A Marukame Udon poster in the window at 1102 Fort Street Mall likely has downtown denizens abuzz about the 2013 expansion of the large Japanese chain restaurant.
Neither restaurant executives nor their representatives could be reached, but its expansion from Japan to Hawaii last year caused quite a stir locally.
The self-serve-style noodle, tempura and musubi restaurant opened at 2310 Kuhio Ave. to positive reviews, evidenced by the oft-seen but quick-moving line snaking out the door.
Marukame Udon is part of the Kobe, Japan-based Toridoll.corporation chain of nearly 500 restaurants under various names that specialize in different Japanese dishes.
Udon is a thick, chewy noodle, and in Japan the company’s udon restaurants operate under the name Marugame Seimen. Its so-called Sanuki Udon is famously made by a machine in each location’s open kitchen, while other ingredients including broth, toppings, tempura and musubi, often referred to as rice balls, are made by employees. The same is true at Marukame Udon.
Some of Toridoll’s other restaurant concepts include a yakitori restaurant named Toridoll, where chicken is charcoal-grilled, fried and served in other ways ("tori" means chicken meat in Japanese); Marushouya, a ramen restaurant that, as is common, also serves gyoza and fried rice; and Nagatahonjyoken, a yakisoba, or fried noodle, restaurant.
CONDO OR WINE?
An ampoule, or special, sealed glass container, of wine is listed on Wine.com for $168,000, which is also the listing price for some one-bedroom condo units now available in Honolulu.
Only 12 ampoules of Penfolds 2004 Block 42 Cabernet Sauvignon are available, making it the most expensive new vintage wine in the world — and the good news is, the company will ship to Hawaii.
When the buyers decide to open the wine, a Penfolds winemaker will travel anywhere in the world to ceremoniously perform the task, which is included in the purchase price.
Local master sommelier Chuck Furuya was a bit aghast at the $168,000 price tag but noted that Penfolds is a famous winemaker and that there are clientele who would put up that much coin for such a special purchase.
"When I was managing La Mer (restaurant at Halekulani) back in the mid-’80s," a woman ordered not one, but two of the restaurant’s most expensive bottles of wine: one red, one white, each at $3,200. "It really was the best" in the house, he said.
She told Furuya that for her birthday her husband had bought her a $20,000 Rolex and flown her to Paris for a dinner. She further said to him, "We’re sitting here at beautiful Waikiki Beach, (Philippe) Padovani is cooking for us, you’re serving the wine, and so for me, it’s my way of paying my husband back for all the wonderful years of our marriage. It’s not about the money; it’s something my husband would never do for himself," she told him.
Furuya, a "By the Glass" contributor for the Star-Advertiser and partner in DK Restaurants, has wines that go for $1,000 a bottle, "but that’s not what we’re recommending" to most clientele. Bottles of wine start at $22, he said.
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
