Marugame Udon, a new entry hitting the Japanese food cuisine dance floor and this actually resembles 'Yoshinoya' in some way. 'Yoshinoya' gives you beef bowl done in a fast food manner. While Marugame Udon serves you Udon done in a fast food manner.
You start the queue with a choice from the menu (8 udon dishes and 4 rice dishes), then choose your additional hot food and then move on to the fried food station. The hot food consist of kakedashi soup, beef sukiyaki, tori ball, mentaiko and tamago while the fried food ranges from inari sushi, fried prawn and vegetables tempura, to beef potato croquette.
I would say the concept is pretty original, even though as mentioned above that it resembles the franchised Yoshinoya food retail chain from Japan. Marugame has an open kitchen which makes the entire floor plan bigger. You'll be able to see all the action happening behind the scene. From the udon making, tempura frying to the selection of extra side dishes that are available for your preference. The main course consist of udon and rice dishes, fried food ranges from prawn tempura to sweet potato fritter, while the hot food includes tori balls, beef sukiyaki, etc. The pricing are reasonable. I would say Rp 150,000 (include tax) for 2 person should be enough. Well, unless you've been fasting for 2 days and this is the first meal you ate after that hahaha!
Menu : Mentai Kamatama Udon
Price : Rp 50,000 ++
Score : 6.0 / 10
>> The udon itself is well done but I think I choose the wrong udon dish. I knew myself isn't a big fan of raw egg but the topping consist of very very very soft boiled egg. The minute you gently mix and stir the bowl, you'll break the egg yolk and it'll oozes all over. Mentaiko and the egg is what all of this dish is about. Very pretty color I must say but I'll opt for the 'beef curry udon, niku udon or the tori baitang udon' next time. But if you like raw egg, then by all means I think you'll enjoy this menu!
Menu : Beef Sukiyaki
Price : Rp 30,000 ++
Score : 7.25 / 10
>> I will hands down say it is better than what Yoshinoya has to provide. First, the portion is much much bigger than what you'll get for Rp 30,000 compare to Yoshinoya. Second, because it is an open kitchen, you'll be able to ask for extra onions!! Which I loveee, a big sauteed sweet onion eater here ^_^. The beef is well cooked, wasn't chewy nor overcooked at all. The sauce was well balanced, with the sweet and salty soy sauce kicking into action upon landing on your palate. Overall, something that I'll re order again and again from time to time.
Menu : Tori Ball
Price : Rp 11,000 ++
Score : 7.5 / 10
>> Texture of the chicken tori balls were little bit on the soft side. Definitely not mushy nor stone hard but the right word to describe would be 'easy to chew, friendly for the elderly too'. Hahahaha...well regardless how I may seem to describe, the texture was well to my liking. What I like more was the soup. It has a strong salty taste but still pleasant on the tongue and definitely not overpowering the whole dish. Remember the 'tori baitang udon' dish that I mention above, that menu has this beautiful babies as the topping! So, that choice of the udon is definitely on my 're visit' meal list.
Menu : Inari Sushi (top) & Beef Potato Croquette (below)
Price : Inari Sushi RP 6,400 ++ & Beef Croquette Rp 10,900 ++
Score : Inari Sushi 6.0 / 10 & Beef Croquette 7.0 / 10
>> What can go wrong with fried food? Well, almost nothing. Let's talk about their inari sushi first. I'd say it's mediocre. Nothing special, nothing fancy, nothing out of the box. Just a simple tofu skin wrap over sushi rice. Done well for the reasonable price tag.
>> Beef croquette; crispy outer layer checked, generous fillings checked, tasty tempura sauce checked, too much potato instead of beef checked too. Well, many good points about this piece but except the proportion combination of the croquette is not right. Too much potato and can't taste the beef at all. But overall, I'll come and order this.
Overall a good solid addition into the so called 'Japanese fast food' in Jakarta. And I'm sure to be seeing this in more and more big malls in and around Jakarta. Itada kimas !!
Marugame Udon
Gandaria City Mall, Upper Ground Floor #16 - 17
Mall Taman Anggrek, 3rd Floor
You start the queue with a choice from the menu (8 udon dishes and 4 rice dishes), then choose your additional hot food and then move on to the fried food station. The hot food consist of kakedashi soup, beef sukiyaki, tori ball, mentaiko and tamago while the fried food ranges from inari sushi, fried prawn and vegetables tempura, to beef potato croquette.
I would say the concept is pretty original, even though as mentioned above that it resembles the franchised Yoshinoya food retail chain from Japan. Marugame has an open kitchen which makes the entire floor plan bigger. You'll be able to see all the action happening behind the scene. From the udon making, tempura frying to the selection of extra side dishes that are available for your preference. The main course consist of udon and rice dishes, fried food ranges from prawn tempura to sweet potato fritter, while the hot food includes tori balls, beef sukiyaki, etc. The pricing are reasonable. I would say Rp 150,000 (include tax) for 2 person should be enough. Well, unless you've been fasting for 2 days and this is the first meal you ate after that hahaha!
Price : Rp 50,000 ++
Score : 6.0 / 10
>> The udon itself is well done but I think I choose the wrong udon dish. I knew myself isn't a big fan of raw egg but the topping consist of very very very soft boiled egg. The minute you gently mix and stir the bowl, you'll break the egg yolk and it'll oozes all over. Mentaiko and the egg is what all of this dish is about. Very pretty color I must say but I'll opt for the 'beef curry udon, niku udon or the tori baitang udon' next time. But if you like raw egg, then by all means I think you'll enjoy this menu!
Price : Rp 30,000 ++
Score : 7.25 / 10
>> I will hands down say it is better than what Yoshinoya has to provide. First, the portion is much much bigger than what you'll get for Rp 30,000 compare to Yoshinoya. Second, because it is an open kitchen, you'll be able to ask for extra onions!! Which I loveee, a big sauteed sweet onion eater here ^_^. The beef is well cooked, wasn't chewy nor overcooked at all. The sauce was well balanced, with the sweet and salty soy sauce kicking into action upon landing on your palate. Overall, something that I'll re order again and again from time to time.
Price : Rp 11,000 ++
Score : 7.5 / 10
>> Texture of the chicken tori balls were little bit on the soft side. Definitely not mushy nor stone hard but the right word to describe would be 'easy to chew, friendly for the elderly too'. Hahahaha...well regardless how I may seem to describe, the texture was well to my liking. What I like more was the soup. It has a strong salty taste but still pleasant on the tongue and definitely not overpowering the whole dish. Remember the 'tori baitang udon' dish that I mention above, that menu has this beautiful babies as the topping! So, that choice of the udon is definitely on my 're visit' meal list.
Price : Inari Sushi RP 6,400 ++ & Beef Croquette Rp 10,900 ++
Score : Inari Sushi 6.0 / 10 & Beef Croquette 7.0 / 10
>> What can go wrong with fried food? Well, almost nothing. Let's talk about their inari sushi first. I'd say it's mediocre. Nothing special, nothing fancy, nothing out of the box. Just a simple tofu skin wrap over sushi rice. Done well for the reasonable price tag.
>> Beef croquette; crispy outer layer checked, generous fillings checked, tasty tempura sauce checked, too much potato instead of beef checked too. Well, many good points about this piece but except the proportion combination of the croquette is not right. Too much potato and can't taste the beef at all. But overall, I'll come and order this.
Overall a good solid addition into the so called 'Japanese fast food' in Jakarta. And I'm sure to be seeing this in more and more big malls in and around Jakarta. Itada kimas !!
Marugame Udon
Gandaria City Mall, Upper Ground Floor #16 - 17
Mall Taman Anggrek, 3rd Floor
