Marufuku @ Jaya One, PJ : You, Karaage, Me, Udon
Marufuku @ Jaya One, PJ
“I must take you to try this place near Old Klang Road, got this good Japanese noodle?”
“You mean Taman Desa? “
“Eh how you know this place?”
I smile secretively. “Good Japanese udon right?”
“Yes, yes! But what I like is the fried chicken though”
“Oh you mean karaage”
“Er, I think so, the fried chicken lah! How you know this place one?”
“I ate there once with a friend”
“Yes, we must go! I miss the fried chicken!”
“and I miss the udon! Ok let’s go on weekend”
But being us the pj-lites, who seldom get to go out of our comfort zone, call us busy, call us lazy or just call us snobs, we always move around the confine of PJ area with some exceptions of bangsar, we end up not going there weekend after weekend .
Fast forward few weeks later, Y message me online. “What’s for dinner?”
Looking at the time, it was almost quite late for dinner as I am still in Cyberjaya, the concrete jungle.
“If only we can go for the Japanese fried chicken”
Suddenly a light bulb appear on top of my head (hey it’s been a while eh)
“I heard that it has a sister restaurant in Jaya One”
“What??!? Really?”
“Wait let me check if they have your favourite chicken”
Couple of googles later and visiting my few favourite food blog (yes this place have been blog almost to death), I confirmed and so off we went there with anticipation. Once reaching, thanks to also directions from the blogs (they are always so handy, especially now with iPhone nation, we check in online at every whim on the palm of our hands). Once we sat down I promptly ordered my favourite udon soup with egg and seaweed, while she promptly ordered her karaage of course.
Udon in Fish Broth @ Marufuku, Jaya One, PJ
Unpretentious and fuss free fresh udon noodles served in a fish based broth carefully made. This is what we would call comfort in a bowl. The best udon I’ve ever eaten is in an outskirt town near Osaka, Japan, the next best udon is found here (or also the one at Taman Desa). This would make me happy enough as knowing it is almost impossible for me to return to the place in Japan for a quick fix. I love the fishy broth that are not too salty (and I have low tolerance for salt), and the springy fresh udons. Good food is just the clever play of throwing together few key natural tastes, nothing too fancy but something enough to leave an impression. Mmm, this is probably the criteria for a good man? Pardon me for going out of topic.
Niku Beef Udon @ Marufuku, Jaya One, PJ
Now on to the other hand, Y ordered the dry version of Udon, which I must say is much more complex in taste and flavour. She does prefer something of such, with more saltiness, sweetness or even spiciness, she almost always go over the top for things, and almost like her choices in men? We start to see a pattern with men and udon here, what do you think?
Karaage @ Marufuku, Jaya One, PJ
But the main thing here for Y would be the karaage. She being her, rave and chomp and rave and chomp on her what she called fried chicken. Looking at her eat you would almost be convinced that she is eating some kind of happy drug. I would say that I have eaten better karaage, where it would be less oily and more crunchy when fried in the right temperature (yes I am quite a snob (again) when it comes to fried stuff), but the version here is quite alright, and Y obviously love the taste. If the dried udon for her is a marriage, then this would certainly be an affair.
Kakiage@ Marufuku, Jaya One, PJ
There are also other types of noodles and fried stuff that you can pick from the menu, not extensively but just good enough not to overwhelm you. Some restaurants just have so many choices it baffles the mind and make one wonder which items are really good. Stick with good amount of variety and does it well, it will certainly keep the customers coming back happily. Though Marufuku does not have the same authentic ambience as its elder sister in taman desa, I would have to be contented with it for now as I think it might be a bit ironic to venture out of comfort zone just to get a dose of comfort food.
I would of course venture out if I to meet LFB, the friend who in the first place introduce me to this not-so-secret place anymore, also possibly thanks to him and his PR skills. So let me help to spread it further, try it at Taman Desa if it’s not out of your comfort zone, else head over to
Marufuku Udon
Blk L, Unit 18, Level G,
Phase 1, Jaya One
No 72-A, Jalan Universiti,
46000 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 603- 7957 6368
Sanuki Udon
No.9, Jalan Bukit Desa 5
Taman Bukit Desa
58100 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-7980 3704
I like that – karaage as some sort of deep-fried Japanese chicken crack! Hehehe…
And I know how you feel – don’t you wish you could just wiggle your nose and be back in Japan in, uhm, the wiggle of a nose? 😛
aww, now you got me nose wiggling…but why am i still here? *stop thinking and reach for more Japanese crack instead!*
Mmm~ Look really tasty. You should try karaage at Karaage Japan, it’s one of their specialty. Incase you would like to try, Great Deal @ Karaage!