Marugame Udon

Update: This business has ceased its operations.

Marugame Udon (丸亀製麺) is a new restaurant in Setia City Mall. It is just opposite of Ko Hyang. Marugame Udon is popular for its udon (うどん) and tempura (天ぷら) dishes.

Marugame Udon is the largest udon chain store in Japan, with nearly 800 outlets so far. The business originated in the city of Marugame (丸亀市) in the Kagawa Prefecture (香川県). This outlet is Marugame Udon's first venture into Malaysia.

At Marugame Udon, order placement and collection are in self-service manner. Its open kitchen concept allows customers to see how food is prepared in the background.

Our first dish is the Ontama Udon (温玉うどん, RM11.80), which includes a partially boiled egg in light soy sauce. The udon is specifically sanuki udon (讃岐うどん). Instead of being round, sanuki udon has squarish cross-section. To maintain freshness, the noodle is made in-house and must be discarded if not used within 30 minutes. This explains why the noodle is so chewy and have such delightful mouthfeel.

The partially boiled egg is called onsen tamago (温泉玉子). "Onsen" means "hot spring" in Japanese language. This type of egg is called so because it is traditionally cooked by boiling in a hot spring. The resultant yolk is orange and fluid in appearance, even though the egg is actually cooked.

The udon dish is garnished with tempura crumbs and chopped scallion (spring onion). In addition, there is a self-service counter where customers can get unlimited refills of tempura crumbs as their hearts desire.

As for rice, we sample the Beef Curry Bowl (カレー丼, RM14.80). This Japanese-style curry is hardly spicy by Malaysian standards. It is better described as sweet and starchy. Stewed beef slices are served on top of rice for savory enjoyment. Their thin form allows the curry to penetrate the meat thoroughly. In retrospect, we should have ordered the udon version instead.

As for snacks, we ordered an Ebi Tempura (海老天ぷら, RM3.80), a Chicken Tempura (とり天ぷら, RM4.80) and a Beef Croquette (牛肉コロッケ, RM4.80). My personal favorite is the former, where the freshness of shrimp greets my tongue upon my first bite. The latter is not bad too, having made from succulent ground beef with mashed potatoes and onion.

The type of tempura sauce at Marugame Udon is not as watery as the commonly-encountered ones. The sauce is quite salty too. Personally, I prefer the lighter-flavored version to go with tempura.

Moving on to drinks, the restaurant allows unlimited refills of tea. Ocha (お茶, RM3.00) is the mainstream Japanese green tea, while Ocha Genmai (玄米茶, RM3.00) is mixed with roasted brown rice for more "husk-like" aroma.

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Marugame Udon is a pork-free restaurant. Raw udon and tempura flour are imported from Japan, but prepared in-house on daily basis. To keep dishes warm at the customers' tables, the bowls are also preheated before use. It is worth trying this restaurant but a visit can burn a large hole in the wallet.

Address: UG-28, Setia City Mall, Bandar Setia Alam, 40170 Shah Alam, Selangor
Contact: 03-3358-8374
Business hours: 10:00am-10:00pm

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