Ramen was extra ordinary and authentic. Staff were friendly and
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
God Bless
Absolutely #1 Ramen place in Orange County!!Spicy green onion , huge portions of ramen with pork chashu This place is amazing !!!!!!!Note: not many parkingWait line is at least 1hr
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kristy Mueller
Great food! Great employees. Great
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ronald Luu
Get on the yelp waitlist to decrease your wait, seated much quicker than predicted. Tasty, light
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
w chia
Small ramen location of a large chain. You start with a basic ramen lacking the seasoned egg and seaweed. By the time you add these options in, the basic tonkotsu ramen is close to $20. While the flavor is good, it is more expensive because if the nickel and diming with the options. The green tea tea bag here is $3.75 each, while Ai Restaurant charges $0.95 for the same.Parking: Small parking lot. The night we came was Christmas Eve so only the other 2 Japanese restaurants in this strip mall were open. It feels like this parking lot would fill up quickly during workday lunch times.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Kitakata Ramen with Egg, Spicy Miso Ramen
Kenny Torres
Great service. Great ramen spicy miso soup is good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Hops & Happenstance
This is my go-to ramen place when I'm in the LA metro area! The unique Kitakata style ramen, characterized by the thicker noodles and soy sauce broth, takes ramen to a level that I haven't experienced elsewhere. The dedication to quality is evident whenever I dine here, and I recommend anyone who wants to taste the best ramen in LA check this place out! 5/5 will be back for more!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Kitakata Ramen with Egg, Spicy Miso Ramen, Pan Fried Gyoza, Chashu Ramen
Darlene Campos
Visited about a week ago, service was good we were attended by Kamel and Toshiba I believe it was. The issue was the food... My husband and I got terrible food poisoning after dining here. We were sick for about 4 days... very unfortunate . Although the service was good , can't really up the after affect we had.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 4
Morgan Lindsay
Delightful ramen place - the broth was delicious, service was excellent, and the pork belly tasted very high quality. And they have gluten-free noodles! And hot sake. It's a small spot, so might be worth getting on the wait list if you want to dine in. Saw a lot of takeout orders happening. There are also other Japanese restaurants and a cute coffee shop in the same shopping center.Vegetarian options: They have a vegetarian miso base ramen and tons of plant based toppings.Dietary restrictions: Gluten free noodles. However, none of the broths are 100% gf - they said the miso was safest. I was fine with that (but I can also have soy sauce with wheat, no issues, so my intolerance is more mild).
The green chili ramen is tasty! The broth is light with a kick of spice. Definitely give it a try if you want something different.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Jung Lee
Usually there is a long wait to get in to dine here. So try to use the yelp waitlist online if you can. Secondly the parking lot here is too small for the number of popular restaurants inside this strip mall. I think it is worth the wait for the ramen being served. They offer tonkotsu, shoyu, shio, and miso stock ramen. Also they have a tsukemen version. Lastly they have curry rices as well. I had shio ramen and karaage. Both were quite good. Although the ramen was great the wait is not convenient. Since the seating area is small you will need to expect the wait. Have a beer at the nearby bar or restaurant while you wait is my recommendation.Parking: Go by Uber if you can during peak hoursWheelchair accessibility: Yes
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Kitakata Ramen with Egg, Chashu Pork, Spicy Miso Ramen, Juicy Fried Chicken Ban Nai Bowl, Fried Chicken Appetizer, Chili Shio, Miso Ramen with Seasoned Egg, Chashu Ramen
Kenitha Y.
I will admit that I rarely find a ramen spot that I actually enjoy. I'm not the biggest ramen fan because good ramen is hard to find and most of the time I think it's grossly overpriced for what you're getting. That's what Kitakata was for me. My boyfriend and I have been researching Japan for our upcoming trip and had a massive craving for ramen. After looking on Yelp, we wanted to give Kitakata a try. The experience was beyond disappointing. For a restaurant that wasn't full, the serving staff was incredibly stressed and the vibes were definitely felt. We weren't ever checked on by our server while we watched other tables being properly serviced - whatever. As for the ramen itself, I order the Kitakata Ramen and my boyfriend ordered the Spicy Miso Ramen. Both lacked flavor and the noodles were overcooked - they were more mushy than they were on the chewy side. Also, I know the house sake is never supposed to be THAT great but man that was like taking shots of gasoline. I will continue on my journey to find good ramen in OC, but I would say that Kitakata is best off your list.
Steven N.
I've have never this much protein in my ramen bowl ever! And I absolutely love it. To start, let me talk about the appetizers we had to r pan fried gyozas and the takoyaki. Both were delicious. I'm a sucker for a good gyoza and this was excellent. It was fried perfectly and the flavor was on point! I'm not the hugest takoyaki fan, but this one was pretty good. An amalgamation of flavors in fried octopus ball. But the main dish is where it is at! I had the Large Chasu Ramen and that was LOADED with delicious pork Chasu pieces. Most ramen comes with 2, maybe 3 pieces of Chasu. This had aver 15 pieces. You can definitely split this into two meals hands down if you wanted. The both was flavorful and pork was tender. Although this ramen looks plain, the simplicity of it highlights and accentuates the flavor profile even more so! Definitely give this spot a try, especially if you're tired of 2-3 pieces of Chasu.
Susan M.
I was surprised to see in-sit coffee when I parked at this location. I thought in-sit was only at the source! But anyhoo - I ordered the green chili shio ramen with egg and it was soooooooo good. When I ordered it I was so hungry so I ordered the large but realized halfway through the meal that they provided a huge portion so I couldn't finish my ramen. The broth was so rich, flavorful, and so comforting. I also ordered a ramune drink but felt like a total idiot because I couldn't figure out how to open it even after reading the instructions. (It's been about 20 years since I've had one) I asked the employee to open it for me and he was so nice about it. Can't wait to come back!
Chashu game weak ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Ramen was extra ordinary and authentic. Staff were friendly and
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Absolutely #1 Ramen place in Orange County!!Spicy green onion , huge portions of ramen with pork chashu This place is amazing !!!!!!!Note: not many parkingWait line is at least 1hr
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great food! Great employees. Great
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Get on the yelp waitlist to decrease your wait, seated much quicker than predicted. Tasty, light
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Small ramen location of a large chain. You start with a basic ramen lacking the seasoned egg and seaweed. By the time you add these options in, the basic tonkotsu ramen is close to $20. While the flavor is good, it is more expensive because if the nickel and diming with the options. The green tea tea bag here is $3.75 each, while Ai Restaurant charges $0.95 for the same.Parking: Small parking lot. The night we came was Christmas Eve so only the other 2 Japanese restaurants in this strip mall were open. It feels like this parking lot would fill up quickly during workday lunch times.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Kitakata Ramen with Egg, Spicy Miso Ramen
Great service. Great ramen spicy miso soup is good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This is my go-to ramen place when I'm in the LA metro area! The unique Kitakata style ramen, characterized by the thicker noodles and soy sauce broth, takes ramen to a level that I haven't experienced elsewhere. The dedication to quality is evident whenever I dine here, and I recommend anyone who wants to taste the best ramen in LA check this place out! 5/5 will be back for more!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Kitakata Ramen with Egg, Spicy Miso Ramen, Pan Fried Gyoza, Chashu Ramen
Visited about a week ago, service was good we were attended by Kamel and Toshiba I believe it was. The issue was the food... My husband and I got terrible food poisoning after dining here. We were sick for about 4 days... very unfortunate . Although the service was good , can't really up the after affect we had.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 4
Delightful ramen place - the broth was delicious, service was excellent, and the pork belly tasted very high quality. And they have gluten-free noodles! And hot sake. It's a small spot, so might be worth getting on the wait list if you want to dine in. Saw a lot of takeout orders happening. There are also other Japanese restaurants and a cute coffee shop in the same shopping center.Vegetarian options: They have a vegetarian miso base ramen and tons of plant based toppings.Dietary restrictions: Gluten free noodles. However, none of the broths are 100% gf - they said the miso was safest. I was fine with that (but I can also have soy sauce with wheat, no issues, so my intolerance is more mild).
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chashu Pork
Restaurantji Recommends
The green chili ramen is tasty! The broth is light with a kick of spice. Definitely give it a try if you want something different.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Usually there is a long wait to get in to dine here. So try to use the yelp waitlist online if you can. Secondly the parking lot here is too small for the number of popular restaurants inside this strip mall. I think it is worth the wait for the ramen being served. They offer tonkotsu, shoyu, shio, and miso stock ramen. Also they have a tsukemen version. Lastly they have curry rices as well. I had shio ramen and karaage. Both were quite good. Although the ramen was great the wait is not convenient. Since the seating area is small you will need to expect the wait. Have a beer at the nearby bar or restaurant while you wait is my recommendation.Parking: Go by Uber if you can during peak hoursWheelchair accessibility: Yes
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Kitakata Ramen with Egg, Chashu Pork, Spicy Miso Ramen, Juicy Fried Chicken Ban Nai Bowl, Fried Chicken Appetizer, Chili Shio, Miso Ramen with Seasoned Egg, Chashu Ramen
I will admit that I rarely find a ramen spot that I actually enjoy. I'm not the biggest ramen fan because good ramen is hard to find and most of the time I think it's grossly overpriced for what you're getting. That's what Kitakata was for me. My boyfriend and I have been researching Japan for our upcoming trip and had a massive craving for ramen. After looking on Yelp, we wanted to give Kitakata a try. The experience was beyond disappointing. For a restaurant that wasn't full, the serving staff was incredibly stressed and the vibes were definitely felt. We weren't ever checked on by our server while we watched other tables being properly serviced - whatever. As for the ramen itself, I order the Kitakata Ramen and my boyfriend ordered the Spicy Miso Ramen. Both lacked flavor and the noodles were overcooked - they were more mushy than they were on the chewy side. Also, I know the house sake is never supposed to be THAT great but man that was like taking shots of gasoline. I will continue on my journey to find good ramen in OC, but I would say that Kitakata is best off your list.
I've have never this much protein in my ramen bowl ever! And I absolutely love it. To start, let me talk about the appetizers we had to r pan fried gyozas and the takoyaki. Both were delicious. I'm a sucker for a good gyoza and this was excellent. It was fried perfectly and the flavor was on point! I'm not the hugest takoyaki fan, but this one was pretty good. An amalgamation of flavors in fried octopus ball. But the main dish is where it is at! I had the Large Chasu Ramen and that was LOADED with delicious pork Chasu pieces. Most ramen comes with 2, maybe 3 pieces of Chasu. This had aver 15 pieces. You can definitely split this into two meals hands down if you wanted. The both was flavorful and pork was tender. Although this ramen looks plain, the simplicity of it highlights and accentuates the flavor profile even more so! Definitely give this spot a try, especially if you're tired of 2-3 pieces of Chasu.
I was surprised to see in-sit coffee when I parked at this location. I thought in-sit was only at the source! But anyhoo - I ordered the green chili shio ramen with egg and it was soooooooo good. When I ordered it I was so hungry so I ordered the large but realized halfway through the meal that they provided a huge portion so I couldn't finish my ramen. The broth was so rich, flavorful, and so comforting. I also ordered a ramune drink but felt like a total idiot because I couldn't figure out how to open it even after reading the instructions. (It's been about 20 years since I've had one) I asked the employee to open it for me and he was so nice about it. Can't wait to come back!