| Japanese Noodle House located on Mountain Views Castro Street |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 4/14/2005
Rating: 8
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We've been on the ramen kick these last couple of weeks. Terrys finally breaking down and accepting some good japanese noodles. Hearing that Maru Ichi is worth trying, we made the trek out to Mountain View. Its been ages since we reviewed anything on Castro, we were quite thrilled. If you are not familiar with Castro street, dont bother to find parking on the street, just park at the many lots on the adjacent streets.
Maru Ichi is quite proud that they make the noodles on the spot, you can watch the noodle maker in the front window. Personally for me, I would say 50% is the broth flavor, 30% is the noodles, and remaining 20% is the toppings. I went with the Shoyu Chashu.
meat - I thought the meat was a tad dry. If you look at picture 7, the pork isnt shiny. They were big pieces though
noodles - very firm, cooked perfectly
toppings - shrooms, seaweed, green onions, egg was a nice touch to the meal.
broth - very murky, almost a creamy color but not too heavy on the fat. maybe there was? maybe Im building a tolerance to the ramen oil? Either way, I enjoyed it.
I like Maru Ichi ramen and probably like it more than their competitor Ryowa down the street for a number of reasons, better seating arrangement, larger portions, and better noodles. The one thing Maru Ichi can work on is the presentation, I usually prefer having the brother sitting a little lower than the top of the noodles where the toppings can reside. The bowl I got had everything submerged, its nit-picky but hey Im being honest.
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 739
Reviewed: 4/18/2005
Rating: 8
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I am becoming quite the Ramen fan and am building up enough base that I can form an only somewhat decent opinion. Hey but it comes down to - I likes what I likes. And for me its hard to find a bad ramen joint. I was very excited to goto Maru Ichi as it was a new place for us and it was serving up ramen that I was eager for. The dude making the fresh noodles in the storefront also got me psyched up.
Bottom line, I found the service to be ok, the soup was a little bland and lacking, the noodles were tasty, and the other ingredients were good. I would have liked a more flavorful broth in this one and I would bump up the rating another half point.
In my lunch special, I ordered the california rolls as well and they were quite good. Big and juicy like I like em.
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 187
Reviewed: 9/22/2005
Rating: 7.5
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I have eaten here several times but have never written a review as it is difficult to snatch a menu from these folks in the past, but now they have take out menus and it seems JatBar.com has their menu scanned.
The several times I have been here during dinner it is always busy. Not sure how busy they are during lunch as usually people who comes late to Ryowa end up here as the secondary choice.
My friend and I arrive around 7pm and this place is already near full capacity. We were seated on their U shaped counter as all seats were taken and each brought a glass of ice water. By the time we were done eating there was a line of patrons waiting for a table. Im not quite sure why this place is popular as their selections are not very cheap and they are cash only.
I could not decide if I just wanted to go for the large bowl of their Maruich Ramen Special or their combo selection. I eventually ended up deciding on the combo selection and chose Combo B for $8.50, which includes your choice of Ramen, 3 California Rolls, and 3 Pot Stickers. Not sure why anyone would choose Combo A for $7.75 which includes Ramen, Rice, and Pot Stickers as the pork here is not really that tender to eat with just the white rice.
Our food took several minutes to arrive but everything came out steaming hot, except for the sushi.
Sushi: California rolls here are very large, as they are a mouthful. Everything seems fresh and the seaweed in the rolls is not stale so it was easy to eat. (7.5/10)
Pot Stickers: Where as the California rolls are big these pot stickers are tiny in comparison. These pot stickers must be deep fried in a fryer because they come out crispy and almost too hot to bite into to eat. None the less the pot stickers are tasty. (8/10)
Ramen: I ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen. Each ramen includes half a hard boiled egg where the yolk is not yet overly done, two slices of roasted pork, strands of thicker seaweed (not the flat kind), and green onions. The only difference between my order and what my friend ordered (Miso Ramen) was the soup base. Everything looked the same except for the soup. The Tonkotsu soup base was murky (photo #6).
Soup base was murky but good. The soup base may be salty for some people but it was just right for me. The soup base is saltier and more filling than the soup base at Ogi-San Ramen. The noodles here have good texture and are firm. The roasted pork was not fatty and did not melt in my mouth but was not dry either. I wouldnt say it was perfect but it was good and went down without a lot of chewing. (8/10)
This is all I ever order when I come here and so far it has been consistent. One time I came here and my friend and I both ordered a soda but we were only offered a refill when we were ready to pay for our bill. The place was not as busy at the time but they seated us in the front booth, as the kitchen and service workers are towards the back or the restaurant.
Sometimes during early dinner (and probably during lunch) they put on a show for the people walking by. They have a noodle room in front of the restaurant and since they hand pull their own noodles they demonstrate the noodle hand pulling technique. These noodles are then transported to the kitchen to be served.
Pluses: Side walk show, combos for lunch and dinner, popular ramen house.
Minuses: Popular ramen house, cash only, ho-hum service, a bit pricy.
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Reviewer: Dan
Total Reviews: 84
Reviewed: 5/29/2008
Rating: 8.5
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A few months ago a friend of mine proposed a lunch visit to Maru Ichi. He had eaten here before and really liked it. I ended up enjoying my meal so much I have been back several times since then, with friends and solo, and have to agree this is a solid place that belongs on my regular visit list.
SETTING: Nothing special. Basic wood and wallpaper with a slight retro feel (as in 70's). A TV broadcasts Japanese programming in the corner. The wall is lined with booths, and the center is filled with a ramen bar. Sometimes the noodle man is making noodles behind a window near the entrance, but he is sort of hidden from view while you are eating.
SERVICE: Mixed. Fine when the crowd is light, but gets worse when the place is hopping, which tends to start right at noon, even forming a line out the door. Get here on the early side if you want to be sure to snag a seat.
PRICES: I usually eat a largish lunch here for about $10 incl. tip. More than reasonable for what I get
FOOD: Here are the items I've tried here:
-- Soba tempura ($6.90): My mainstay. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat (I am wheat-sensitive so have never had the ramen). Maru Ichi's soba is large, excellent and comes smothered in seaweed for that extra kick of umami. Includes two large shrimp tempura sitting in the broth. I usually eat these right away or set them aside. Otherwise they get soggy.
-- Potstickers ($1.90): Like most potstickers, these arrived super hot, so of course I immediately popped one in my mouth and practically scalded myself. What can I say, I'm an idiot. Once these cooled down (and my pain subsided) these were excellent.
-- CA roll: Three immense pieces that were quite good. I could get two orders of this and call it lunch. A killer deal at $1.90
-- Unagi-don side dish: A small medium sized piece of BBQ eel (unagi) on top of a bowl of rice. This comes in "Combo C" with the soba (or any other noodle dish) for $3 extra. Flavor and preparation were standard, though the amount of eel was on the small side. Still, not a bad deal. One day I will have to try this straight off the donburi menu and see if they give a larger portion.
Though I have never ordered it, Kuro Ramen seems to be a specialty at Maru Ichi. This is a large bowl of ramen with a layer of browned garlic oil on top. It basically looks like ramen sitting in a bowl of black motor oil. If you like garlic, this is a must try (I sampled the broth from a friend and this was enough to convince me. Mmmmmm)
Pros: Great Japanese comfort food at very good prices
Cons: Gets crowded at lunchtime; service can be slow. |
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Reviewer: takeru
Total Reviews: 31
Reviewed: 2/13/2009
Rating: 8
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It was a dark and stormy night on friday the 13th in mountain view, what better way to avoid walking under ladders, breaking mirrors and crossing the paths of black cats than to duck into Maru Ichi for a hot steaming bowl of ramen.
For 3 of us the wait for a table was about 10 minutes - not bad considering it was prime dinner time.
I ordered the combo B which includes california rolls, pot stickers and choice of ramen. Also had some of my friend's negitoro over rice.
Ordinarily I wouldn't order california rolls, especially at a ramen place, but these were pretty darn good. A thin layer of rice around a tasty creamy possibly real crab meat center. Definitely would order again.
Had read good things about the pot stickers here and they didn't disappoint. These were the small thin skinned style, fried crispy all around, not just on the bottom, with a juicy savory pork filling. Also a repeat order.
The negitoro (chopped fatty tuna mixture w/ green onion) over rice wasn't that appealing visually - a pink mash vaguely reminiscent of baby food. Taste, however, was a different story - fresh, non fishy, as good as 'real' pieces of toro I've had as sushi places, and nice complement to the rice.
I opted for the tonkatsu ramen which is made with chicken and pork broth. All ramen options include hard boiled egg, thin sliced chashu, seaweed green onion and kikurage (jelly ear mushrooms) along w/ the noodles. I'd rank the broth a bit below Santa's and the noodles a bit below Halu's. The totality, however, was a comforting combination of tastes and textures.
Prices are in line with other ramen places in the south bay, higher that Ryowa but less than Halu.
Purely for ramen, I'd rate Santa and Halu higher, but if you factor in the high quality side dishes, Maru Ichi is a good choice. |
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Reviewer: wchane
Total Reviews: 148
Reviewed: 2/24/2007
Rating: 8
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Bukkake Ramen. Need I say more? If you're unsure what that means, don't google it...just take my word it's not what google tells you and it's actually quite appetizing.
This review is actually for the Milpitas Square location, however the Mountain View Castro location in my opinion is a bit better. (We go to the Milpitas location just because it's close to my office)
You're seated around a 'ramen bar' with all you can eat kim chee. The ramen set is served on a tray and you can imagine the rest from there. Very standard ramen set up, but the ramen is above average. Ask for hard noodles and don't be afraid to slurp.
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