Japan trip-雷門滿留賀(まるか)

Our plan that day was to go to Asakusa, the place where you will see that big red lantern hanging. I remembered the weather was brutal that day; we were all wet after taking the subway. So before we continued our journey, we decided to find a place to restore our energy first. The one restaurant that we were facing was Marukan, an old-style soba restaurant.

雷門 満留賀(かみなりもん まるか)(Kaminarimon Maruka)
1-1-5 Asakusa, Taito-ku 〒111-0032 Tokyo, Asakusa Kannon Street
〒111-0032 東京都台東区浅草1-1-5 浅草観音通り
Tel: 03-3842-2020


Ratings

1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 5
Price: 4
Service: 6
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 4.5

• Wed-Sun 11am-8:30pm
• Famous for soba (For more details, you can view their website with a detailed soba history. Unfortunately, their website is in Japanese.

• The menu is short, and is placed on each table. Since it's all in Japanese, I decided to go outside and look at the samplers, the perfect way to order food ;D (Another bonus for Japan: Most restaurants have samplers outside, so you can use them as references.)
• Its location was pretty hard to find. There wasn't many people pass by there; it was hidden in a hallway.
• Owned by a family. They are really nice and friendly. The lady knew we were tourists, and she tried her best to help us when we're ordering.

天丼(Tempura Rice Set)

• ¥1400 (about $11CAD $83HKD)
• Came with a sidedish (which was some marinated gourd and plum), a miso soup, and a cup of hot tea.

• The prawn tempura was finished with their homemade sauce after frying.
• This was for my dad. He always order tempura in Japanese restaurants because that's the most common cooked food in all restaurant.

Cold Tempura Mix Soba

• Forgot the price, probably it's about ¥900-1500 (about $11-19CAD $82-137HKD)
• With mushroom, crabmeat, sliced carrot, seaweed, and prawn tempura.
• Such a smart choice for my sister! She was the only one ordering a cold dish.

Tempura & Tamago Soba

• Forgot the price again, probably cost like ¥900~
• There's also plain Tempura Soba, but my mom wanted to have an extra egg with her soba.

おかめそば(Okame Soba)-5/6

• ¥900 (about $11CAD $82HKD)
• Came with mushroom, and assorted "fishballs" (I mean they are similar to the food you see when you are having hotpot).

• I was pretty sure that the broth was MSG-free. It was very clear and distinct.
• The soba was soft and not as chewy as I thought. I am not a soba-pro, so should a nice soba be chewy...or not? Hmmm