Ramen is meat. Or rather, ramen broth is. The thick bone broth is rich with collagen, and when it’s really done right, it leaves your lips sticky with the stuff. But I know lots of vegetarians who regularly crave a great noodle soup. Hence, the existence of vegetarian ramen. Where to get it? Former Best Restaurants perennial Marumen seemed like an obvious place to start.
Meals at Marumen commence with a plate of seasoned edamame. It’s the first thing that will distract you from the restaurant’s eerie resemblance to a Pizza Hut, which is only natural, since that’s precisely what once occupied the space. A TV showing some of the sushi offerings on a loop is the next hint. Scan the QR code for a menu, and the transformation is complete. This is indeed a ramen spot, albeit more fusion than traditional, which may explain touches like the veggie ramen.
At first glance, I was impressed with the broth’s milky hue. On visual appeal alone, I might have even been convinced it was tonkotsu. Any such illusions were, naturally, shattered at first taste. That silky, collagenousness that comes with the pork broth was absent. In its place, the thinner soup revealed something all its own: an umami explosion, detonated by the mushroom-based broth. By the time they arrived in front of me, the fried mushrooms on top had already lost their crispness, but no matter, they added to the meaty flavor as I slurped up thin, slippery noodles. I added a soft-yolked egg, which surprised me with its atypical sweet-and-sour flavor.
This omnivore is still more likely to go for meaty ramen when she can, but for those who eschew meat, Marumen has the soup you’re craving. 3250 Old Pickett Rd., Fairfax
Feature image by Alice Levitt
For more reviews, subscribe to our twice-weekly Food newsletter.
