They must have changed their spicy tonkatsu ramen recipe because unfortunately it doesn't taste the same as before. The broth used to be richer and full of flavor, but the last time I went it was a bit almost watered down and definitely not as spicy as before.
Y M.
This place was my family's favorite ramen place before the pandemic, but not anymore. The quality has definitely gone down. The price has gone up. It's about $11～15 range. Porkbelly Kakuni was tougher than regular Chashu. (Kakuni is supposed to be cooked long hours and melting tender) Those both meat didn't taste good. Poorly peeled boiled eggs... The server didn't bring extra plates for Gyoza & Kara-age for the four of us to share until asked. She was sitting and playing a game on her phone. She even forgot to bring a check after I asked. Even though Monday is probably one of the slowest days in a week, there was no customer when we entered at 6 pm, and only 2 more groups came before we left. So disappointed.
Scott M.
Ramen is ok. There is something missing that I can't really say it's great. I can't really put my finger on it. Maybe the ramen isn't hot enough or maybe it's not fresh enough. I do know that it's a bit more expensive for what's it's worth.
Djae B.
Sadly the quality of this place has gone down. The broth is not as flavorful and the noodles were not the perfect texture. Presentation was beautiful and service was fast. But it's definitely not the same from when it first opened. I rather drive further to a ramen shop that truly treats ramen with a finesse. This is my last time that I will be here
Ali Rawaf
Terrible. Cold egg in soup. Weird noodle texture. Confused servers. They don't even give you a real ramen spoon.
Amado Carino
There's several Japanese restaurants in this part of the city but Ramen Yamadaya has one of the better ramen. The noodles are fresh and the soup base very rich, thick and yummy. Also, they put a lot of meat on it. The Gyoza is very tender and delicious.At this point, indoor dining is allowed although, because of restrictions, the Gyoza came in styrofoam boxes.Overall price is very reasonable. Parking is not an issue, major credit cards accepted.
Bobby D.
One of my employees has an ongoing streak where he recommends places to eat and they've been eatery gems. He is a ramen connoisseur, who raved about the San Diego Ramen Yamadaya location. This was his ramen go to in San Diego, but they are no longer located in San Diego and only have locations in the Los Angeles area. Fortunately, we were working in the Irvine area and were close to the Costa Mesa location. For carnivores, the ramen I ate today at Ramen Yamadaya needs to be experienced. There are multiple Ramen Yamadaya locations in the Los Angeles area with the closest one to San Diego residing in Costa Mesa. It is located in a busy strip mall that houses Stater Bros, O'Reilly Auto Parts, next to a Flame Broiler, and is across the street from a Super A's Mexican Food restaurant and DK's Donuts. The outside signage is nondescript, but as you enter the restaurant, you are welcomed by a colorful mural that explains what they are known for: ramen. The colors throughout are brown and beige with the tables and chairs distressed along with the flooring. As you're enjoying your meal, make sure to look up at the ceiling to admire the two dragons mural. There is a wall that proudly shows off the restaurant's accolades highlighted by a recommendation from foodie critic Jonathan Gold. My employee couldn't stop talking about the broth for one of dishes at Ramen Yamadaya. It's what I was looking forward to prior to ordering. The ramen dish he was referring to was called Yamadaya Tonkotsu. When I looked at the listed price of $15.05, internally I thought the price was a little steep. This ramen selection is a large bowl of rich pork broth with salt base soup containing the following heaping toppings: bamboo shoot, green scallion, pork belly, braised pork, two marinated eggs, kikurage mushroom, dried seaweed, and sesame seed. The effusive praise for this broth was not warranted. The broth was tasty and slurp worthy, but I've tasted better and it seemed watered down. If you are a meat lover, the Yamadaya Tonkotsu is a carnivore's dream ramen and that alone is worth the price. There was so much meat that I found myself wanting more noodles, so make sure to request extra noodles. The pork belly was off the bone tender and the braised pork was succulent. Everything about that dish was satisfying and fulfilling. My employee's streak of recommending delicious restaurants is intact, but he needs to temper it because the broth for this ramen dish was okay. Full disclosure is that his praise was for their San Diego location when it existed there. For ramen aficionados who are meat lovers, Ramen Yamadaya needs to be tried especially for its Yamadaya Tonkotsu.
Ronni B.
We tried the vegan ramen & avocado fries. The food would be so good , if there was a good season to it. They have the right idea with the ramen but the mushroom and strong miso flavor takes over the entire bowl. We tried to dress up the ramen with tons of lemon, sriracha & soy sauce and we could not get a god flavor. The avocado fries were decent just missing seasoning .The staff seems like they could be nice but they drop the food ,drinks and check off and that's it. No checking in after that. We attempted to eat the food but just couldn't do it. Unfortunately a waste of $30.
Iver N.
The facility is in the same plaza as Stater Bros, Confetti, and Tastea. No real wait but the service was lacking. Noodles came out great and the spicy ramen was delicious. Spicy ramen has 3 levels and is at additional cost. Overall, for a 9 dollar bowl, I was happy. The noodle bowl comes with Chasu and flavored egg. The Shiyo (combination of chicken and fish broth) was very fishy. Other than that, I would come back for some comfort noodles!!
Matthew K.
Happy to finally eat ramen in person again! We ordered the takoyaki and tonkatsu ramen. The ramen broth was delicious and we enjoyed the large amounts of seaweed and meat. The shoots and greens were a bit chewy though, to the point where it was almost a choking hazard. Overall, the ramen was solid and I would return for some affordable dinner!
Just left. Specifically asked for all Mac salad and person taking my order confirmed. Get home... I the regular 2 scoops of rice and 1 scoop of Mac salad. Make sure to check your order before you leave
Antiem B.
Solid spot. Nearby the tastea. A fairly decent bowl of ramen to grab after/before Boba but nothing memorable.
Yasmeen S.
I used to come here during my breaks in between classes to get some yummy shoyu ramen. It's a chicken and fish broth with soy sauce based ramen, and I recommend it especially to those who don't eat pork. I also love how this place offers you as much raw, fresh garlic as you want to add to your ramen. It's satisfying to see the garlic get pressed into the garlic smasher.
Sarah T.
Ok so I previously left a much better review a couple years ago as this was my FAV ramen place but it seems like the recent reviews were right about the food not being as good due to new ownership or chef. I went the other day and yes, sadly, it is true that the ramen is not nearly as good. I always order the same thing: Tonkotsu shoyu. The broth is not as rich; it's very light. The level of umami is definitely not there. Also I asked if the black garlic oil is included because it used to be (although not specifically stated in the description) and the waitress said no so I added it on. When I got it, it looked like they skimped on the oil or used a different kind or something. Doesn't look or taste at all like how it used to (you can compared with my picture I posted in my first review). The pork also used to just melt in your mouth but this pork was SO tough I could barely chew it! And they seemed to skimp on the amount of pork too. The egg also wasn't cut in half. So disappointed. With all that being said, it wasn't bad. It was still good ramen. Just not great. I'm so sad as this was my all time favorite ramen place and I could never find a place as good, but now I have to search for a new place and hope I can find ramen as good... :(
Samuel Patton
The gyoza are great. The ramen is pretty good. Broth is plenty rich and they have some good deals. Definitely a $$ place tho so check the menu ahead of time, but it's good and worth it.
They must have changed their spicy tonkatsu ramen recipe because unfortunately it doesn't taste the same as before. The broth used to be richer and full of flavor, but the last time I went it was a bit almost watered down and definitely not as spicy as before.
This place was my family's favorite ramen place before the pandemic, but not anymore. The quality has definitely gone down. The price has gone up. It's about $11～15 range. Porkbelly Kakuni was tougher than regular Chashu. (Kakuni is supposed to be cooked long hours and melting tender) Those both meat didn't taste good. Poorly peeled boiled eggs... The server didn't bring extra plates for Gyoza & Kara-age for the four of us to share until asked. She was sitting and playing a game on her phone. She even forgot to bring a check after I asked. Even though Monday is probably one of the slowest days in a week, there was no customer when we entered at 6 pm, and only 2 more groups came before we left. So disappointed.
Ramen is ok. There is something missing that I can't really say it's great. I can't really put my finger on it. Maybe the ramen isn't hot enough or maybe it's not fresh enough. I do know that it's a bit more expensive for what's it's worth.
Sadly the quality of this place has gone down. The broth is not as flavorful and the noodles were not the perfect texture. Presentation was beautiful and service was fast. But it's definitely not the same from when it first opened. I rather drive further to a ramen shop that truly treats ramen with a finesse. This is my last time that I will be here
Terrible. Cold egg in soup. Weird noodle texture. Confused servers. They don't even give you a real ramen spoon.
There's several Japanese restaurants in this part of the city but Ramen Yamadaya has one of the better ramen. The noodles are fresh and the soup base very rich, thick and yummy. Also, they put a lot of meat on it. The Gyoza is very tender and delicious.At this point, indoor dining is allowed although, because of restrictions, the Gyoza came in styrofoam boxes.Overall price is very reasonable. Parking is not an issue, major credit cards accepted.
One of my employees has an ongoing streak where he recommends places to eat and they've been eatery gems. He is a ramen connoisseur, who raved about the San Diego Ramen Yamadaya location. This was his ramen go to in San Diego, but they are no longer located in San Diego and only have locations in the Los Angeles area. Fortunately, we were working in the Irvine area and were close to the Costa Mesa location. For carnivores, the ramen I ate today at Ramen Yamadaya needs to be experienced. There are multiple Ramen Yamadaya locations in the Los Angeles area with the closest one to San Diego residing in Costa Mesa. It is located in a busy strip mall that houses Stater Bros, O'Reilly Auto Parts, next to a Flame Broiler, and is across the street from a Super A's Mexican Food restaurant and DK's Donuts. The outside signage is nondescript, but as you enter the restaurant, you are welcomed by a colorful mural that explains what they are known for: ramen. The colors throughout are brown and beige with the tables and chairs distressed along with the flooring. As you're enjoying your meal, make sure to look up at the ceiling to admire the two dragons mural. There is a wall that proudly shows off the restaurant's accolades highlighted by a recommendation from foodie critic Jonathan Gold. My employee couldn't stop talking about the broth for one of dishes at Ramen Yamadaya. It's what I was looking forward to prior to ordering. The ramen dish he was referring to was called Yamadaya Tonkotsu. When I looked at the listed price of $15.05, internally I thought the price was a little steep. This ramen selection is a large bowl of rich pork broth with salt base soup containing the following heaping toppings: bamboo shoot, green scallion, pork belly, braised pork, two marinated eggs, kikurage mushroom, dried seaweed, and sesame seed. The effusive praise for this broth was not warranted. The broth was tasty and slurp worthy, but I've tasted better and it seemed watered down. If you are a meat lover, the Yamadaya Tonkotsu is a carnivore's dream ramen and that alone is worth the price. There was so much meat that I found myself wanting more noodles, so make sure to request extra noodles. The pork belly was off the bone tender and the braised pork was succulent. Everything about that dish was satisfying and fulfilling. My employee's streak of recommending delicious restaurants is intact, but he needs to temper it because the broth for this ramen dish was okay. Full disclosure is that his praise was for their San Diego location when it existed there. For ramen aficionados who are meat lovers, Ramen Yamadaya needs to be tried especially for its Yamadaya Tonkotsu.
We tried the vegan ramen & avocado fries. The food would be so good , if there was a good season to it. They have the right idea with the ramen but the mushroom and strong miso flavor takes over the entire bowl. We tried to dress up the ramen with tons of lemon, sriracha & soy sauce and we could not get a god flavor. The avocado fries were decent just missing seasoning .The staff seems like they could be nice but they drop the food ,drinks and check off and that's it. No checking in after that. We attempted to eat the food but just couldn't do it. Unfortunately a waste of $30.
The facility is in the same plaza as Stater Bros, Confetti, and Tastea. No real wait but the service was lacking. Noodles came out great and the spicy ramen was delicious. Spicy ramen has 3 levels and is at additional cost. Overall, for a 9 dollar bowl, I was happy. The noodle bowl comes with Chasu and flavored egg. The Shiyo (combination of chicken and fish broth) was very fishy. Other than that, I would come back for some comfort noodles!!
Happy to finally eat ramen in person again! We ordered the takoyaki and tonkatsu ramen. The ramen broth was delicious and we enjoyed the large amounts of seaweed and meat. The shoots and greens were a bit chewy though, to the point where it was almost a choking hazard. Overall, the ramen was solid and I would return for some affordable dinner!
Restaurantji Recommends
Just left. Specifically asked for all Mac salad and person taking my order confirmed. Get home... I the regular 2 scoops of rice and 1 scoop of Mac salad. Make sure to check your order before you leave
Solid spot. Nearby the tastea. A fairly decent bowl of ramen to grab after/before Boba but nothing memorable.
I used to come here during my breaks in between classes to get some yummy shoyu ramen. It's a chicken and fish broth with soy sauce based ramen, and I recommend it especially to those who don't eat pork. I also love how this place offers you as much raw, fresh garlic as you want to add to your ramen. It's satisfying to see the garlic get pressed into the garlic smasher.
Ok so I previously left a much better review a couple years ago as this was my FAV ramen place but it seems like the recent reviews were right about the food not being as good due to new ownership or chef. I went the other day and yes, sadly, it is true that the ramen is not nearly as good. I always order the same thing: Tonkotsu shoyu. The broth is not as rich; it's very light. The level of umami is definitely not there. Also I asked if the black garlic oil is included because it used to be (although not specifically stated in the description) and the waitress said no so I added it on. When I got it, it looked like they skimped on the oil or used a different kind or something. Doesn't look or taste at all like how it used to (you can compared with my picture I posted in my first review). The pork also used to just melt in your mouth but this pork was SO tough I could barely chew it! And they seemed to skimp on the amount of pork too. The egg also wasn't cut in half. So disappointed. With all that being said, it wasn't bad. It was still good ramen. Just not great. I'm so sad as this was my all time favorite ramen place and I could never find a place as good, but now I have to search for a new place and hope I can find ramen as good... :(
The gyoza are great. The ramen is pretty good. Broth is plenty rich and they have some good deals. Definitely a $$ place tho so check the menu ahead of time, but it's good and worth it.