When a ramen shop can make a meatless broth taste just as velvety as the liquid born from hours of boiling bones, it’s doing something right. It’s the stems of shiitake mushrooms and seaweed, plus miso, bringing the depth associated with these usually porky noodle soups. Battered and fried mushroom tops replace pork belly, naturally.
Marumen has always shown this dedication; a casual, but kitchen-ambitious restaurant—a second location in Sterling is slated for later this year—that’s always been more than ramen. A puffy, hefty Japanese pancake studded with assorted shellfish is substantial, but also cloud-like. The salmon, cured in sake and miso, is cooked so the insides remain a luscious deep pink. But remember, there’s bouncy noodles to slurp and soup to soothe the soul.
Marumen
Japanese + Korean | $
3250 Old Pickett Road, Fairfax
