It is already a good start. Labor day weekend and I am not laboring. Instead, spend a lovely afternoon sitting in Goupa Cafe in Palo Alto working on my Ramen blog! Nothing beats that. Want to promote Goupa a little bit more. The store has a typical Palo Alto Ol' town style setting, which is less contemporary but more antique-ish than Starbucks. I got the latte today where the coffee itself is strong in aroma, bolder taste. If you like stronger coffee, give this shop a shot. It also features various rewards programs such as Fivestars and rewardMe. Wifi is definitely a bonus here.
Thought that on the way over to Palo Alto, I stopped by at Mountain View Castro's Maruichi Ramen. This shop is the 2nd oldest out of the 3 shops on Castro. From the outside it doesnt look very appealing.
The shops can be described as an old chinese restaurant setting with ripped couches on the left, bar seating in the middle and table seating on the right. Their fame is that they make their noodle in house, which can been seen on the left of the entrence. Decided to go with the famous kuro ramen with the kakuni (. Found it interesting that 2 Russian looking guy seating next to me eating dry ramen..
Soup - Pork bone soup with grind black sesame sauce on top.
Noodle - Store made straight thin noodle
The ramen reminded me of Nankotsuten Ramen (なんこつ亭) in tokyo where they also have the black sesame on the top. The difference is that Maru ichi's noodle did not go as well with the soup itself. The soup itself has a funny smell (dont want to categorize) after a couple bits. The fame for maruichi is that they make the noodle in house.
Comparing to other shops, the noodle the texture of the noodle is smooth, and easy to swallow, which means on the contrary, the bounce of the noodle is less. This reminded me of buckwheat noodle or soba in Japanese.
The good is that the taste of kakuni is fatastic. the taste is completely soak into the juicy pork itself. The fat part is fantastic but I think that the meat part is a little dry.
The other plus is that the store serves free kimchi.
And panfried garlic,
I would say if you like kimchi and ramen, this is your place to enjoy the combination of both! There is usually a line for lunch and better to come here earlier.
------------------------------------------
Ramen Maru Ichi
368 Castro St.
Mountain View, CA 94043
650.564.9931
View Larger Map
No comments:
Post a Comment