Marugen Ramen is one of the most famous ramen chains in all of Japan, so it’s by no means a Hamamatsu-only thing. It came recommended on Yumat and I was curious, so I just went to the nearest branch.
The place
The sign is absolutely huge.
This…
Their signature dish is the niku soba, a meat ramen made with aged soy sauce.
Inside
It’s really spacious with lots of tables, so it has the kind of atmosphere that families can easily drop in on.
Menu
I heard the fried rice is good. There are a few other sides as well.
All sorts of menu items
The niku soba is the most popular, and it comes in a few variations depending on the toppings. Besides the standard aged shoyu, there’s also plain shoyu, shio, tantanmen, tsukemen, miso, and plenty more.
The table
What’s interesting is how detailed you can get with your order. For instance, there’s even an option to leave the green onions off the toppings.
Teppan egg fried rice
You’re supposed to mix this quickly before the egg sets, but I had to take a photo so I missed the timing a bit… Well, it’s still tasty even if you mix it sloppily… There’s no way fried rice cooked on a hot iron plate could be bad…
Aged shoyu ramen, vegetable niku soba
The aged shoyu broth is very mild and quite sweet, an approachable flavor that would work for just about anyone. I imagine women and kids would like it too, which is probably why so many families come here. The prices are reasonable and there are lots of options, so being able to customize it to your own taste is another plus… The vegetable-topped niku soba I ordered this time felt like a sweet shabu-shabu broth loaded with meat and vegetables.
The noodles
The high-hydration noodles the shop prides itself on have a nice springiness. At this level, they don’t fall far behind a specialty ramen shop. I didn’t expect much since it’s a chain, but it turned out to be a very satisfying experience. As always, no matter the food, it has to be a little sweet to be crowd-pleasing and tasty…
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