Hidden within Fahrenheit 88, also known as the re-branded KL Plaza, is a little Japanese ramen restaurant that has it’s origin in Singapore.
The island republic does not usually have the upper hand when it comes to food, but Japanese ramen is one of the rare exceptions. Here in Malaysia we have been stuck with trying to make ramen halal for way too long while our neighbor kept it real and true to the origin – with pork, like how ramen should be.
Update 2022: this place is now closed
Marutama Ramen is located on first floor of Fahrenheit 88 (old KL Plaza)
Local eateries have since realize what diners really want and it is good to see that there are a lot of ramen places that serves the dish with the right ingredients.
Marutama was introduced to me by Timothy, who got to know the place from his girlfriend Audrey, who in turn got the recommendation from Ringo. The two of them must be the most “Japanese” lookalike and act alike Malaysian in the country, so if they say it is good, it must be good.
chasiu ramen, I love it with plenty of fried garlic
I always measure a ramen place by its most essential dish – the good old chasiu ramen.
Marutama’s version is unpretentious, four slices of chasiu (not to be confused with BBQ pork, the Japanese version is slices of rolled pork shoulder), 3/4 boiled egg, seaweed, spring onion, and ramen noodle in pork chicken broth.
check out the glorious 3/4 boiled egg
The broth at Marutama is one of the thickest and most flavorful I’ve had from anywhere, very savory and absolutely brilliant. They also have the egg boiled just right, and the chasiu were fatty and tender like they should.
Best of all, there’s free flow deep fried sliced garlic on the side to be added to your ramen.
I went with timothy and david on separate occasions
Other than ramen, they also serve some side dishes like grilled pork belly, fried rice, gyoza and so forth. Their gyoza was just alright, and I wouldn’t recommend anyone to try their fried rice (it was quite lousy). Stick to the ramen and you’ll have a wonderful experience at Marutama.
Prices are around RM 20 including taxes. Another good pork ramen place nearby is Ton Chan at Wisma Cosway.
Address:
Marutama Ramen
Fahrenheit 88
Lot Flr. 27.01, 1st floor
Buking Bintang, KL
GPS: 3.14748, 101.71283
Tel: 03–2141 1573
the pork ribs fail.. not nice…
and their noodle make me feel like eating wan tan mee than eating ramen.. so.. nothing so special to me.. 😛
sotong: hahaha you salah order already the chasiu ramen was damn ons!
Yes, and the amazing egg … was indeed a surprise since expected the broth/noodles/char shu to take the spotlight, but the humble egg took my breath away.
J2Kfm: oh yes that egg was something!
been to this place twice… ordered their signature ramen and chasiu ramen… delicious! i love this place more than the ramen shop at one utama….
connie: awesome! likewise 😀
x dpt makan :]
zulfizan: ops. 😛
look delicious.but diet now ;P
illyz: exercise more then can eat loo 😛
I wanna eat this too!
Michelle: make it happen! 😀
ooh I’ve always like the 3/4 egg. Yummy!!
eiling: yah, even better than half boiled 😀
it feels like there’s been a ramen revolution in KL since mid-2010, rite. there are probably at least 20 ramen specialist outlets now in the klang valley! 😀
Sean: yah, the more the merrier 😀
It looks pretty good. Gotta love the 3/4 boiled egg (it’s hard to get it right for most establishments who pushes out a lot of these things).
I like the looks of the murky broth too. 😀
Huai Bin: yah, very flavorful broth indeed. 😀
“The island republic does not usually have the upper hand when it comes to food, but Japanese ramen is one of the rare exceptions. Here in Malaysia we have been stuck with trying to make ramen halal for way too long while our neighbor kept it real and true to the origin – with pork, like how ramen should be.”
did you just say that the food in Singapore sucks and that the ramen here (in Singapore) is only better because you guys (in Malaysia) have been trying to make it “halal for way too long”?
Jaclyn: hahaha most Singaporean street foods with the exception of a few (frog porridge for eg) aren’t exactly awesome.
don’t you think that it’s a little (understatement of the century) high-handed of you to say that especially when you don’t even live in Singapore?
i know that you can always say that this is your blog so only your opinions count and i can take my criticism and bitchiness elsewhere blahblah to escape the fact and scrutiny that you’re only making a snap judgment of Singapore food just because you’ve tried the same old tired places like ponggol nasi lemak, maxwell hawker centre, newton hawker centre, joo chiat, chomp chomp, changi village and geylang road. seriously? who died and made you king of all food critics who’s able to get away with saying that just because he has tried a few tourist spots, he is able to generalize all food from the same country, branding it as lousier than Malaysian food.
get off your high horse and take a proper bite out of what lies just across the causeway.
by the way, that is my real email FYI, so if you have anything else substantial to say like “oh hahaha the ramly burger in singapore is nowhere as good as the one in malaysia”, feel free to 放马过æ¥. that’s a chinese idiom for “bring it all you’ve got”.
Jaclyn: Yeap, it is of my opinion based on my (limited) experience to arrive at that judgement, of course it is high-handed and terribly easy to discredit.
I now think that you probably know a lot of goodies in Singapore so when I visit again will you play tour guide? 😀
I do understand “放马过楔, china school maa hehehehe.
Sure why not. shoot me an email the next time you come over and maybe you could even blog for suggestions on places to find good food in singapore. im sure that there are many of your singaporean readers who would also love to show your tastebuds a good time. 🙂
sorry for making the assumption that you dont understand the idiom. i was only applying your logic and assuming that all chinese malaysians are bananas.
Jaclyn: haha no worries, you and I both just wanna have good food! 😀
“and ramen noodle in pork broth” I believe Marutama uses chicken for their broth, not pork?
Tyler: i think they use both, I think… I could be wrong. :X
Nah. The speciality of Marutama lies in their chicken stock broth. Although if you’re looking for a pork broth one, I heard that there’s a Santouka ramen opening in Pavilion, although I’m not sure when. Could be there already for all I know =D
Tyler: ah, thanks for the tips. 🙂
Santouka ramen has opened at Pavilion. And it tops this in both noodle and the broth.
Steve: ya, I had, and like both 😀
you seem a bit bitter that the ramen are mostly halal. 😉
Lovino: haha i’m not bitter, but I prefer ramen to have pork.
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