Our Review On Marutama Ra-men (The Central Outlet)
The Marutama Ra-men is a popular Japanese Ramen restaurant located at The Central (Clark Quay) and seems to attract long queue whenever we were there. Their logo also looks like a basketball when near or afar. They have other locations at Downtown Gallery, Kallang, Bugis+ and Millenia Walk.
We were there on a Sunday Afternoon and decided to join in the queue after we saw that they have an exclusive item on their menu – the Angry Tomato Tsukemen.
There was like 3 groups of customers in front of us and it took like 20 to 25 minutes of waiting outside before we were given a counter table seat facing the Cooking Area.
The counter table setup came with a jug of Ice Water, a QR Code to scan, order and pay, pairs of chopsticks and a tray of Fried Garlics, Pepper, Chilli Flakes and Toothpicks.
Central Outlet Menu
The menu for the Marutama Ra-men Central Outlet has around 9 Main Items (Ramen, Marutama, Char Siu, Negi, Char Siu Marutama, Aka, Tan-men & Zenbu) with 3 Variations (Spicy, Non-Spicy or Egg).
Followed by Toppings (Tamago, Negi, Kakuni, Char Siu, Aosa) and Sides (Gyoza, Tori Dango, Dashimaki, Namuru), their Exclusive (Angry Tomato Tsukemen), two Kids Options followed by a small selection of Soft Drinks.
We also noticed that their Central Menu does not have everything when compared to their Online Menu which also showed different items across different outlets. So if you have any cravings for certain ra-mens, it’s best to check out their online menu first before heading down to that particular outlets.
What We Ordered, Paid & Good Service
We ordered via the QR Menu and initially we thought the Angry Tomato Tsukemen ($18) was just a side dish of mussels-like (based on the picture), we went with additional mains of Aka (Egg) ($18) and Tan-men (Egg) ($16). We also paid via the QR Menu and the prices indicated were before Service Charge (10%) and GST (8%).
Then one of the staffs (should be the Manager) came to us and highlighted that the Angry Tomato Tsukemen came with a bowl of noodles and three Mains would be too much for us and asked if we would like to remove one of the items. We thought this was a very nice and good service gesture from them.
They also went the extra mile of reversing the orders and proceeded to charge our new order of Angry Tomato Tsukemen ($18) and Aka (Egg) ($18). All these were done without having us leaving the table. Another nice gesture from them!
The Taste
— Angry Tomato Tsukemen
From the image we did not see any noodles although the word ‘Tsukemen‘ would have meant noodles to be eaten after dipping in a sauce / soup for those who knew it. The Angry Tomato Tsukemen was served first and the noodle portion was rather big, so luckily our previous order was reversed out.
At that point we also did not know how to eat this, the staff also never highlighted anything about it. So, we did try to eat with the noodles and seafood items dipped in the tomato sauce as well as pouring some of the sauce over the items towards the end.
Noodles were thin and wiggly like those instant noodles.
Mussels and clams were rather fresh and chunky and we quite liked them. We also liked the fresh taste from the other ingredients like Olives, Squashed Tomatoes and Asparagus. The cheese flakes were okay.
Tomato Sauce was thick and the spicy taste was rather equivalent to those of Tabasco. Portion wise – maybe too little for all the items and barely enough just for the noodles.
— Aka (Egg) Ramen
The Aka (Egg) Ramen came shortly after the Angry Tomato Tsukemen. Portion wise was rather big.
According to the Menu, this item is Mildly Spicy, Chicken broth with 7 ground nuts, with Spring Onion, Seaweed, Pickled Radish, Coriander, Sesame, Seasoned Half-Boiled Egg and 3 pieces of Chicken Meatball.
The chicken broth tasted nice, thick, creamy and that little bit of spicy but not those of numbing hot. No signs of any nuts though.
The noodles looked and tasted the same like the ones for the Angry Tomato Tsukemen. And, those fried garlic… they went well with the noodles and were rather addictive. Radish added a bit of sour taste to our buds and the seaweed added a springy taste.
Egg (not pictured) was that kind of Onsen eggs – sweet on the outside and runny on the inside. We liked the taste so that we forgot to take a photo of it.
For the Chicken meatball, we did not realize what it was on our first bite, and we thought it was Otah (ground fish mixed with spices) and it was round rather than flat. Tasted really like it and we quite liked it.
How To Get To Marutama Ra-men?
Address: 6 Eu Tong Sen Street #03-90/91 The Central Singapore 059817 (Google Maps)
Other Marutama Ra-men Outlets:
- Downtown Gallery, Kallang, Bugis+, Millenia Walk
Opening Hours:
- Sun to Thurs: 11:30am – 21:00pm (Last order @ 20:30pm)
- Fri to Sat: 11:30am – 21:30pm (Last order @ 21:00pm)
Sites: