Maru Studio

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  First, let me say I am a huge kpop fan.  Also let me say this is the 2nd noraebang I've been to other than one in Orlando, also my second time at one.
  Since we moved to Indianapolis I'm thrilled to live in a town with a noraebang! My husband & I decided to check it out last night & were there 2.5 hours XD the lady only charged us for 2 thank goodness. It's funny, we think we can fake our way through kpop songs until we get there & it's a midi version that doesn't sound like the song at all. The song we did best on was m-flo Miss You since we both know it pretty well still. After that we faked best Block B's Freeze, B1A4's OK, hubby did Sechskies Come Back, then I rocked Miss A's Love Alone,  and we both did some Big Bang and more. The lady there was either amused or found it interesting that we were singing Korean songs mostly. I'm sure the group of Korean dudes at the bar totally heard us and we sounded terrible. I have a plan for us to go and I'll buy a drink at the bar so we can look through the song book and talk to the lady.

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  Posted on 02.04.12 Katy M.

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  I had my birthday party here in June.  It was on a night where Indy was battered by an insane thunderstorm, and when we got to Maru, we found out that the power was partially out so there were 2 critical things that were not going to be available.  1 was air conditioning, 2 was the credit card machine.  So I was in a panic trying to call and text everyone to let them know it was cash only.  There was also only one guy working and I am not sure he realized how many people were coming to my party, even though I had told him that there was going to be like 25 people there.  So service was slow.  HOWEVER, even with those major snafus, we still had an amazing evening.  
  Maru is a Korean style Karaoke parlor - aka Noraebang and having recently visited Seoul, I can vouch that it's authentic.   You can rent a small room for up to 10 people or a large room for up to 20 by the hour.  It's private and you can get as loud and obnoxious as you want - the rooms are soundproof so when the door is closed, no one can hear your paying homage to "Total Eclipse of the Heart."
  The rooms are smoke free, but you are able to smoke in the lobby area if you so desire.  
  We were able to order Korean food from Bando, and were served in our private room, and it was delicious.  They also serve beer and wine and soju - and once everybody was sufficiently sauced, the fact it was hotter than hell in there didn't matter so much.  Everyone had so much fun belting out the tunes!  You get a quick tutorial on how to use the karaoke remote - it's all in Korean so that was helpful.  The owner also opened up a second room for us on the house, and gave us a great discount on the room rental for the inconveniences, and I appreciated that.
  I am looking forward to a return trip where hopefully  the climate is under control and the credit card machine is operating so I can up my review to 4 stars.  
  This is a fun experience, and I recommend it highly!

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  Posted on 11.11.11 Janet S.

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  I love this place to go karaoke!! I always order squid sauté cuz I love yummi and spicy food. Only thing is I wish they had more recent hits to sing though.

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  Posted on 05.21.10 Tami H.

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  I did not patronize this business, but I did visit in order to look around and ask questions. So I'm going to give them a neutral 3 stars.
  
  This is mainly a private Karaoke place where you rent the Karaoke room and equipment by the hour for your group.  You don't have to order food if you don't want to.  
  
  They have several smaller sized rooms for 8 to 12 people, and a couple big rooms for up to 40 people.
  
  Each room comes with it's own Karaoke equipment, player, speakers, TV, mikes, etc, and tons of their standard Asian (Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean) karaoke music.  You can take in your own karaoke discs.
  
  They have a limited menu (that includes sushi) of mainly appetizer kind of stuff, but you could make a dinner or party out of it.  I forget the prices, so call and check.  They are open really late, like 1:00 am, and something like 2 or 3 am on the weekends.
  
  They also have a very small dining area and bar up front with a TV.
  
  If I understood correctly, all the food that they serve comes from the Bando restaurant just a couple doors down, so for a small party you could theoretically get anything on Bando's menu.
  
  Make sure you call ahead of time and check hours and availability before telling your friends to meet you there.  And if you are going to get the large room, or order a lot of food, call at least a day in advance.
  
  Another option for karaoke with Korean food is at Mama's House, further up (NE) on Pendleton Pike.  They have one large side room with karaoke equipment, (with all the standard Korean grills at each table) and it's use is free with a minimum size group if everyone orders dinner. But also be sure to call and reserve at least a day in advance.

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  Posted on 11.29.09 Neal P.

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