‘Ramen Jack’ at Maruya Gardens: Exclusive collaboration of famous restaurants in Kagoshima
Goutora Chuka Soba offered for the first time
The second half of “Maruya Ramen Jack,” a collaboration event of ramen restaurants, will start on April 21 at a dedicated venue on the seventh floor of Maruya Gardens in Kagoshima City.
The event features two restaurants per week, each offering an exclusive collaboration ramen dish. Since July 2020, Maruya Gardens has held “Kitchen Jack,” where cafés, curry restaurants, Italian restaurants, and other eateries across Kagoshima offer limited-edition menus. Last October, it held its spin-off, “Ramen Jack,” focusing on ramen on the menu. The current event is positioned as a program to commemorate the 13th anniversary of Garuya Gardens’ founding and began on March 24 as an “eight consecutive weeks of collaborative ramen festival.”
The second half of the festival, which begins on April 21, will start with a collaboration between Kagoshima’s renowned ramen restaurants TAKETORA and Menya Gou (until April 23). “The collaboration between the two restaurants last October set a new sales record at Kitchen Jack,” said Toshiya Fukuda of the Sales Promotion Department at Maruya Gardens. The menu will include “Maboroshi no Shoyu Tonkotsu,” which was offered last time, and the new “Goutora Chuka Soba.”
Other pairings are the Kagoshima ramen restaurant Takeya and the dried-sardine chuka soba restaurant Menya Kotan (April 28-30); Miyoshiya Honten and Kagoshima Gyoza Shoten (May 3-7); and Sakanoue Unique and the Italian restaurant Il Felice.
The restaurants’ wishes were prioritized when deciding on the pairing of the two. Fukuda said: “The collaboration is not only about the compatibility of the dishes, but the chemistry between the owners is just as important. The best collaborations are created when the owners enjoy working together.” To differentiate from the restaurant business and add value to the Ramen Jack, he insists that the menu items be exclusive to the event. He added, “We consistently request unique dishes and collaborations that can only be found here at Maruya Gardens.”
Opening hours are from 11:00 a.m., and closing time varies by eatery.