Dining According to Karen: Review: Marukame Udon

Marukame Udon was recommended by one of my former classmates via Facebook. I never heard of this establishment until I read his post recommending their Paitan Udon. The "new" Marukame Udon (the old one is in Waikiki) is located at the corner of Fort Street Mall and Hotel Street in downtown Honolulu.

My husband and I made a special trip downtown on a Saturday to see what all the fuss was about. We parked our car in a municipal parking lot across the street from the former Macy's store and walked a few short blocks to the restaurant. I stood in line to order our food while my husband hunted for a table. I was intrigued as I watched the udon noodles being made behind a glass partition at the entrance of this cafeteria-style restaurant.

I ordered Paitan Udon ($4.30) while my husband selected Chicken Udon ($4.30). Our orders consisted of fresh udon in a seemingly plain broth. Both green onions and tempura bits were offered to top our lunch at no extra charge. The real danger came next as I ventured down the line and looked at the dozen or so varieties of freshly made tempura. The shrimp ($1.70) and fishcake ($1.50) tempura are the most expensive with the vegetable variety being a bit cheaper, which includes sweet potato, kabocha, asparagus, onion, etc. I selected fishcake tempura, a fried chicken thigh ($1.90) and potato croquette ($.90) to share with my husband. There was also a tempting selection of freshly-made musubi (rice balls wrapped in thin sheets of nori) but I was able to slide my tray past them and went on to the cashier.

Everything is self-service so I still needed to fetch glasses of water, utensils, napkins, and dipping sauces for the tempura. I found my husband sitting at a long, shared table next to a woman who was waiving madly at me. It turns out that she was my sister's friend whom I met at my book signing back in October. She recommended that we try the Curry Udon on our next visit. In fact, we ran into another friend while having lunch that day and he also recommended the Curry Udon. Although I visited Marukame three times so far, I haven't had anything but Paitan (white broth) because it is so incredibly yummy! You can taste the pork and chicken flavor that only comes from slow-simmering bones, the way soup is supposed to be made! My husband's chicken broth was also delicious with a fresh and hearty flavor despite the plain appearance of this dish (just noodles and broth). Our total bill was less than $14.

More recently, I picked up lunch from Marukame from their convenient take-out window. My lunch buddy wasn't able to make it so I ventured alone to satisfy my craving for Paitan Udon. I made it a point to arrive early to avoid the long lines that famously form daily during lunch time. Thank goodness for the take-out window as there was only one person in line ahead of me and only two other people waiting for their orders. In contrast, the line into the restaurant was 10-15 people deep and it was only 11:30. I placed my order through the opening in the glass window as the man standing on the other side repeated my order into a microphone. There was a display of tempura peering at me through the glass. I ordered my Paitan and added a potato croquette and fishcake tempura for a total bill of approximately $7.

I took my food back to my office in a neatly packed paper bag with sturdy handles. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the udon and broth were packed separately to prevent the noodles from soaking up all of the soup before I was ready to eat it. They forgot to give me a soup spoon but that didn't stop me from slurping up every drop.

Marukame Udon

Downtown Location:

1104 Fort Street Mall, Honolulu, HI 96813

Phone: (808) 545-3000

Hours: Mon - Sat 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.