Maruko Japanese Noodle House

*Restaurant is closed*

How much ramen does one street need?  Well, an endless supply of course.  Welcome to Robson, where a ramen shop can be found on one end to the other.  I've been to all of them except for one and you know what that means - I've going to try it.  So I enlisted the help of my ramen buddy Snake (we went to Marutama last time) for some noodle action at Maruko, situated near Hon's and Miko.

I ended up getting the combo which included a BBQ Pork Onigiri to start.  Similiar to a musubi found in Hawaii, this one here was fried and filled with shredded pork.  I enjoyed the non-greasy crispiness on the outside, yet, the pork was rather dry and lifeless on the inside.  For my main, I got the Shio Ramen which included bamboo shoots, nori, chashu and egg.  Although the broth was not super rich, it did have good flavour.  I didn't find it overly salty while it exhibited depth.  The noodles were al dente while the egg was pretty good.

Snake had the other combo which included a Roasted Pork Don.  The rice was chewy while the pork was fatty and tender.  It exhibited a nice roasted appearance and taste.  For his main, he opted for the Spicy Miso Ramen which was a good combination of salty and spicy.  Of course it wasn't overly spicy, but there was a slow rumble.  The chashu were in thick slices and a bit pale looking.  However, they were fatty and super moist.  It practically melted in our mouths.  It had a nice roasted pork flavour as well.

Since ramen never fills me up, I got the BBQ Chicken Don for good measure.  It was a fairly good portion of the same chewy rice and plenty of juicy chicken pieces on top.  Although there was good flavour with enough sauce seeping into the rice, I found the chicken lacking a BBQ essence.  I guess a bit more charring would've helped. Not trying to sound repetitive, but Maruko joins the rest of the bunch as being an above-average ramen experience.

The Good:
- Super friendly service
- Decent eats
- Relatively spacious

The Bad:
- Soup base tastes good, but could be richer
- Super friendly service which can be a bit excessive