Food is spectacular. Great service in a quaint space. We love coming here. We've tried many different dishes and all of them have been great. read more

I love the food here. Very authentic Japanese style Chinese food. Must try's are the subuta and the chasudon. I can't wait to go back and try other items! read more

I live nearby and now have come in twice and different times of day with my boyfriend. We normally go to yamadaya for ramen but decided to stop in and try this out. We have ordered chashu ramen, miso ramen, a chashu bowl, deep fried gyoza, and a ramen with shrimp and squid in it. So far so good, we really like the portion sizes and the food has a great flavor. Most people might miss that it's fusion Japanese and Chinese- this was evident in the squid and shrimp ramen, the broth had cloudy egg in it like in egg drop soup, it was great! Both of us think that the chashu in the ramen is too thick. Half of it is always tender and melty, but the other half (when it's cut so thick) is really chewy. It was much better in the chashu bowl. Last but not least, service! Both of the servers we've had have been very nice. We always had everything we needed and they always greet you when you walk in and say goodbye when you leave. I feel like a lot of places don't do that and I love that they make a point of it here. We'll be back again! read more

Aoki No Chuuka - Chashu bowl. Check out that soft boiled egg. - Ramen Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

See all

From my first bowl of ramen I was hooked big time. This place reminds me of home, like being back in japan and going to my neighborhood ramenya (ramen place) and getting my grub on. Everything here is really good and the fact that there is so many more flavor base and not restricted to just one is a big plus for me. Not to put down other locations where they specialize in a certain broth type. I like that there are options here. Gyoza ~ https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/aoki-no-chuuka-costa-mesa?select=tXancsWJaGtveSDyDkYRrQ On the smaller side but its good. It's one of those things you order when you go out for ramen. Sometimes I feel like its pan fried in too much oil. I've had better and I think I make a better one but it's decent. Chicken karaage ~ https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/aoki-no-chuuka-costa-mesa?select=9gZK1t848beZPxiI0I3MQA A generous portion of friend up goodness. Its seasoned pretty good and it served with a small portion of shredded cabbage. They put a little seasoned salt but I always ask for some kewpie mayonnaise cuz that's how I roll. Takana chaahan ~ https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/aoki-no-chuuka-costa-mesa?select=Q7pj2KsArZTldQE-U2qR6A It is one of my favorite types of fried rice and I'm so happy that they serve it here. Takana is a pickled mustard greens. I often use it when making rice balls or fried rice at home. The one they serve up here is pretty darn tasty. Yuzu Kosho ramen ~ https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/aoki-no-chuuka-costa-mesa?select=kKnKaBYeL0bVkP8rVawtMw This was the first bowl of ramen I ordered here. The flavor intrigued me and boy was I super surprised when I had my first sip of the broth. It was light but had a great flavor. The yuzu kosho did not over power but had the perfect amount in it. Soft and flavorful chashu and the noodles were cooked perfectly. Chashu ramen ~ https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/aoki-no-chuuka-costa-mesa?select=fCDGxEtvbCy4cKldnRC63A This was my second bowl that I tried. If you're the type that wants a lot of chashu then this is the ramen for you. The broth is off the hook good! Like seriously you don't need or want to add anything else to it. Mabo ramen ~ https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/aoki-no-chuuka-costa-mesa?select=MRmQmv4u7Y_rAgqI5qWRgw When my other ramen place closed recently I was sad that I would not be able to enjoy a bowl of Mabo ramen unless I drove up to Lala land. Well I was presently surprised when I saw that they serve it here. The flavor was good. More importantly it was not runny. Note of caution it freaking piping hot so be careful. I really enjoyed it and am happy that I have a new place that I can eat it at. Miso ramen ~ https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/aoki-no-chuuka-costa-mesa?select=H6y_Y3jiDOZkU5v0LWroKQ Thick noodles were thicker than the others. It typically does not come with chashu but I asked for some. I also requested a slice of butter for a bit of creaminess. The miso flavor was good and not overly salty as some places tend to be. https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/aoki-no-chuuka-costa-mesa?select=BtbbvqTqIK6A0WHPn6PG2A Nice thick juicy chashu. Sara udon https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/aoki-no-chuuka-costa-mesa?select=dW-xvzDzZMM233UeAt3iwQ Yeah no its not udon in here. Its actually crispy fried up noodles topped off in a gravy like sauce of vegetable and kamaboko fish cake. The heat from the sauce eventually softens the crispy noodles. I really liked their here. Sara udon happens to be a fave of my mom's and so I enjoyed it thinking how much mom would enjoy eating this, with a lot of vinegar of top LOL. Remember ramen is first about the broth and second the men (noodle) and third the toppings. They are all important individually and definitely together as a whole bowl. Ramen should be eaten within 5 min or so from when its placed in front of you. Yes it's piping hot but that is one reason why you slurp it. Your able to get a bit of the soup with the noodle and its cooling off some as it reaches your mouth. So don't rate a place bad because all you consume is one type of ramen and be upset that it didn't measure up. You should enjoy slurping each bowl for what it is and stop comparing it to others. Eyes ~ Lots of yummyness to choose from Nose ~ Smell goooooood! Ear ~ People slurping it up! Mouth ~ OMG I luv everything here. Tummy ~ So stuffed but well worth it. read more

See all

I went here to check out the ramen. I was greeted when I came in, "Sit wherever you like." I asked the waitress what she recommended for the first time to try. She said the Chashu was their most popular so I ordered that. The Chashu Ramen was delicious. The noodles were a little too al dente at first. I waited 2 minutes and they were perfect. There was lots of pork. The pork was very flavorful. The broth was nice, too. I was thanked as a I left. It was enjoyable. I will go back to try more. read more

Aoki No Chuuka - Chashu Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

CHASHU RAMEN: Broth looked thick in the BEGINNING.. But in the end it was VERY LIGHT. Full of texture. The chashu had a seared outter layer and it was seasoned to perfection! The seasoning made the chashu..salty and sweet at the same time! It was such a different texture and combo that my picky tastebuds couldnt figure out! Broth was very light with a burst of flavors.. THIS IS HOW TRADITIONAL JAPANESE RAMEN TASTES LIKE!! CURRY RAMEN: When it first came out..the soup looked very thick but it wasnt. To my surprise it was very light. @-@ it came with alot of veggies, squid, shrimp AND THICK PORK BELLIES!!! Thats a win win for me! Hahaha. The large was pretty big...big enough for two people to share. O_O the soup was thin and easy to eat. I personally think this is perfect for people who loves Curry House and wants a soup version with ramen ^_^ PAN FRIED DUMPLINGS (gyoza): Theyre HOMEMADE!!! They came out bite size and packed with intense explosion of juice packed flavors in every bite! Definitely ordering multiple of it next time when i drink beer! Decor was very welcoming. Seating for the shop is prolly around 30-40 seats. Service was on point. Very attentive and the waitress was very sweet. She took hot sake shots with me towards the end of the meal. Which was pretty cool considering i do the same when i work at restaurants LOL THIS PLAZA IS KINDA HIDDEN so keep that in mind :) read more

See all

Honestly this place is underrated. Well, probably not a bad thing for me (since that means I don't need to wait or wait long for a table) but they do deserve better rating. My favorite here is the chasu ramen with yuzu pepper soup base which gives it a nice refreshing citrus flavor. Their pieces of chasu are much bigger than other ramen places but also a bit more dry. As for the noodle itself it's more of Chinese/Japanese style noodle, which is as suggested in the name of the restaurant. Service here are excellent as well, they always take good care of me when I visit. Today when we went I asked for chasu ramen in yuzu sauce again (for an extra fee to change the soup base) and even though the order came out incorrectly (as normal yuzu ramen), the waitress was very nice and immediately corrected our order (I forgot to ask for her name but she's alway really nice and attentive). Will be back for sure. read more

See all

I wish i couldn't give them a star, they deserve less than a star. Service: We never got utensils, napkins, offers for refills, soy sauce or had our check given to us. The two young ladies who were serving the tables completely ignored our table, a party of 2. We had to get our chopsticks from the table next to us. The servers were disrespectful in that they never checked to see if we needed anything. It felt slightly racial since most tables around us were seated with asian and Caucasian patrons and were constantly being attended, even though we arrived at the same time as one party next to us. We never got so much as a friendly gesture or welcoming feeling from the staff. The worst service we've ever experienced at a Japanese restaurant. The food itself wasnt all that great since it was served cold as if it was left to stand before it was served to us. Overall our order wasnt the best we've had of the kind as it was bland on the palate lacking zest, texture and the flavors common to the dish (i won't bother naming what it was). It was a noodle dish and it felt gooey, salty and the (sparse) proteins were underseasoned and flavorless. The gyoza had a rancid aftertaste. Maybe their food and service is great on other occassions. However The experience tonight may have been spoiled by the atrocious service and perhaps it wasn't their best evening but i will not take another chance coming here ever. read more

I was just browsing through the new openings list on Yelp and found this ramen joint. Told my hubby about it and we came here the next day (Tuesday) a little after it opened at 11:00a. It's located off of Mesa Verde Drive, which is a small street perpendicular to Harbor Boulevard, between Adams Avenue and Merrimac Way. Beware that it's not in the corner/first strip mall with 7-11 and Yang's Chinese Restaurant, but in the next one over - the big brown strip mall (the parking lots are separated). They are kind of in the center of that mall on ground level, if that makes sense. Since it just opened, there was only one dude sitting down inside. I ordered the yuzu shio ramen ($7.50) and hubby got the shoyu ramen ($7.00). We also shared a plate of chicken karaage ($8.50). The food came out fairly quickly, all nice and hot (well, the place was still empty). My ramen was pretty good. The yuzu was faint, but it was there. The one and only chashu was thick and fatty though so I gave it to hubby (I like it thinner with more meat). Hubby's shoyu ramen was pretty simple, but I liked mine better. We both really liked the karaage, they were juicy and tender. Towards the end our meal, we added a shio yakisoba ($7.50) to go for our kids to share later. Of course, I tried a little before they got to it, and it was good too. Although everything tasted great, I'd say they were all on the salty side. Hubby didn't notice it much, but I kept getting thirsty afterwards. Regardless, I don't mind coming back again to try one of their rice plates. read more

See all

This was not an enjoyable meal.. I was deceived by the reviews.. only to find that the ramen here was so, so disappointing and service was a little lacking. Came on a Sunday for lunch, and by 2pm, they had already ran out of their broth. After ordering, we literally waited painstakingly for 40 minutes before getting our food. I felt so bad because people who were seated before us seemed to have waited even longer for their food. And it was so hard to flag the server. We had ordered two bowls of ramen and the chicken karaage and gyoza. Shoyu ramen: the broth was so disappointing and bland. It wasn't savory, literally tasted like plain, pork broth. The only good thing about this was that the soft-boiled egg was cooked perfectly. Oh, and the Chashu was thick and tender, but they only give you one piece. I should've just ordered more of that. Garlic ramen: sounded cool, but the broth was almost the same, the only difference was that because they added sautéed veggies (mostly cabbage), it had this weird wok, charred flavor to the broth. Our appetizers didn't come until 10min after we get our ramen.. So not that great timing. Gyoza: was okay, the skin was chewy but the filling was mushy. Karaage chicken: didn't come with any sauce so it was bland, but had a nice crunch. With other decent ramen places around OC, probably should go elsewhere. read more

Aoki No Chuuka - Shoyu ramen - Ramen Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

My parents and I were in the area and this was one of the places my dad wanted to try out. Interesting parking lot, but we were here Sunday at noon and it was pretty vacant. Friendly service here! I ordered the tenshinhan and my parents ordered the champon and chuuka don. My parents are fairly picky when it comes to food and they gave it a stamp of approval! Food portions are pretty good! When we walked in, it was a Japanese family and us, but around 1 pm or so, many more customers came in! They were all Japanese so this place must be good for Japanese taste! If I happen to float into Costa Mesa again, I will definitely try out other food menus! read more

Aoki No Chuuka - Tenshinhan with soup - Ramen Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Japanese style Chinese food are so delicious and kids friendly. Kid plate is so cute my kids are love it. Love this new restrain and we will go again for sure read more

See all

New establishment and a whole in a wall. Usually, I like hidden gem, but this Ramen place was understaffed, plus it was Chinese Ramen, not Japanese at all. My Chasu Ramen came out too oily, with no eggs, and they did not offer additional toppings, such as seasoned eggs, etc. There were no condiments like chilli pepper or ginger as well. Plus, it was understaffed to the point where they had to close early because lack of staffs, sadly.. Need to hire more workers.. =/ read more

Food is bad. Very bad. Starchy sauce tastes really bad. Ramen is bad too. I don't know how to describe it but food smells funny. They cooked our food really fast and came to dining area to watch the baseball game on tv. I'm sure they don't care about any reviews. read more

Came here twice already and I am ready to go back again! Super pleased with the food and service! Food: Sanratanmen If you love spicy and sour soup, this ramen is for you! - Perfect amount of sourness - Generous portion - Lots of noodle/toppings - Soup tastes SO GOOD - Soup is a little thicker What is there not to love? My favorite bowl of ramen at this place so far. Highly recommend! Curry Ramen Pretty good. Great portion. The curry definitely has it's own unique flavor. The soup is definitely more on the liquidy side. Tenshin Ramen Absolutely love the flavor of the soup! Everything about it is SO GOOD. The omelet was also perfect! Great portion too~ Highly recommend! Service: Wonderful! The waitress was attentive, friendly, and remembered us! Never had to ask for a water refill. The workers always came around filling our water. Will be back soon~ read more

See all

Looks yummy But I tasted chicken Karaage it not good So disappoint They use old cooking oil bad ..... read more

Aoki No Chuuka - Ramen Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

See all

A Chinese/Japanese ramen joint. I think the food is more on the Chinese side as the broth was extremely sweet in my ramen. While the service was decent, I didn't really enjoy the food here. In addition, my friend found a piece of paper in his water. Yikes. Chasu Ramen - Below average 2/5 - $9 I didn't enjoy the Chasu ramen. The broth is waaay over the top sweet than traditional ramen I'm used to. The ramen comes w/ 4 huge slices of Chasu; the chasu was not tender and I had trouble eating it (both in texture & taste; it was really hard to rip the chasu apart). The chasu has a smokey taste to it but it didn't go well w/ the meal. I will admit, the portions are large and they give LOTS of noodles. Pan Fried Gyoza - average -Average, wasn't anything memorable. Fried Chicken - average -Also average, nothing memorable. I didn't even finish it. read more

Aoki No Chuuka - Chasu $9 regular - Ramen Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

See all

The ramen is made authentically from a Japanese Husband and Wife team and is so delicious! I loved going to Legacy Escape Rooms upstairs from this restaurant and then grabbing food here. Much needed brian food after a fun game! The food is really good, portions are plentiful and nice customer service always helps. Always enjoy coming here and supporting a local business is a plus!! 5/5 stars recommend :)! read more

Not bad. Definitely a good experience. Service was exceptional, prices were more than reasonable... I just wish there were more options available, but perhaps that's more authentic? Nevertheless, I will be returning. FYI..... limited seating available if/when it gets busy. read more

Aoki No Chuuka - Yes, they serve beer and sake! Lrg: $6, Sml: $3.5 - Ramen Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

We have ramen at least once or twice + a week and love that there is a ramen war happening in Costa Mesa/Huntington Beach/Fountain Valley. With remember restaurants like Kitakata, Santouka, Shin Sen Gumi, there is no way this place can survive.The ramen and gyoza served here make instant ramen and frozen gyoza taste like gourmet. I would typically be a bit more specific about the broth, chashu, noodle textures, etc, but imagine greasy cup 'o noodles in a bowl and half-frozen gyoza. Service: There was one apologetic young girl server for the entire restaurant. There were smokers at a table of ten in the same small restaurant who were loud and rowdy. I wish they lit up before we sat down so we could have avoided staying. She apologetically asked them to put it out. One couple came in and sat for ten minutes with no acknowledgment and left. They were lucky. I wish it could have been a competitor, as we are always on the lookout for great authentic ramen but all bets are on that it can't last more than a few more months. I rate the ramen somewhere between -4 and -2 on my scale of 1 to 10. read more

Ramen is ok Noodles are hard which I prefer. Tons of different ramens however it's EXTREMELY Salty Had to ask for bowls of hot water Service is okay. Probably wouldn't come back. Ramen doesn't come with anything but bean sprouts. Egg was salty I spat it out Only thing that was good was the tofu. read more

A solid four stars experience tonight. The ramen only took 10 minutes to arrive. Hubby and I ordered the large Tenshin Ramen to share. Two of our friends ordered the small and the large chashu ramen. That extra $1.50 is with it (see picture for the 'bowl' comparison)! Their gyoza was very good. There are something crunchy in it for texture- I think it's chestnut. We also ordered the liver with vegetable dish for the table to share. Good but a little too much sugar for my taste. Tea was refilled promptly as requested. Overall it was an excellent experience. Although we were all fairly thirsty afterward. Maybe it's the MSG?! read more

Aoki No Chuuka - Liver with vegetable - Ramen Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

See all

Service is fine, she brings food in timely manner and personally I'm there for food so I'm fine with it. The food is what I've known as chuka so the flavor takes me back to Japan and I love it. Love the manga book shelf just like local Japanese chuka restaurants would have. Will definitely keep going read more

Poorly prepared and quite inedible. We placed an order on Uber Eats, which arrived in a timely fashion. However, the order was incomplete, poorly prepared, and simply had to be thrown away. read more

My better 1/3 has been excited to try this place, so we finally made the drive to grab some dinner. It was shocking to find it was absolutely empty on a Thursday night at 7:45pm. We should have known what was coming. We ordered the chashu ramen which looked awesome in the pics I saw, sweet and sour pork (I don't remember the official name of the dish) and a half fried rice. We were both starving and pretty excited about this place. My ramen comes out first and this "porky" stench overtakes us. The pieces of chashu are big and thick and "look" really good, but the first bite tastes just like the smell, old pork. Damn. The fried rice comes out and looks great! The taste is pretty good, but there are some healthy sized chucks of pork and a good dose of this smell. Ugh! Finally the sweet and sour pork comes out and it looks AMAZING! Too bad the pork was super fatty and chewy. I had 2 pieces and the second one I had to remove from my mouth due to the fact it was so tough and once the sauce and coating wes gone, it was back to the strong pork stench. It made me gag. I'm not one to take half chewed food from my mouth at the table, but there was no way around it. The server had never come back since she was more interested in hanging out with who I think may be the owner. We finally asked for the check and when she saw we had left all the pork she asked if we wanted a box. We politely said no, and she quickly went back to hanging out. Her and the guy she was hanging out with saw, but never once questioned why we would leave all that food. Never once asked how things are or were. I was going to speak up, but obviously the staff here wasn't interested. Maybe that's why it was so empty? On the ride home our stomachs felt a little funny, we grabbed some McDonald's, and went home. All night my stomach has been making all kinds of funky sounds. Presentation was great, but past that, this place is a fail. What a disappointment. read more

First time coming in this place and I absolutely loved it. My server was super nice and she even went out of her way to custom-make a completely vegan curry for my girlfriend! On the other hand, I had the pork katsu curry and it was amazing! Food came out EXTREMELY HOT. I burned my tongue, but at least that means everything was cooked. The vegan curry was delicious as well. Overall, great experience and I can't wait to come back and try the ramen! Make sure if you order the vegan curry to emphasize that you want a vegetable-based curry/broth with vegetables (it substitutes the meat)! read more

Best ramen place ever. Ordered a miso ramen and asked them to draw their favorite Pokemon and got this! read more

Aoki No Chuuka - Ramen Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Love this place! It has a traditional feel, maybe the recipes are hand me downs from many generations? I am a vegetarian and got the fried rice with pickles and vegetables. It was absolutely delicious and was tempted to order a to go one too. I ordered a salad too that was very good. As for the salty comments, you can always ask for little salt. read more

Tried the Mabo Tofu . It was good till I noticed black flakes floating in the soup. Waitress told me it was burnt pieces from the Tofu. -_-;; couldn't finish the rest of the dish after noticing the flakes. Somewhat disappointed. Maybe I'll give it a higher rating if I do decide to come back. Waitress made it up with some mochi ice cream can't stay too disappointed. read more

Aoki No Chuuka - Mabo Tofu with extras, blacked (burnt) flakes for flavoring I did not ask for. - Ramen Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

See all

The last time we came here, the soup was so incredibly salty. We had to ask for water to add to it. It didn't used to be so salty. The pork chashu is still delicious, and we love the mabo tofu! Also, the kids meals come in a fun little car set up and are really fun for the kids. I wish the ramen tasted like it used to when they first opened! read more

Was a little hesitant to come here since the reviews looked pretty mediocre, but ended up having a nice dinner. We ordered the shoyu ramen, gomoku ramen, gyoza, and fried rice. Everything was good except for the gyoza which was just okay. Good customer service. read more

I had to change my review for 4 stars to 3 stars after my second visit. I know Katsu Curry is not Chinese/Japanese cuisine but since they had this on the menu. I wanted to try. what a dissapointment. Rice was very hard, its winter time. maybe they needed to soak the rice before cooking. the curry sauce was just plain. Curry House is just a bit better. it had to shine or softness to the rice. The killer on the food was the Tonkatsu. They are not using good pork, very thin, no flavor.. sorry. I can make better Tonkatsu. The standard is to make food that is good if offered on the menu. my dish was just lacking the love of making something good. Very dissapointed. Will give one more shot and go back to something like Mapo Tofu, or Subuta...and hope the rice is made better. read more

Ordered via their website and got the confirmation. When I showed up and showed the confirmation, the woman running front of house said they didn't have an order and made zero effort to rectify the situation. Will never return. read more

This ramen joint is actually more of "Japanese-Style Chinese Restaurant" which is a bit hard to locate. It's located in a small mall but since there are not much restaurants around there, maybe it's hard to assume a restaurant in that mall. (It's more like a business complex rather than a shopping mall.) Anyways, I was there on a Sunday afternoon. Most of the seats were filled with families. I ordered a fried rice and shoyu ramen. Both of the dishes were very tasty and authentic. I deducted a star because service is extremely slow. The restaurant itself seems not that busy but they took a while to bring me a glass of water and menu. Although both of the servers were nice, not sure why do they take so long for everything. I might go back again for some other dishes. read more

Get take out on the regular. Their tonkatsu ramen is delicious and I always add shiitake mushrooms

I tried to come here to eat on a Sunday night and they were closed a whole hour and fifteen minutes early.

Aoki is a comfortable place. Their style is a typical Japanese-style Chinese restaurant. The taste is not super great but is familiar with me. I mean Aoki is a good restaurant I often repeat. They have several kinds of ramen tastes. If you are a ramen lover, it is worth of trying them. My recommendation is Spicy Champon. read more

I enjoyed the Chuka style ramens. Not your typical boring tonkotsu broth every ramen place now has. The fried rice and takoyaki was good as well. A lot of Japanese customers so you know it's legit. Japanese owned and operated as well. Prices were super reasonable as I am used to paying $12-14 a bowl for mediocre, nothing spectacular, rip off ramen. I also appreciated the fact that our ramens were piping hot and continued to be so while eating. Side note, i hate it when the broth of any noodle dish is hot, but noodles are not, and your bowl just becomes warmer than room temperature when you take your first bite. #lame Service was okay. The waitress that sat us seemed a little moody but the other server seemed fine. Overall, great place, if we are in the area again, will come back to try the other menu items. read more

The pork katsu bowl was delicious. Lots of Japanese business people eat here, if that's any indicator how authentic this place is. Definitely going to be a regular here. read more

This restaurant serves the most authentic "Chuka ryori" among the restaurants I have tried so far in OC. The dishes they serve reminds me of food I used to enjoy while growing up in Japan. Service is fast, food is served very promptly, price is reasonable, lots of good choices on the menu. And most of all, everything I tried is delicious. It is my go-to place when I want to introduce affordable & good Japanese food to my friends or when I have cravings for authentic Japanese food. read more