Marutama is our favourite ramen in the city, this branch has a different menu than the original marutama chain. They have more things on the menu and they seem to have experimented more. We love the original but we also liked the different types of ramen that they have here. We got the miso ramen, the AKA maru and chicken karage. The miso ramen had nice sweetness to it because of sweet corn. The aka Maru had a nice seafood chicken broth. Both ramen were really good. The chicken karage was just ok. We love paitan ramen and they have a vegetarian version of that, so we would definitely like to bring our veggie friends here to try that.
They appear to specialise in ramen with chicken broth. We came on a Friday evening and got counter seats along the window. The tables in the rest of the restaurant look a bit unusual like its split up into 3 sections then has a lot of open space in between. Their menu is simple with large pictures showing the different choices available.
The Marutama empire continues to grow, this time with a new concept: Marutama Gaiden. Their two other locations (Denman and Robson) are still my favourite ramen in the city. Gaiden means spin off/side story in Japanese so here, they do more adventurous/unique bowls. It’s close to Forty Ninth Parallel Coffee Roasters.
Ramen is the perfect comfort food during rainy day, and I was invited to try the newest creation at Marutama Gaiden, a “test kitchen” of Marutama Ramen located on Main Street. In here, you can experience some unique menu items that are not served in other locations. You also have the opportunity to try the thick noodles and various soup base, instead of the chicken creamy broth solely. The feature item on the menu is a spicy ramen with a twist using Sichuan hot chili peppers.
The ramen tour continues and our next stop was at Marutama Gaiden. Marutama is a chicken broth only restaurant and they are famous for their rich and creamy broth. . We ordered the shoyu and miso ramen and it was AMAZING (Oprah voice). What was good about my miso ramen? The amount of vegetables, the BROTH, the fatty chasu, and the ground meat. The broth was plenty hot and the ramen was on the el dente side.
Absolutely delicious! We have been huge fans of Marutama. Prior to coming to their new place, we had always been regulars at their other two locations downtown.
The new location offers a different style of ramen. The broth is thicker and the meat is juicier. We also like the noddle. All in all, this is our new favourite ramen place. We have been back several times now!
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