Was going to lunch with one of my ex-coworkers. We had planned to go to Niku Butcher Shop for their wagyu smash burger, but since there was a fire in Niku Steakhouse, they’ve been closed for that service (boo hoo). Our original plan was ramen in Japantown so that’s where we headed. We had been meaning to go to Hinodeya Ramen, but we were circling around a bit to try to find parking and ended up right in front of the mall and Marufuku Ramen, so that’s where we ended up going.
Since it was Thursday lunch, it wasn’t crowded and no line unlike the last time Andrea and I ate here where there was a 45+ minute wait. I ordered us some small bites/starters – Chicken Karaage and the Marufuku Bites. Can’t go wrong with chicken karaage which came with a side of miso mayo. The Marufuku Bites are their pork chashu in steamed buns. Both were quite good but definitely filling/heavy for small bites.
We were here for ramen of course, so we had both ordered ramen. Peter ordered the Spicy Tan Tan Men and I ordered the Chicken Paitan Deluxe which they only serve 15 servings of this per day and since it is not often available, I of course had to order it (although I would almost always normally just go for pork tonkatsu). The difference with the deluxe version is that it is their Chicken Paiten ramen with a substantial addition of a grilled marinated (soy based) chicken leg and thigh on a bed of bean sprouts. The additional chicken made a very tasty addition to the ramen, but also very filling. As a result, with the significantly filling starters already occupying a significant percentage of my belly already, I didn’t come remotely close to eating all of the ramen (leftovers tomorrow for lunch!), but it was delicious and I would absolutely order this again if I had a chance.
In any case, it was great to see Peter and catch up with him and I look forward to our next lunch out together.
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