Marutama Ra-Men (The Central, Clarke Quay) – Why do Singaporeans love this Ramen?

Maureen
Maureen
September 18, 2012

Most Ramen places use pork bone broth as the soup base. But what is different about Marutama Ra-Men, is its chicken broth, Toripaitan soup. And it is probably the first ramen place in Singapore that does with chicken broth.

I have never stepped into Marutama Ra-Men before this. It wasn’t in my top list to visit until two friends of mine, whom I met on separate occasions, all told me their favourite ramen place is Marutama. So I decided to try it and find out why it is so well received. I met up with Michelle at The Central, Clarke Quay branch for weekday lunch some time back. There was a long queue forming outside the restaurant.

Marutama Ra-Men

Marutama Ramen ($12) is unpretentious with slices of chasiu, seaweed, spring onion, and ramen noodle in non spicy chicken broth. I topped it up with a Ajitsuke Tamago (half boiled seasoned egg, $1.50), which was steeped in the aroma of soya sauce with runny yolk and soft white. Best of all, there’s free flow deep fried sliced garlic on the side to be added to your ramen.

I must say that the egg is very well done. At Japan, Marutama’s half-boiled seasoned egg rewarded as “the best tamago”. Its unique texture is fully boiled at the surface but yet still half boiled on the inside blended perfectly with the seasoning. Though we can also make these eggs with some practice at home, it is definitely not easy to keep a consistent standard. As I looked around the restaurant, the tables which ordered Ajitsuke Tamago all came right.

As for the noodles, it is said that they import the flour they use in Japan to make Hakata-styled ramen noodle themselves daily. Though it does look similar to our maggi mee, but it is much lighter and easy on the palate, but is able to soak up the thickness of the chicken broth.

Marutama Ra-Men

We also ordered the Gyoza ($5) dumpling which was pretty huge but nothing much to shout about.

Marutama Ra-Men

Many tables at Marutama ordered the 5 slices of Yaki Char Siu ($6) and for good reason. The grilled roast pork is well seasoned and had a lovely smokey aroma that melted in the mouth.

In conclusion…
I must admit that the Ajitsuke Tamago is not bad. Runny texture on the inside and it tastes even better with the soup. Yes, Tampopo has nice eggs too but I felt it was not as flavourful as this.

The broth at Marutama is also another winning factor for some of you, because it is lighter than the pork bone broth yet still flavorful. It is definitely better than Marukin Ramen, which also uses chicken broth. Nevertheless, the broth and ramen was too light for me still. I prefer the pork bones broth.

Will come back? Maybe, only if there are no queues.

Marutama Ra-Men

Address: 6 Eu Tong Sen Street, #03-90/91 The Central @ Clarke Quay
Tel: +65 6534 8090

                                                                             Website: Marutama Ra-Men

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