Marukame Udon (Honolulu, Hawaii)

Marukame Udon was one of the first restaurants we noticed during our vacation in Hawaii as it’s so full packed of customers lining up outside their premises. Initially we were tempted to queue but it was just too long for us so we thought why not try on a later time, the line might be shorter anyways the restaurant is just around the corner from our hotel so we can check it always.

This was one of the first restaurants we noticed during our vacation in Hawaii as it’s so full packed of customers lining up outside their premises. Initially we were tempted to queue but it was just too long for us so we thought why not try on a later time, the line might be shorter anyways the restaurant is just around the corner from our hotel so we can check it always. We then moved on and continued where we are heading for the day which are the Waikiki shops. As the day ends we headed back to the hotel and at the same time checked if the queue got shorter to our surprise it became longer, we still did not queue.

Everyday we checked on it, before we leave the hotel and when be head back the amount of people in the queue never changed until one time we woke up really late and left the hotel around 11:15 AM, to my surprise there were only 4 people lining up. We did lined up as this was the perfect timing in doing so, as they usually open at 11 AM and at 10:30 people already start to line up. My guess is that when it opened all of the people in the queue got served as the seats were enough.

What this restaurant offered were udon noodles freshly made in premises as well as an array of deep fried stuff (tempura). Udon were served either with soup or just sauce and diners have the option to have a large or a small bowl. There is also some Curry Udon, Kamaage Udon, Zaru Udon and Spicy Shabu Pork.

There are different kinds of tempura from different vegetables, prawns as well as chicken. There are also some musibi’s and inari’s

The price is quite reasonable in fact on of the cheapest you can find in Waikiki, udon noodles cost somewhere between $3.75 and $5.25 while the tempura cost somewhere around $1.25 each.

So how does it taste like? I tried the Niku Udon where its broth is flavoured with a light fish and seaweed taste (same broth as the Kake udon) then topped with sweet beef, caramelized onions, tenkasu (tempura crumbs), and Welsh green onions. All I can say is that this is the most perfect udon noodle soup I ever tried so far, the soup was light but rich and the texture of the udon noodles is amazing. Everything was just perfect. The tempura was also perfect specially the chicken, it’s so crispy outside and very juicy on the inside, one of the best fried chickens I tried.

So will I recommend lining up just to have one well yes, especially when you have lots of time to spare because it not just good it’s also inexpensive compared to other restaurants that you will find in Waikiki. But my suggestion is the best way to dine in is at 15 minutes just before they open, when they just finished serving up the first queue before opening time, if you’re lucky at that time there might be only a couple of people left in the line.

Marukame Udon
Address: 310 Kuhio Avenue, Suite 124 Honolulu, HI 96815 U.S.A.
Phone: +1 808 931 6000
Website: https://www.marugameudon.com/

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