Marufuku Ramen Austin — Restaurant in Austin

Update 7/22/2023: Been here a few times and they have been consistent. Increasing my review to 5 stars! Oh and they now serve beers and Sake...

Update 11/3/2022: I continue to be impressed with this place. I've tried the non-deluxe version of the Hakata Tonkatsu on another visit and today I tried the chicken ramen DX. The deluxe version of the chicken ramen comes with a whole chicken leg that is marinated in I think a teriyaki sauce. But the unique thing about this is the chicken leg skin. It reminds me of how Peking duck is cooked. The skin was crispy yet the inside was still very tender. The teriyaki sauce is not overpowering and overly salty, still salty but that's really what you expect from this type of sauce.

The Chicken Ramen was excellent. The broth was not salty and the chicken was so tender yet maintained its form that it was not stringy. They must sous vide this chicken as I would not see how else they would achieve this type of texture. Overall, I'm really happy that this place is close to my work and I continue to enjoy lunch here.

Original visit: I'm impressed! There's always a risk going on grand opening day because sometimes restaurants have not adapted to either the volume or have their training completed. My first visit seemed like they have been operating for a few months already. The staff is super nice and helpful and be expected to be greeted when you get your table and a farewell when you leave.

I ordered Chicken Karaage as a starter. The portion size is pretty substantial which is great, but I really wish that they would cut it into smaller pieces. Especially if this was intended to be a shareable appetizer, the large pieces might be difficult to share. I also hoped for a lighter batter in which taking a couple bites with larger pieces some of the batter was a little mushy.

But in all honesty, I really did not come here for the appetizer. I came here for the Ramen. I got the Hakata Tonkatsu DX. This ramen looks handcrafted with care and you can see the richness in the broth. The temperature of this broth came out and it was really hot, it was hot to the point where I don't think my wife would complain because she likes her broth near boiling.

The broth has a good balance. It is not too salty like some other ramen places. This broth is rich in deep pork flavor and they uniquely include pickled ginger on top which helps balance the Ramen holistically. I got medium spice, however, if you prefer to customize your heat, you're able to add in some of the hot powder that's on the table in order to increase the level.

Another unique thing that they do is provide the whole egg as-is, so it is up to you to cut it in half when eating it. Some places may give you only half an egg and some may also split the egg for you, it's a personal preference in which I don't care either way as long as the egg is tasty.

The chasu pork that they include in the Ramen is very soft and tender. For the deluxe bowl, they also include a piece of pork belly, which reminds me of the Vietnamese braised pork with egg dish (thit kho). This really brought a lot of flavor to the meat and I don't think it hindered the ramen in any way. In fact, it probably enhanced the dish overall. Just be aware that pork belly can be a little fatty if you are watching that in your diet.

I'm very happy to have another Ramen option in Austin. In fact, if they keep this up, it could very well be my favorite place to get Ramen. I might call this a toss up between this and my favorite...

Hear me out on this one. Food, for the price, is below average for the area it is in and you’ll pay about $43/person for a hearty bowl of ramen and appetizer. That’s assuming the service is great like I had. I have nothing negative to say of the staff or the cooks, other than to bring in a top chef to teach the current cooking staff what ramen is like from Japan. Thomas was my server and was extremely attentive and friendly.

All of the dishes, cups, style etc. Indicates this business wants to bring an authentic ramen experience. That is not what you are paying for here.

I ordered the gyoza, which was okay. The Tonkotsu ramen had 2 very small strips of pork belly that actually had good flavor, but disappointed how little of it they provided. The extra egg I ordered was watery and not half-way cooked and marinated like it should be. It was like buying 2 eggs from HEB and throwing it in a pot. Definitely not Ajitsuke Tamago. It’s a shame because the farmers market is right there and they could grab local ingredients and make a really cool ramen experience, different from any other. Maybe put a Texas-twist to the brand. The broth had decent flavor but nothing like the deep at a top-rated ramen restaurant. This place does not deserve 4.5 stars and I’m so surprised that so many people have given it good ratings considering quality and price to portion ratio.

Now, if the ramen was half price, I may give this place an extra star and a half. This feels like little effort has gone into the quality of the products of the business.

I ate everything ordered as it was 36 degrees outside and the alternative was to starve in the cold, so I picked the latter. If the temperature had been warmer outside, I might not have finished my food and gifted it to my younger brother who will eat anything. I could care less for over-priced-lower-quality ramen and smaller portion sizes.

Mind you, I recently came back from San Diego so ramen is fresh on my mind. The difference in portion size, quality of ingredients (you can tell Marufuku does not import hardly anything, if any) and overall the atmosphere feels like a poor man’s take on a ramen experience, but try-hard and misguided.

I wish I could give this place a chance, but it is unlikely I will be back. Where is the fine...

Marufuku Ramen is a newly opened restaurant in the Mueller area (originally from San Francisco) and a great addition to the ramen scene in Austin. I visited Marufuku on their opening day (Wednesday 10/12) and arrived around 4:45pm. There was no wait for a two person table at the time, but it quickly got busy especially as it hit 6pm.

We ordered both types of ramen, the DX versions. The tonkotsu ramen (pork broth with pork belly)- the DX comes with an extra chunk of braised thick pork belly, corn, and nori. The chicken paitan (chicken broth with chicken)- the DX comes with a pretty sizable grilled chicken leg on a sizzling plate, corn, and nori. The cost difference between the regular and DX was $4, and more worth it for the chicken paitan because of the chicken leg. They also have a vegetarian ramen option as well with spinach noodles. Spice levels range from no spice to ultra spicy. We chose medium spice so that we could better assess the quality of the ramen, but ended up adding additional chili powder since it was very mild.

We also chose some small bites to try- ika karaage and Marufuku bites. These were pretty standard tasting apps.

Overall, Marufuku offers a great additional ramen option in Austin. As a disclaimer, I don't consider myself to be very picky when it comes to ramen. I liked that the broth was relatively light and not too oily, I would also say that the broth is also not super creamy. The noodles were thin and the meats were tender, although I do prefer them a little charred. Each ramen bowl comes with a whole egg which was a pleasant surprise, the description states that it's seasoned and but I noticed that it is not marinated.

As a note, the noise level is kind of high at this restaurant. There is paid street parking in this area. Also they mentioned that they will be expanding their menu (with deserts, more alcohol, etc.) and hopefully having...