Restaurant: Maru Ichi
City: Mountain View, CA

I had ramen for lunch with a few coworkers today!

Maru Ichi’s noodles are freshly made; there is usually a gentleman making the noodles at the front of the shop. Maru Ichi has a few other locations but the Mountain View location seems to be their best one.

I got the miso ramen, which had egg, char siu (roast pork), moyashi (mung bean sprouts), and green onions in a miso broth. I also asked for corn, which is one of the additional toppings. Each table has a little container of napa cabbage kimchi, which I also added to my bowl (after taking the photo shown below).

miso ramen

Here’s some info about miso ramen, from rameniac:

Sapporo ramen is widely considered one of Japan’s most prominent and influential ramen styles, largely because it is here that miso (soybean paste) ramen first originated. More specifically, Sapporo ramen shops use a soup that features an akamiso (red soybean paste) base, characteristically topped with vegetables such as moyashi, corn, and cabbage, which are frequently stir-fried and tossed with soup in large woks. In response to the cold climate, Sapporo ramen is extremely rich and, despite the intrinsically healthful properties of miso, often loaded with lard; the soup is very kotteri and the portions are fairly large. An additional slab of butter is often added as a signature Sapporo-style topping.

And some more info, from Wikipedia:

Miso ramen is a relative newcomer, having reached national prominence around 1965. This uniquely Japanese ramen, which was developed in Hokkaido, features a broth that combines copious amounts of miso and is blended with oily chicken or fish broth – and sometimes with tonkotsu or lard – to create a thick, nutty, slightly sweet and very hearty soup. Miso ramen broth tends to have a robust, tangy flavor, so it stands up to a variety of flavorful toppings: spicy bean paste or tōbanjan (豆瓣醤), butter and corn, leeks, onions, bean sprouts, ground pork, cabbage, sesame seeds, white pepper, and chopped garlic are common. The noodles are typically thick, curly, and slightly chewy.