Scholars of the Japanese noodle keep up-to-the-moment track of South Bay restaurants' homemade ramen, udon and soba noodles. Their shapes and stickiness, the broths they accompany. But even if your noodle knowledge is limited to spaghetti, don't worry. Maruichi Japanese Noodle House in downtown Mountain View provides a nourishing introduction.What is ramen, anyway? Not the microwave-prepped instant soups or the tangled bricks that become edible when dropped into boiling water (like live seafood, only extremely dead). When made daily, as at Maruichi, ramen noodles are light and elegant, and pick up the flavors of their surrounding soup.
You can spot the flour-dusted noodle machine in the front window. If the homey little restaurant is crowded, write your name on the clipboard list. It won't be a long wait. Noodle dining is very speedy.
Maruichi (the name means One Circle) seats 55 people in booths and at a low, egg-shaped counter in the middle.
The restaurant makes two styles of ramen noodles, wheat flour and egg, and four very different flavors of soup. My favorite, kuro ramen, is a rich, nutty, somewhat intimidating browned garlic stew, stocked with half a roasted egg, thin slices of roasted pork, nori (sheets of dried seaweed) and green onions. Opinions differ on the roasted egg, but mine was creamy as custard. Bean sprouts mingle with the noodles and provide crunch.
That version ($7.45) would be filling, but for the full experience, and certain leftovers, go for the Maruichi Ramen Special ($10.45). Here you get the ethereal kakuni, stewed pork belly, with slithery wheat flour noodles. Kakuni may appall some diners. It looks like what it is. But while fat may be kakuni's problem area, lean is the roast pork's. It's bland and dry, like a supermarket lunchmeat. Mentaiko -- cod roe seasoned with red pepper -- add a kick.
Aka ramen spicy miso ($8.45) is a proven cold cure. Other fresh ramen choices are mild miso soup, hearty tonkatsu (pork and chicken), and shoyu ($7.45).
Should a one-pot meal wear out its welcome, try one of three Combo Specials or a steaming plate of edamame, salted green soybeans ($1.95) that are great with beer. Another appetizer, dry chunks of boneless fried chicken ($5.45), cried out for squeezes of fresh lemon.
Combo C ($11.15) includes ramen and a bowl of rice with your choice of eel, white tuna or fatty tuna with green onions. These donburi dishes also are available as side shows ($4.95). Other combinations include pot stickers and California rolls, neither of which is worth the bother. Stick to your noodles.
Each table is set with tingly, chili-peppered Napa cabbage kimchi, dried garlic chips and other condiments to personalize your soup. Only the napkins are flimsy. This style of eating, or slurping, demands a hardier napkin.
Maruichi also has hot and cold dishes with thick, chewy udon noodles and thin, nutty buckwheat soba, but they aren't made in-house. Both the hot soba ($7.45) and nabeyaki udon ($9.45) include tempura shrimp, which immediately get soggy. With the latter, though, meaty shiitake mushrooms take up the slack.
Besides the napkin issue, just know that Maruichi charges 60 cents for a cup of tea. Also know that children are more than welcome, with a $5.45 ramen meal ending in ice cream.
