Ramentown, USA

Costa Mesa, CA

Within a quarter mile of the intersection of Bristol Street and Baker, there are no less than 5 Japanese restaurants that serve ramen, and even more if you expand that radius by a few miles. Some are ramen specialists. Others treat ramen as an afterthought. That there's five places to get ramen in that close proximity is amazing, even in Japan.

Dadami serves ramen and other Japanese staples in an obscure strip mall close to where I work. Buried behind Wahoo's Fish Tacos, it's easy to overlook. Even though I've passed by Dadami for months, I've only tried it recently for the first time. The first sampling of their ramen is promising. Overly salty soup, but promising because they make a really rich pork broth by boiling for long hours. I'll save the review until after I've sampled their menu more deeply. They have a Japanese curry rice that they make with this same ramen broth. [ed -I've since tried this curry, and it is amazingly good]

These other shops I'm talking about are: Mitae Ramen, Oki Doki, and a couple more inside the food court at the Japanese supermarket Mitsuwa. I'm not that fond of Mitae's very light, vegetable-tasting soup. Like my photo on this blog states, I am big on the pig (flavored soup). The food court ramen shops are mediocre at best, using a broth from commercial bouillon. I haven't tried the ramen at Oki Doki yet. So even though the ramen in Ramentown USA isn't necessarily great, I will go back and try them all, for the sake of being thorough. My favorite? Shin Sen Gumi, in nearby Fountain Valley and Gardena. A more detailed review will follow.

Shin Sen Gumi Hakata Ramen
2015 Redondo Beach Blvd #G
Gardena, CA
310-329-1335
or
18315 Brookhurst Ave #1
Fountain Valley, CA
714-962-8952

Dadami
688 Baker St #7
Costa Mesa, CA
714-979-2755