Marutama Ramen

This ramen place is known for the chicken broth which is rich and flavourful. Serving is generous. Service could be improved but it was particular to an unfriendly and impatient waitress. That aside, food was great! My group had a variety of pork, chicken and even vegetable ramen. The ramen egg was one of the best I have eaten. Each layer was on point in taste and texture. The pork slices and belly were tender with the plentiful spring onions a nice complement. You definitely would not go wrong with the ramen here and it caters to vegetarians too.

Initially Marutama drew my curiosity because of its long queue almost every time I visit the Central, which used to be pretty often when I was based in Singapore. I thought they were always crowded because it's a small space with a couple tables (which is true), but they are efficient at getting people seated, taking orders and clearing tables that the turnover is still pretty fast. So that says something about the food, which I have to give it a try. And I've been back since!

My visits have always been during non-peak period, so I can't talk about the wait times. My orders come pretty fast, usually for two people, I will get a deluxe ramen and a plain ramen to share. The deluxe version comes with 3 pieces of char siu, while the plain version comes with just 1, so we get to have 2 slices each. The first time we got 2 deluxe orders, it was too much meat and too filling for us.

I won't be the first to say that I had my doubts when I glanced through the menu looking for a pork based soup. I was so certain I'm going to order that, but that doesn't exist in Marutama. Their specialty is the chicken soup, which they do perfectly. Not too heavy and not overly flavored, though it is a tad salty, it is good. I would rank it among the top 5 places for ramen.

Love their egg and the ramen. The egg is not included in the ramen so you have to add it separately. There is fried garlic slices on every table. I enjoy adding some to the ramen, it adds a nice touch of fragrance to the ramen soup which I truly enjoy. My mum, on the other hand, prefers the natural taste of the soup without the added garlic.

On my visits I noticed many other people ordering their dumplings as appetizers. For just 2 of us the ramen is more than enough, so the next time I visit I will want to introduce more people to Marutama so we can all try some of their appetizers, especially those dumplings.

5 stars for the egg!

There are 2 camps for ramen - chicken based soup and the traditional milky pork bone based soup.

If you prefer things less porky, you will like Marutama Ramen. I'm not really a pork person, so the ramen here is right up my alley.

I like the chicken based soup which is still cooked till it is quite thick. It is also not as salty as the usual tonkutsu based soup. The noodle is springy, some liken it to the texture as being similar to the kolo noodle in Sarawak.

I always like the ramen here since it opened several years ago but have not been back till very recently. I am happy to report that the ramen is still good, but the noodles could be better. It got soggier and soft the longer I left it in the soup, so maybe you need to eat the noodle asap type.

The one slice of char siu that comes with the ramen is tender and melting soft. Add the fried garlic chips and you get an aromatic bowl of noodles.

You need to add on the egg which is simply divine. It is still the best place to get a flavorful half boiled egg with a wobbly soft egg white with a barely cooked egg yolk which will ooze out. Yummy!

Even though there are more ramen places with such egg around, somehow they don't seemed to get the timing right to get the perfect soft boiled egg.

Another side dish which is to die for even though the portion size keeps reducing, making it quite dear to order now is the char siu. Somehow they managed to make it crispy on the edges and retain the tenderness in the meat. Squeeze the wedge of lemon over the char siu and then dip it in the chili (optional as eating it plain is good enough). It is just so delicious you will just want to gobble the whole thing up and not share with your dining companions.

This was the first place ramen place that inducted me into the whole ramen craze that has hit town. It set the bar for ramen places that I have tried ever since and it still is my favourite.

I like my noodles thin and soft, whereas certain other ramen joints serve pretty hard to chew noodles. As for the broth, I crave for it - but do take note that the ice water is placed next to you for good reason. While it hit home, my companion and I gulped down cups of water post-lunch as it left us pretty thirsty. That said, I would still drain the broth entirely.

The tamago (extra $1.50) is done perfectly - soft on the inside but not so soft till it oozes out; you can still use chopsticks to pick it out to slowly savour it. One of the novelty factors here lies with their topping up of noodles policy. For the guys who have big appetites, if you've finished your noodles, be sure to leave some broth cus for $2, you can top up the exact same amount of noodles! Pretty worth it if you ask me.

Love the bowl of crispy garlic that they leave at every table. Crisp and perfectly oil-free.

If you are used to the richer tonkotsu broth, you would probably find this too light and bland. The broth here is from chicken and it doesn't have the milky pork one broth. The first time I ate it, I didn't like it. But now, I actually am a fan. It is lighter and less oily, and possibly made me less guilty slurping up the soup.

I also Iike the gyoza here. Thin skin, and flavorful. Sprinkle lots of crisp garlic on top, and this is a winner.

I ended up wandering here after trying to go to song fa on a Monday, when it is unfortunately not open (curses, no data plan in SG!).
the ramen is decent: expect a typical hakata tonkotsu ramen with thin QQ noodles, except with the tonkotsu broth replaced with chicken bone broth. this makes for a rather lighter version of typical hakata ramen, which is not wholly unpleasant, but still leaves you feeling not completely satisfied.
the chashu is on the thick side and could be a bit more tender, but still rather flavorful and satisfying. only one piece which was a bit of a minus.
they add a different kind of seaweed to their marutama ramen than the typical, which was a rather interesting change. it gave the chicken bone broth a bit more depth, which was very needed.
the egg was perfectly soft boiled and marinated in what tasted like a shoyu / mirin mix. it was probably the best part of the bowl.

Sorry to say but the ramen not the best and just so so and also your server need to train again. I give two star, because your staff need to improve become more friendly or at least smile to customers

I've tried the Ramen but I'm not keen on Ramen having chicken-based soup. Ramen and Pork-Based soup should always go togther!

However on that particular weekend, I was feeling pretty full so I ordered a mini rice dish (the name beats me now, I guess I'm getting old!) topped with 2 thick slices of Tamago, onions, and a few slices of braised pork. My partner ordered the usual Ramen. I gave it another shot and tried the soup - ok, it's triple confirmed that Ramen should always come with Pork-Based Soup!

I bet no one knows there's such a dish on the menu given that they are known for their Ramen.

Tip: Ladies who do not want to over-eat during their lunch hour can stop by Marutama Ramen for this mini rice dish.

I'm a huge fan of pork based broth ramen so I was initially rather skeptical about Marutama's chicken based ramen.

Nonethless, I warmed up to it as the broth was very flavorful. It is very different from a pork based broth, and I still think I prefer the latter, but chicken is not bad too. I do find it a tad too oily due to all the fat from the chicken skin though.

I love that their egg has the runny yolk. That's my favourite part about eaten ramen! Lol.

Definitely a good alternative to santouka if the wait there is too long!

This is my second favourite ramen joint, after Ippudo.

I just like the tint of spice in the soup, the richness of the soup, as well as lots of green in the soup. Also, the addition dish of grilled char siew (Jap version) is delicious to the max. Make it for chao-tar please.

The egg is constantly tasting good as well.

Hence, I do not mind making my way to Central once in a while to have this ramen.