Marukame Udon

Super Essen. Einfach, köstlich und schnell. Kann ich nur empfehlen.
Preis-​Leistung ist total im Rahmen.

Eine echte Oase im teuren Food-​Djungle Waikikis.
Es gibt diverse Udon Varianten mit unterschiedlichen Soßen, Ei, Fleisch… Die Nudeln werden selbst gemacht, und während man wartet, kann man den Prozess vom Teig zur Nudel wunderbar beobachten. Zu den Nudeln gibt es optional diverse Tempura Varianten mit Gemüse, Shrimps, Ei… oder Musubi.
Dass das Lokal fast ausschließlich von japanischstämmigen Gästen besucht wird, spricht für die Authentizität der Gerichte.
Wenn die Schlange nicht schon zweireihig ist, gehts eigentlich schnell, und ist noch dazu wahnsinnig lecker für kleines Geld (~10 $ pro Person).
Für mich ein echtes Food Highlight in Waikiki!

You won’t find a udon shop like this on the Mainland, hence, the typical long lines at Marukame. Once you get in the door, your choice of udon, hot or cold, and a variety of broths and toppings. After being handed your bowl, there your pick of tempura of shrimp, veggies, and more. Best of all that your bill at the end of the line is that it’s $ 15 or less!

Marukame Udon = yum!
I was honestly a bit surprised at how popular such a simple (albeit delicious place) like this is. At 5:30 pm, we waited about 20 minutes to place our order and pay, although it was worth it.
THE HIGHLIGHTS.
— Time your arrival carefully to avoid lunch/​dinner rushes
— Place your order and pay cafeteria-​style (and don’t forget to grab some of their tasty tempura on your way down the line)
— Get the chicken tempura (aka fried chicken that will rock your world)
— Keep an eye peeled for tables opening up (turn over time is pretty fast)
— Be careful about the salt load of each dish, as it’s easy to overdo it
The only thing I noticed is that it is REALLY easy to overdose on sodium with your meal. Pro-​tip: be choosey about the tempura that you add onto your order. Each piece (combined with the dipping sauce) adds a big chunk of salt to your palette, which can end up in a bloated, overly full feeling by the end of your meal. Be sure to grab some vegetables (if you see any).

Really good and nice prices! The broth is really savory and the service is fast and convenient.
Edit note to Unilocal: Thanks for not automatically putting my remark in the «not recommended» section like you did with my remarks on the HPD and Liliha Longs!

Heard a lot about this place and guess what?
Everything is TRUE! Incredible value, long line, good selection, tasty, fresh, just great to go if you are not in a hurry.
So then why 4 stars instead of 5?
Well it’s pretty hot in there. I wish they could crank the AC a little more. Finally they are watching you eat so you can leave. I mean as soon as you are done, they offer to take your tray. Now I’m not against this, but my friend didn’t even finish eating the worker was trying to make him leave. He had a whole untouched fish cake and part of sushi on the plate — he wasn’t really done. But due to the pressure, he said he was so we threw the leftover away.
The udon noodles are among the best I have had. The broth is really good. I like Jimbo broth better but this broth was good in its own way. The sides are fun! Shrimp, musubi, inari sushi, fish cake, chicken, sweet potato Etc. The list goes on and on. Around 1.25 per item so it’s affordable.
This place is packed and super affordable in one of the most expensive places in Hawaii.
Enjoy!

With over 4000 reviews, there’s not much more to say about this place. They serve freshly made udon, it’s super affordable, and the line moves quickly.
My favorite of the night was the curry udon which was packed with flavor. I loved being able to watch them as they made each dish! Also their tempura and side dishes were easy to choose and grab! Once you pay, just look for a seat and enjoy!

Marukame Udon is legendary in town as their udon noodles are made fresh, daily from scratch. What more could you want? I have no idea how we’ve missed Marukame Udon in our past trips out to the island but I made sure to make a stop this time. We walked by this place almost everyday and there was always a lineup, no matter what time of the day. But don’t fret, the line moves quickly.
Their system is set up cafeteria style so just get in line and while you wait, check out the menu. Prices are dirt cheap and you have a couple different udon selections to choose from. Besides your bowl, there’s tempura and spam masubi if you need more food but trust me, one bowl is more than enough. Interesting that you only get chopsticks to eat your noodles with. No spoon so you gotta drink the broth old school.
— Curry udon (#16) ($ 6.25 large) — udon noodles in curry sauce. The bowl is served piping hot and comes with shredded beef and onions. Simple and absolutely delicious. The noodles are soft, chewy pillows of heaven. The broth is just as heavenly with a deep, rich flavour that had me sipping up every last drop. Honestly, the broth was like crack, I couldn’t stop.
If you’re in the Waikiki area, you have no excuses, just gooooo. Bonus — they’re open every day from 7am to 10pm. Don’t miss out on fresh noodles!

Slow and steady wins the race…
This place is definitely worth the hype. I have been here many of times, and I’ve had a hot and cold relationship with this place. I like the price point and the quality of the food is good no matter what you get. There is always a long line but waiting 45 min is worth it. They got the system down in terms of having enough seats for those in line.

4000 Unilocal reviews don’t lie. This place is awesome in every sense.
The udon noodles are delicious and fresh and perfect. It is very authentic Japanese. The tempura selection is great AND the prices are cheap.
We came at night but found a line that wrapped around the block so we decided to come for breakfast and that was a great idea! There was no line and we got everything fresh.
We had the udon with egg, udon with beef, curry udon, and a variety of tempura selections. Everything was great.

Had the best udon EVER here. They have multiple varieties of udon, which comes with green onion and fried crispy pieces of yumminess on top. They have a bunch of fried foods like tempura, croquette, fried chicken, fish cake, etc. They also have spam musubi.
GET: Curry udon and ontama udon (cold) — soooo delicious! The noodles are super Q and flavorful in curry or in the ontama broth. Potato croquette and fried chicken as sides to eat — yum yum!
Minus one star because it gets crazy busy! The first time I tried to come, the line was all the way into the next street! I didn’t stick around to see how long the wait was. Came in again the next day around 3PM and there was no line.

This place is always SUPER packed during dinner time, so I highly recommend coming here in the morning for breakfast/​lunch. They are open early at 7 AM ! There was no line in the morning.
Upon arrival, I was a bit confused at first on how to order because it looked like an assembly line /​buffet style /​cafeteria style setting.
Step 1: Choose your type of udon noodle soup.
Step 2: Choose your choices of fried foods /​tempura foods
Step 3: Pay for your food.
Step 4: Choose your own table to sit at
The udon noodle soup starts off at about $ 5-​$ 6.
Then each of the fried foods /​tempura foods range in price between $ 1-​$ 2.
They have items such as tempura shrimp, fried mushrooms, fried fish cake, fried potato cake, etc.
You can also add an egg to your bowl for an extra $ 0.50.
It can get expensive if you choose a lot of extra toppings, for two people, i paid almost $ 30.
But I guess that’s not too bad for a restaurant in Waikiki.
Overall, delicious authentic flavor and love everything about this restaurant.

UM. There isn’t much I can say about this place that hasn’t been said before. They have 4.5 stars, thousands of reviews and a line out the door and they deserve every bit of it.
I took my parents here. At around 5pm, the wait wasn’t horrible. We were lucky! We walked in, I ordered the Niku udon for my parents and I got the curry. We also loaded on the tempura. The total for 3 of us with lots of tempura was $ 30. We could not finish our food because we had gotten so much. The Niku udon was amazing!!! My curry udon was good too but definitely more salty and flavorful if that is what you are looking for. The tempura was good too and there was a lot to chose from. The way the restaurant works is you stand in line, order first and you get your udon right away as you order and then pick your tempura and pay at the end. Then it is self service from there for the most part. You get your own utensils, water and bring your empty bowls to a shelf afterward.
I would come back here if I got the chance and recommend it to my friends :)

OMG, yum! We somehow snuck in between the lunch rush and the second lunch rush! When we arrived the place was busy but nobody in line! Everyone was busy slurping their noodles up. The chef behind the counter is super friendly and speaks english and Japanese. He pointed out their popular dishes but explained all our choices. We went with the beef broth udon noodles. He also recommended the pumpkin, sweet potato, and shrimp tempura. We tried those and more.
This is cafeteria-​style where you walk in, order your broth, select pre-​made tempura items like mentioned above, pay for your order, then sit down. We enjoyed the sweetened green tea drinks as well. The bowls are, as others have said, $ 5 – 6 each, but if you add tempura to your order you’ll quickly reach $ 15/​per person if you’re like us!
Once we sat down and began slurping we noticed a line beginning to form out the door. It quickly began to form across the front window! We were glad to have arrived when we did!
Everything here was absolutely delicious. Not everything I tried was my favorite, but that’s just preference, it was all still cooked and flavored perfectly.

If you’re remotely close to Waikiki, this place is a must stop. Apparently this place is super packed but being on mainland time, my stomach started whispering/​SCREAMING to me that it was in dire need of fuel.
I walked in around 10:30 AM and to my astonishment there was NO ONE IN LINE. By the time I finished ordering though, there was a sea of people pointing at pictures of various udon broths.
Be prepared to eat a light meal that you’re going to be satisfied with. Don’t really need to add anything to the broth as it already comes seasoned.
I ordered my udon and various tempuras and the total was a $ 12 and change. The soft egg tempura caught my interest and for someone who doesn’t even like eggs that much, it was an excellent choice. I also got the shrimp, squid, and fried chicken. The last one surprised me with how good it was.
I’m sitting at my booth as I type this, and I am thinking to myself, damn, I feel like I won at life.

I love these traditional Japanese shops where they specialize in one particular food and be super good at it! Quality over quantity in my opinion! Anyways I lovee udon, so I know I must pay this place a visit when I was in Waikiki. Luckily, the place that my friends and I stayed at was in Waikiki, so this place was walking distance!
The first time we went was on 1÷1÷16 New Year’s Day, it was open but unfortunately, they were only serving one type of udon. The udon soup with shrimp tempura. It was good, but the broth was a little too salty. To my surprise, the udon was not as chewy as I thought. The texture of the udon was more firm with just a moderate amount of chewiness. My shrimp tempura was soaked in the broth too long and it was kinda soggy. The second time we went was back on a regular day, so they have their regular menu and staffs back yay! My friend and I both opted for the curry udon and some fried items on the side. The curry was tasty yet still a little too salty for my taste. The udon this time was softer and chewier. I do prefer my udon to be chewy though! I still think the best curry udon I ever had in my life was in Japan haha!
After you order and pick up your bowl of udon, you can proceed to pick as much fried tempuras and rice balls as your heart desires. It’s pretty fun! It’s just like how some udon shops operate in Japan. I think this place definitely deserves all the hype since all of their udon are made in house, flavors are good, and they are efficient. I wanted to be their 4000^th review, but I guess I’m a bit too slow. :P.

My family and I came here twice to eat, which was a mistake really. Once was enough of an experience for us! Besides this, Marukame Udon is an awesome place for freshly made udon.
The lineup is incredibly long no matter what day or time it is, but it moves quickly and you’ll arrive at the entrance in no time. You’re greeted with the sight of the chefs kneading and slicing up fresh dough to be boiled in a vat of hot water. Pick up a tray and move down the line to inform a chef of your order.
You can pick the size of the udon and whether it will be hot or cold. Afterwards you get a plate to pile up a bunch of fried foods + musubi (like onigiri etc). Despite the massive lineup, there are plenty of seats to sit at, presumably because everyone takes eons deciding on what to eat.
I must say, it’s a bit over-​hyped, but I still like eating here. It’s more of a 3.5 stars– come here for the novelty of udon made right in front of your eyes, but if you’re in a rush there are loads of other equally delicious restaurants in Honolulu.

We were very excited about coming to this place tonight. Every time we walked by this restaurant the line was out the door and down the block.
We opted for the curry udon and niku udon with a couple pieces of tempura on the side.
Curry Udon — very good! Mild curry flavor that really soaks in the noodles. A little sweet but still enjoyable. Our plan was to get two of these, but then we saw on the sign that the niku was the most popular dish.
Niku Udon — way too salty and a seaweed flavor. No beef and didn’t enjoy the broth. This dish made us sad and we regretted ordering it. Don’t recommend unless you are familiar with and enjoy those flavors.
Sweet potato Tempura — great! My favorite thing I ordered. Crunchy, sweet, and delicious.
Eggplant Tempura — still good but not amazing.
We are glad we came and tried it. However, on our next trip to Honolulu we probably won’t be coming back unless I’m willing to wait in line just for tempura.

If I could give a place higher than 5-​stars., it would be Marukame! Whenever my parents visited O’ahu, my mom would always come here for their udon. When we had a family Hawaii trip in 2015, it was my dad’s goal to take us all here since our mom loved this restaurant. I can now see why my mom enjoyed eating here.
The line is normally always out the door, but don’t let that discourage you. The line moves fairly fast. As you get in, you order your food first as you get to observe them preparing your udon. The menu is very simple and insanely cheap! There is no table service here, so once you get your food, you pay for it at the register and you’ll need to find a place to sit. Sometime you may have to share a table or sit next to a stranger, depending on how crowded it is in here. It can also get hot & muggy in here.
Some people may complain about how crowded this place is or that it’s stuffy inside; but based on how affordable the prices are and how delicious their Udon is, they totally deserve a 5-​star rating. Usually a place like this would be cash only, but they do accept credit cards!
This place was so good, I had to come back the very next day to try out their cold udon. It was also good, but I do prefer their hot noodles instead. I will be coming back here multiple times the next time I’m back in O’ahu.

My favorite place to eat when I was in Oahu! I’m a sucker for noodles. Everything was so simple yet, super delicious. We ate here for breakfast two days in a row. ^_​^ We always went around 7AM when they opened to avoid the lines. There is ALWAYS a line when we drove by throughout the day!
What I Ordered
— Ontama Bukkake Udon
— Niku Udon with Egg
— Fried Fish Cake
— Fried Chicken
The Ontama Bukkake Udon was a simple soy sauce based broth with an egg. First time I tried the broth, it was a tad salty. However, everything meshed well together as I continued my meal. I can see why they didn’t give me much broth to begin with. I had to get the Niku the next time around because of that factor though. I love broth! It was light and flavorful. I decided to add an egg with it. Everything is better with an egg. ^_​^ The Fried Fish Cake and Chicken were really good additions to the udon. I will be back… eventually.T.T

Delicious and very affordable eats! What’s not to love?!
The best time to go is definitely before or after the lunch rush. Dinner time wait can be an hour or longer. We went twice when we were in town. Once during dinner time and once for lunch.
Both times were yums! I got the Niku Udon both times — highly recommended. The bf got the Curry Udon and Bukkake Udon. I liked the bukkake udon too, but the niku definitely takes the cake for me. The noodles are perfect and the beef is very tasty and flavorful. The tempura can make the meal expensive because they’re about $ 1.50 each. It’s delicious, but you don’t need that much to complete your meal. It can actually be way too much food, especially when you get the large portion of udon.
Definitely a must visit if you’re in the Honolulu area!

Fresh Udon
Really inexpensive
In Waikiki
People are constantly queuing up for this fresh Udon concept. During busy times be prepared to wait up to an hour for a bowl of these awesome Udon noodles. Right at the entrance is the Udon noodle machine where flour goes in one side and yummy Udon noodle come out the other. From there the noodles are ready to throw into the cooker.
The Udon at Marukame is very traditional with both hot and cold options. There are two types of hot broth, one that is a katsuo dashi with niboshi and a sweeter katsuo dashi with soy and maybe some mirin. The sweeter katsuo dashi broth is also served with the cold noodles.
I ordered the Niku-​don with thin sliced beef and I opted for an egg. There is a pan of eggs that when they are cracked into the bowl, they come out like they have been poached. The base price of the noodles is 5.75, then with the egg it is another .50, then there is the tempura buffet. I picked the veggie ball, $ 1.50, and two shrimps, 3.50, and boom, my cheap lunch turned into $ 11.25, but that is still on the inexpensive side for Waikiki.
For drinks they have their own iced matcha, with or without sugar.
There are tables inside, but when it is really busy sometimes you might have to wait for a table while you are holding your tray. Please don’t linger, especially when it is busy. In Japan it is horribly rude to linger since you are literally taking away revenue by not letting a new customer come in.
I love this place and I am glad that it is not in LA or I would not appreciate coming here, which is sorta like what has happened to Poke.

ständig eine riesen wartelinie. muss wohl sehr beliebt sein! im schlepptau 2 asiatinnen standen wir ca. 15min an. ging sehr schnell.
die suppe nr. 13 udon with beef war meine wahl. naja… beef bestand zu 80%aus fett und die suppe und udons waren ok.
vielleicht stehen alle an weil die preise eher günstig sind… wegen der suppe wohl kaum?!
1x war völlig ok, aber ich würde nicht noch einmal so anstehen. vlt waren meine erwartungen zu hoch! die meinung hatten auch meine 2freudinnen die in asien leben.

Oh que rico los fideos Udon.
Nunca los había probado y menos en un lugar así. Parecía una fabriquita que uno pasaba cual cinta de ensamblaje por cada estación, pedís los fideos, el tipo de caldo, si querés carne, curry o huevo, y después vas agarrando los sides de tempura con pollo, vegetales, huevos, langostinos y mil cosas más.
Al fondo la caja, te calcula lo que agarraste, pagás y te vas a sentar. En 15 minutos comiste y te vas. Y así toda la noche. Con una cuadra de cola afuera por la calidad (excelente todo) y lo barato. Dos platos completos, varios sides de tempura, 17 dólares. Nada.
Super recomendado.

¡Impresionante! Me encantó. Los mejores noodles de mi vida y a un precio bajísimo. Aunque haya cola, merece la pena esperarse porque va rapidísimo. Ademas puedes ver como los hacen. 100% recomendable

Cheap and really good original food. The 10 – 15 minutes waiting time is well spent. One of the best restaurants I have been to for that price!