This is place is a fantastic find! I wouldn't go so far in saying it's the best tsukemen in Southern California but it is definitely up there. The staff was was friendly and it was a cozy place. I do travel a lot to Japan and it really brought me back. Whether it was the ambience or the staging of the place it makes me feel like I'm back in Japan withvmy colleagues. No Japanese restaurant in Douthern California has made me feel like that. I recommend trying their number 1 tsukemen if this is your first time. I'm looking forward in coming back. I'll definitely be talking about this place in one of my episodes!
Mendoki has so many variety of Ramens. You can find your Choice of Ramen from their posters on the wall! Looks so delicious! My friends and I really enjoyed their Tonkotsu Ramen and Premium Ramen. They also serve juicy Karaage too!
The location is very convenience, just next to Mitsuwa Super Market in Costa Mesa. Try their authentic taste!!
One of the most authentic ramen style straight from Japan. They got Jiro Style, Tsukemen, Inaniwa Udon, Chuka Soba , Abura Soba and Maze Soba. Off Course , they got vegetarian noodle too. Their tonkotsu ramen with thin noodle is so good. once you come here, you will never go to ramen shop in Mitsuwa market place right behind this shop
I'm so happy this opened here! I wasn't a giant fan of the Menya.
Just actually came back from Hakata, and this place is legit. Tsukemen is my favorite and I've been hardpressed to find any good ones in the OC area. For those of you not familiar, it is dipping ramen. Have gone back twice already and it has not let me down.
Just a heads up, for those of you who have more "conventional" Japanese cuisine, some of the menu items may be foreign to you and not what you expect (i.e. dipping noodle, brothless dishes). That doesn't mean it's not delicious, just keep in mind this isn't like Santouka or Kitakata.
Honestly, this is my new favorite place, please don't change or go away.
One can easily missed this gem, small hole in a wall ramen shop, as it is located outside of the Mitsuwa food court. The shop offers different types of ramen other than the typical tonkatsu ramen, with the tsukemen being what they are known for. There are also seasonal ramen offerings that you may miss as it is not part of their menu. For summer 2020, the COLD TSUKEMEN was a refreshing surprise as the broth is lighter than the regular tsukemen and as you dig in you can see yuzu peels as well. It is expensive, but you can taste the hard work in it. I hope this will be their permanent summer offerings as it is not your typical cold ramen (hiyashi chuka) that all the other shops offer.
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TL;DR (too long; didn't read) version: Solid Tonkotsu Ramen, excellent prices and delicious side bowls of fried chicken or chashu pork.
If you like Tonkotsu ramen and you like a good noodle that stands up to the broth, make sure to visit Mendoki. Its a small shop that is reminiscent of the ramen joints I've eaten at in Japan, capturing the nostalgia. The photo attached to this review is of their Tonkotsu ramen with extra menma and extra noodles. They don't have a large size so I opted for extra noodles right off the bat. You can always order kae-dama which is something like, $1?
I've also had the Tsukemen here which is absolutely incredible. Its rich, robust, super flavorful and the noodles really stand up to the broth very well. I really enjoy Mendoki because the noodles have a nice al-dente chew to them that a lot of other ramen restaurants don't have. I'm not sure if the noodles are made in-house but other ramen restaurants should look to Mendoki to up their ramen game. In a way, its almost like rice is to sushi. That delicate relationship between the two can make or break the whole thing.
Still reading? Hungry for ramen? Stop reading. Drive to Mendoki. Enjoy.
Food was very good; thick noodles and broth was really tasteful!
The additions to the soup were a plus and the price was great!
10/10 would go again
I had my first try of Abura Soba here and it has been my fav ramen ever since. The main chief was a very kind person. He used to provide us with a few pieces of fried chicken or Oolong Tea every time we went there. I was craving for Abura Soba today and just found out the store closed :(
I feel sad because they made the best Abura Soba.
Alejandro Foucault Monterrey
+5
This is my favorite ramen shop of all OC. I've tried many other ramen places, but this one always comes on top. The broth on both the tsukemen and the tonkotsu are rich and flavorful, the boiled eggs are seasoned to perfection and the karagee chicken is always crispy and juicy.
Amazing Tsukamen and Spicy Ramen! We are awaiting your return! Mendoki really knows their stuff. This place is a hole in the wall mom and pop kinda of shop. Tasty food, great prices, friendly staff and great customer service. We've gone all the way to LA for Tsukamen and it just doesn't compare. Mendoki will always be the best!
The restaurant is small, parking is tough but the Ramen 🍜 is good! And prices are great. All chicken based Ramen. Karaage (fried chicken) also really good.
Not a traditional restaurant. Serve your self type place, order at the front, find your seat, pick up order when number is called, and return try at the end. More typical of places you would find in Japan.
One of my favorite tonkotsu ramen nearby.
We got the tonkatsu and the spicy tsukemen (dipping ramen) and everything was excellent. The tonkatsu was lighter but still had great flavor. The spicy tsukemen was delicious and just the right amount of heat. I preferred it to lots of the ramen standbys in LA. Will definitely be back!
I've had a lot of ramen around the world, including Japan, but this place is the best dipping ramen I've had. I've brought even my picky eater friends here, and they all think it's good.
Besides the dipping noodle, this place do offer other type of ramen, karage, and chasu bowl. However, they're just okay, but definitely better than the other ramen house around.
If you come here, you MUST try the dipping noodle, you won't regret it.
Love this place for their "tsuke" (dipping) ramen! The price has gone up slightly but that hasn't stopped me from coming to this place for my Friday lunch. I definitely recommend this place if you are looking something else other than regular "tonkotsu" ramen. Parking might br congested since it's located by Mitsuwa but nonetheless, you won't regret trying it!
It's a small ramen place, supposedly their tsukemen is their specialty. We ordered tsukemen to see if it's on par with tsujita. The noodle texture was perfect, and the taste of soba/wheat was naturally sweet. After finishing with tsukemen, you can ask them for soba water to mix with the dipping sauce and drink it as soup. It's a great finish, you can definitely taste the seafood flavor. I think it's as good as tsujita. We also ordered abura soba, which is a dry mixed noodle with minced pork. You can't find that easily in SoCal area, but they do it very well. I highly recommend it. However, the last time we visited, we saw the sign saying they're changing the name to something else, hopefully they don't change the menu or quality.
Oh my gosh!!!! This place is a local hole in the wall but their ramen is amazing!!! I got the spicy one and it was delicious, I’m completely obsessed and can’t wait to go again! The staff was really friendly and the atmosphere was great!
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