Marugame Udon

Very excited to try the first Marugame Udon location in Canada!! Having tried Marugame in both Japan and Honolulu, I was very excited to compare the locations. I visited for the grand opening on a busy Saturday, where they were giving out a free tempura topping with every bowl. There was a continuous line to enter however the line moves very fast. Within 30minutes we were able to order and be seated with our noodles. I also like how you can watch a staff member freshly preparing your udon as you walk in.

To order, you first choose the type of dish you want; udon or rice. You then add a variety of tempura toppings on the side, and then pay at the counter for your udon/rice and tempura. For the grand opening the staff seemed quite well trained so the service was very swift.

I ordered the beef udon and added shrimp tempura and kakiage (tempura onion slices).
Beside the tempura, you are also able to add fried crunchy bits to your noodles and I would highly suggest it! There are also a variety of sauces to try for either the tempura, udon, rice or katsu.

Overall I enjoyed the beef udon. The beef had a slightly sweet sauce with soft, sweet onions slices. The beef was very tender and slightly fatty as well. The udon texture had a bouncy chewy and was complimented well with the slightly sweet/fatty beef. The umami fish dashi soup was savoury but not too salty, which worked well with the combination of beef and udon. The shrimp tempura and kakiage were made fresh and crispy.

Overall I enjoyed the bowl of noodles and will be back to try the curry udon/rice!

#5 Nikutama BK Udon w Egg - Hot and Regular for $12
Quickly brought out (literally in less than a minute) everything was put together and I was on my way. Solid bowl and would come again - skews a bit on the salty side, has very long chewy udon noodles, and a generous portion of beef.

Got some sides of tempura shrimp and squid, pretty solid. Nothing to write home about, was nice to have this w the meal.

The hype has finally died down on Marugame Udon. Quality is nowhere near the Hawaii branch but it's convenient for a light, easy meal.

We dropped in on a Tuesday evening (7:00pm). Small queue (5 minutes) to order.

- Chicken katsu curry (#7) ($15.49 large) - katsu was surprisingly decent. Good portion of udon but lacked a chewy, springy bite. Their noodles don't beat Motonobu Udon. Curry broth was serviceable.
- Gyu don (#8) ($10.99) - dry beef, onsen egg added zero flavour to the rice. Avoid.

Came by for lunch on a Wednesday at 2:30 PM for a late lunch, and it was pretty empty since it was a weird hour. I've tried the Marugame in Waikiki so when I saw there was a location in Vancouver, I was excited to have their handmade udon again. It was a hot, July day, so I didn't want anything heavy like the curry nikutama. So instead, I opted for regular Nikutama Udon (sweet beef, onsen egg, and BK sauce). The udon was just as good as I remembered, and I liked the sweet beef with it. Hubby had the chicken katsu curry don, since he prefers rice over noodles and he said it was just okay. But I guess that's what he gets for ordering rice at an udon spot.

I'm not sure how busy this place gets during normal lunch hours but if I'm basing it off of just this experience, it's a good place for a quick and inexpensive lunch.

Great, cheap eats! Perfect for comfort food or just a quick bite. The service is fast and resembles similarly to a canteen. You order at the window and then take your meal through to the tempura area (where it's self served). Servers are nice, friendly, and efficient. The ambience is nothing special but there's a good amount of seating.

Honestly, I don't understand the hype. I've been to the one in Honolulu and I'm always baffled as to why anyone would line up for this when there are so many better udon options there.

Now in downtown Vancouver, our udon options are not as great, but wow this place is solidly mediocre. It's "ok" at best if you're looking for a quick filling meal, but it's definitely not worth going out of your way for.

I went at lunchtime during the week, and it was pretty quiet. I don't expect this place to survive for long.

Ah, the taste of Honolulu is here in Vancouver. The udons are excellent. Service is quick and courteous. Price is reasonable. Location is big and roomy. Highly recommend.

This place rolls cafeteria style, choose your udon and size. Then you self serve the tempera, gyoza and karage items. Noodles are made fresh on the premises. It's cool that theres an open kitchen so you can see them making the tempura. The plus of this place is the location near the arena, stadium and Queen E. It's also quick and cheap. Turnover of seating is constant, so you will always find a place to sit even though the line may be long to get food. Not licensed.

Very disappointed.

I expect Marugame Udon to serve not only the quick freshly-made handmade udon, but also efficient work & service. "Quick & efficient" is what this freshly-made handmade udon special.

The line was long (10 mins wait), which was OK, I knew that already.

I was asked to choose a style of udon (either Kamaage, BK, Nikutama, or Kake), then proceeded to pick toppings (self service). The process was fine.

But then, when it comes to adding seasonings (Shichimi spices etc), I had to go to separate section where there are people who take time to explore what each seasoning was. I had to wait like 5 mins. I was worried about my udon (Kake) getting soggy.

And at that point I realized that there was no noodle spoon. I asked about it, but a staff told me that she was not aware of it, and checked in with the kitchen. I was then told that they are all in dishwasher but would be finished soon.

When I got seasonings on my udon and looked for a table, I found one spot where there were dirty spills all over the table. I had to get up to get a paper napkin to clean the mess by myself. I did not bother asking staff to clean, as I did not want my udon to get soggier.

Unfortunately, by the time I ate the udon, the noodle was super soggy, broth was lukewarm. Tempra (shrimp, squid, chicken, asparagus, kakiage) was average.

Spoons never came out of dishwasher even when I exited the place.

We had
- Kake
- BK
- Nikutama (Curry)

My suggestion is, do not go for udon in broth (Kake or Nikutama) when the place is busy. You will end up eating soggy flabby noodles.

Very delicious! Love the broth and yummy udon ! Must try Nikutama udon and their tempura

I was really excited to try the freshly made udon here but it was kind of disappointing, unfortunately.

This restaurant was hyped up and still has long line ups since its opening. On a Saturday evening, around 6 pm, we waited around 15 minutes to be served, which was reasonable. We went with a large kitsune udon and a few pieces of tempura, for a light dinner. The ordering and food pick up process is very efficient. Just before the cashier, they also have a water station, which is perfect. There is also a sauce station, which had soy sauce, a hot tempura sauce, and chilli flakes.

The disappointing part was the food itself. I found the udon to be on the soggy side, overcooked, and therefore it tasted about the same as if I had slightly overcooked frozen udon at home. For example, if I picked up some strands of udon and held it above my bowl for 5 seconds, it would start to tear. I am a bit surprised this would happen because they are supposed to be known for udon and since it is fresh, it does not really need much cooking plus it should be chewy. This was not the case at all.

The soup itself was tasty, and the tempura was okay. The tempura sauce was pretty watery and not very flavourful compared to the ones I've had at various Japanese restaurants.

The restaurant was very busy and almost full; however it was not the cleanest, but acceptable. The price of the food was reasonable, and tipping is not an option here, which is great to see as it's not a sit down restaurant, mostly serve yourself.

I probably won't be coming back, unless a friend really wanted to. Now I understand how people have been saying there wasn't anything special about Marugame.