and newcomers such as Ting Thai Caravan and Taiwanese dessert shop Meet Fresh try to make a name for themselves.
One exciting recent opening, saw Maki & Ramen, which has made the journey across the M8 after impressing with its restaurants in the capital, launching its second restaurant in Glasgow and intrigued, Glasgow Live headed along to try it out.
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Located inside the old Cook and Indi's World Buffet venue on the corner of Renfield Street and Bath Street, the enticing new venue is packed with all the chic Japanese street food style decorations you'd expect, including a striking Sakura display to sit under, neon lighting and cool Japanese lanterns.
The stylish venue was stowed out when we arrived on a busy Wednesday night (always a good sign) but they were luckily accepting walk-ins and we managed to secure a table fairly quickly.
The atmosphere was lively and the service really good, with people laughing and talking while tucking into packed bowls of ramen and huge platters of sushi.
The menu is filled with great options without being overly bloated and as is the style in Tokyo, offered images of most of the plates on offer, which let's face it, is always handy.
Unsurprisingly, the sushi and sashimi (cuts of fish with no rice) sections were filled with what we would say is the most extensive range we've seen in a Japanese restaurant in Scotland, with regular options like prawn, salmon and tuna mixing it up with some more unusual such as mackerel, surf clam and octopus.
They also offered grilled sushi, which is a nice touch alongside dishes such as Gyoza, Takoyaki, seaweed salad, tempura, ramen and of course, these fluffy fluffy bao.
Much to the delight of one of our team, they had plenty of veggie and vegan options, while the omnivores in the group enjoyed plenty of sushi, (the surf clam and sea bream being the biggest hits) as well as one of the best pork bao we've had in a long time.
The service, atmosphere and dishes were all impressive, and for us, the only minus point was the lack of an alcohol licence meaning we couldn't try some of their enticing sake options.
Overall, this is as impressive a follow-up as you'd expect from this Japanese restaurant chain that is at the top of its game in the capital and has already appeared in TV shows
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