I’ve been to Marutama Ramen a few times since they first opened in May 2013. It’s a nice change from all the pork-based tonkotsu ramen in town.

Marutama is a mere 1/2 block away from ramen favourite Ramen Santouka. I love Santouka’s tsukemen (dipping ramen) but today we felt like revisiting Marutama.

Japanese-style storefronts are such a refreshing sight.

I like getting their spicy option. It’s noticeably spicy without lingering or burning too much.

Like your noodles firm like me? Just ask! I never have enough appetite to get kae-dama though… And I only recently started drinking all of my soup like real Japanese people do 😛

Need more nuttiness? Complimentary sesame seeds! How many places have that?? Also what appears to be Korean chili flakes, if you desire.

Bottomless crunchy garlic chips too. Quite toasted, verging on burnt, but quite an intense and delicious garlicky addition.

Here’s the “Aka Ramen” containing seven kinds of ground nuts. When they first introduced this nut ramen last year, I thought it was supposed to come with ground chicken balls. AFAIK, they never actually brought that part out and there’s no mention of it on the menu. Too bad cuz ground chicken meatballs sound DELICIOUS in a ramen like this.

The lemon goes great with the slight peanut butteriness of the broth. The mild spiciness just makes things even more delicious.

For myself, I got their spicy “Tamago Ramen” with chashu, slippery and succulent aosa seaweed, green onions and rockin’ Japanese soy sauce marinated egg. The soup doesn’t look spicy but is robustly spicy without lingering too much on your tongue. Rich, in-your-face chicken flavour in the dreamy creamy broth. On the salty side at first, but then your palate adjusts and you appreciate the flavour that clings to the thin, almost delicate noodles. The noodles held up fairly well too as I wasted time taking umpteen pictures.

I absolutely LOVE that aosa seaweed/sea lettuce/algae. It really soaks up the broth and gives this amazing slippery texture when eaten on its own and also in concert with the noodles. I crave it.

Thinner style noodles, which they make in-house in the little windowed corner room. Great match for the thick, creamy soup. Really picks up the flavour.

Now here’s the business! I think Marutama’s eggs are the best in Vancouver. They hit that gooey gelatinous stage in the yolks, you can see that it’s been marinating in soy sauce, and they’re not salty. Well-executed. I really like that they don’t serve the egg already cut in half. I get to choose when to reveal the yolk!

The Japanese have really gone against that French ideal of clear broths. There’s a ton of rich chicken flavour and lots of collagen in this creamy broth.

So good I drank all the soup! I saw these chili seeds at the bottom. Great. Just great.