Wow! I can't believe we have not been to this place and glad we came in today. This place is such a gem in Escondido. The food was great, better than I expected. My husband and I enjoyed the ramen, it was full of flavors and so delicious. My son had the bowl of teriyaki chicken and he said it was delicious too. The service was great, they were a bit busy but service was fast. The ambience was great, don't let the outside fool you. Overall, we enjoyed our food today and glad they're not far from us. read more

Mirin Cafe - Volcano Ramen, spicy! - Japanese Near Me - Escondido, California

Always good, always on time, I usually do takeout because there's not a lot of seating space. My fussy daughter-in-law thought it was excellent. read more

We needed a spot to eat after going to safari park. My son loves noodle soups so we gave this place a try. The service was phenomenal. It's small establishment but my goodness the soup was so good. My picky boy was in love with his choice. I love that they took into consideration on which broth we used because some were spicy. I appreciated that. We have a spot for when we go back to the safari park. read more

Just visiting from out of town. This place was amazing! I got the crunch roll my husband a noodle dish both were great! Our waiter was so polite and friendly nice to see ! read more

You know what... I don't even know what to say. I was suggested this restaurant by a family member and was a little weirded out at the idea of "drive thru sushi." Needless to say, I ate it so fast I couldn't even take a picture to post with my review! It was fast. My order was perfect with all my modifications/requests. It was delicious. It was everything I could have asked for. 10/10 will be back very soon. read more

Small little cafe with good teriyaki and really good tempura Brussel sprouts. Service good. Ambiance okay, seats around 15 people. Prices fair. Good amount of food. Will be back to get some other of their offerings. Easy to miss, the drive way comes up on you really fast, I missed it and had to go around slowly to make sure I didn't miss it. One way in and one way out, kinda weird. You have to go out through the drive through? read more

Holy smokes. Best ramen in North County. Probably San Diego County as a whole. And the Brussels sprouts are ridiculous. read more

We came here group of five. It's a small place. Parking at the back. Got lost first. As soon as you passby Popeyes make a right. They took quick . Food was great. Black garlic was comparable to ultra Ramen. The noodle was just regular though. Price is right. Awesome food.service was fast and good quantity/ size of serving. read more

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That Garlic noodle w/ the sirloin steak? That's living. I double down on the steak but the original portion was fair... recommended. read more

My wife and I found this place shortly after we moved to the area. Every time we've come it is always busy which is a great sign. They usually have young employees and they always are attentive. Tonight, not so much. We came in and the only attention was from one of the cooks in the back telling us to sit where we wanted to. No server has come to even acknowledge us and we've been sitting here for almost 10 minutes. Finally as I'm writing this a server showed up, apologetically. I hope this isn't a new standard. read more

If you live in North County SD, this is the place to go to for good ramen! It's a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that most would drive by, however it's worth the stop! The interior is very clean, and service was great! I recommend the Black Garlic Tonkatsu Ramen - flavor is mind blowing! read more

Mirin Cafe - Black Garlic Tonkatsu Ramen - Japanese Near Me - Escondido, California

I was told about Mirin cafe and so much more than what meets the eye! The outside of the building doesn't do this place justice!!! The inside was decorated well and the tables were nice. The Katsu chicken I hard was amazing, I tried this in Japan and haven't been able to find a replication until I came here! Also on the table was a spider sushi roll and it was larger size than what I am accustomed to, delicious! The table service was great and keep in mind they have a drive through which I will be using soon! This place is a must for anyone looking for a great bite where you can taste the passion of the cooks! read more

Mirin Cafe - This is the katsu chicken. It was amazing!! - Japanese Near Me - Escondido, California

great food, great atmosphere! Faster to order with the app!! great food, great atmosphere! Faster to order with the app!! read more

Ambience is great it almost feels like a hole in the wall, but the sushi is fresh. I love their Japanese sodas and Crunchyroll. There service is always great and friendly. There's a drive-through and probably nine or more tables. We've met the owner a few times there's TVs I do feel like it's a little hot, but it's definitely clean and it's such a great little spot for a quick little lunch bite. read more

Great service So friendly Food was excellent I got the chicken teriyaki yakisoba, it was so good. The noodles were perfect. Chicken was cooked perfect. But overall for my first time there. read more

This place blew our socks off! What a great restaurant, friendly staff and clean environment. Thank you! read more

Mirin Cafe - California roll and ramen! - Japanese Near Me - Escondido, California

I LOVE Japanese Curry! It's the first thing I look for on the menu at a JN restaurant! Yesterday was my birthday so we finally went and I knew what I wanted. Disappointed isn't a strong enough word. It was awful. It looked and tasted like bland turkey gravy! Not a hint of curry! No veggies. The rice and pork were good, thus the 2nd star. read more

Mirin Cafe - Katsudon Curry - Japanese Near Me - Escondido, California

I like their food. It is good and it's close to my house. The service is quick and friendly. I also like the ambience in the restaurant. They have a full menu of Japanese food so they don't specialize in like one thing (either sushi, ramen, etc) but if you are ok with that they are above average and have good flavor. I totally recommend. read more

I live close by, so I usually have takeout. The food is great here. I have tried their rolls, romen and appetizers. All have been good.

Pretty disappointed I've been seeing this place for a while and the reviews made me have high hopes but man was I let down my sushi is hard the shrimp tempura is over cooked and hard zero seasoning. Ramen was alright but no a huge step from cup noodles imo. Lastly the combo fried rice more stiff shrimp and lack of flavor meat and chicken were alright. My order was takeout so maybe that was the issue I'll try once more in shop but yikes read more

We've spent a few weekends in Escondido recently and have really enjoyed picking up food from Mirin to eat on the drive home. The food is always fresh and delicious. We really liked the kaarage chicken and rolls. Rice bowls are also great value for the amount of food you get. read more

I took my parents to Valley View Casino and instead of doing the buffet, we decided to go healthier. Japanese sounded good and searching the area, Mirin Cafe came up. It is a little hard to find, especially at night, if you don't know where you're going. I called and the guy told me to look for the bank, and there we were. Friendly greeting, said we could sit anywhere. There were people inside eating which is always a good sign. My dad ordered the teriyaki beef, I ordered a big bowl of ramen and a side of karaage, and my mom ordered the tofu steak. Everything came out in a timely manner. As we started eating, my mom was like, "where's the beef?" LOL! The tofu steak is grilled tofu. She thought it was tofu and steak, sort of like sukiyaki. She said it was good, just not what she thought it was going to be. My ramen had a nice spicy kick to it and I loved dunking the karaage in it. And then here is where it gets funny, for me at least. My parents are old school, so they observed that there were no Japanese cooks. I did get an eel roll, and whoever made it was trained very well! It wasn't authentic but sure darn close and very good! Another thing my parents do, and most Asian parents do, is notice that we were the only Asians in the place, at least that evening, and for an hour. Other than that, the staff is really friendly, and I would come back here if I was in the area. Doomo! read more

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After many years, Mirin is still amazing and never disappoints! We have been loyal customers since the beginning. Even after moving out of Escondido about 5 years ago, we still make the 40 minute drive to come and eat here. The owners are such wonderful people and it has been such a joy to see their restaurant become a success. Ramen is a hit or miss type of food and Mirin gets it right every time. If you live in North County, there is no need to make the trip to convoy, we have a little gem in Escondido. Pork fried rice is out of this world and hands-down the best fried rice I've ever had. The sushi rolls are very fresh and tasty. We've tried just about every appetizer they have, all delicious. As for the Ramen, perfect al dente noodles, perfectly cooked soft boiled egg, delicious pork belly and just the right amount of seasoning and vegetables. Love this place! read more

We saw the great review and decided to give it a try. The parking area looks very shady. The crunchy rolls was soggy, not crunchy. They must have used an old and left over tempura bits. The Special Mirin ramen had good review. It was ok. Kinda salty. Wife ordered tempura mix. Again, the tempura batter was not crunchy, doesn't taste fresh. At least we gave it a try but will not be returning. The only positive thing I can say is that our waitress is very nice and friendly. We gave her decent tip for her personality. read more

I really like this place. It is the kind of place that you just want to keep coming back, and it has that fun quiet vibe and consistent quality. It is my place on Fridays, weekends if I just want it simple but fun. read more

We did take out, as much as we prefer to dine in when it comes to having fresh ramen we still enjoyed our ramen at home! Special Brussels Sprouts (Pork Sung)(we will order more then one next time, was hard to "share" with the hubs, we loved it that much!!) Gyoza (we ordered double as we share with the kiddos, glad we did because we loved it too) Mirin Ramen (great flavor in broth!) Volcano Ramen (wow, it's got a kick if you haven't had spicy food in awhile, we loved it though) Btw, their soft boiled egg is perfect, my husband forgot to order extra half for my ramen (ugh!) wishing he remembered as it was the best I've had compared to other ramen places! It's in our favorite ramen to go and so happy it's close to our house! read more

Ordered the beef fried rice and despite the flavor I was very disappointed. It basically consisted of a large portion of rice with a few kernels of corn and a few tiny pieces of beef. For the price I was expecting a lot more meat. I won't be returning but hope others have better experiences than me. Maybe just don't order the beef fried rice and you'll be fine. ‍ read more

Always good fresh food. Love that they are always busy, so you know stock is fresh. Love that I can call ahead and pick up thru drive thru too! Menu has a plethora of items to choose from any day. I often crave this place. read more

We love coming here for a quick bite. The sushi is great and the noodle dishes are also delicious. I also really like that there is a drive through when the kids are asleep in the car and I want to pick up sushi to go. read more

Upon entering you'll realized this place the definition of hole in the wall. The service was spot on . The food even more delicious . Had the teriyaki chicken and beef entry (5/5) tempura Brussel sprouts (5/5) karaage chicken (4/5) Food came out really quick . They really know how to pump out food . Greatly appreciated when you're super hungry . read more

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This place is good! Went for the first time and def going back! The sushi rolls, mirin's fries and katsu curry were all delish yet the star of the show is Katsu Curry 10/10! read more

Mirin Cafe - Katsu Curry - Japanese Near Me - Escondido, California

A funny little restaurant with a drive through option. The portions are often generous, the food is reasonably good, and the takeout is on time. We've had some hits and misses here through our various meals but rounded up. We have loved the garlic noodles with katsu chicken - hearty, delicious, and huge. The concept of the protein roll (think sushi without rice and cucumber as a wrapper) is great but unfortunately, too heavy on the cucumber to other filling ratio. The spider roll if yummy and an impressively good value at $6.45. The kaarage was just okay. The mirin fries were also soggy, thick cut, and a much smaller portion than pictured on their site read more

My hubby and I finally checked out this place in my neighborhood and we can't believe that it took this long. We ate there for lunch and it wasn't busy. When we came in, it was a little warm inside. The staff were friendly and immediately tended to our needs. It took us awhile to look at the menu because there were a lot of choices plus my hubby is on the picky side. I like that the pages of their menu are on the thick side. For drinks, my hubby just got water and I tried their Iced Green Tea which was ok. After placing our order, the staff realized that they forgot to turn on the fans and A/C. The first item that came was the 2 pc Shrimp Tempura. It was fried perfectly! Then the 5 pc Fried Gyoza came and the dough was a little bit overdone. The filling tastes good. Then we shared a plate of Fried Rice and Teriyaki Chicken. We loved that the 2 components were separated and not mixed in together. We will come back again with our kids. There are so many choices to try! read more

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This restaurant is awesome. I ordered the Mirin Ramen w/pork and a Dragon Roll, O-M-G was it delicious. The inside is very quaint and small but it did the job. They're all very nice and attentive too! Will definitely be back! (I didn't take a photo of the Dragon Roll because I devoured it! It was that good!) read more

Mirin Cafe - Japanese Near Me - Escondido, California

The ramen here is good but didn't blow me away. We got gyozas steamed and the teriyaki chicken wings and everything was under whelming.. I could tell the food was good but I guess I just have higher expectations of flavor for Japanese foods. read more

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Great flavor and balance spice on the Ramen Very good option for Ramen!!! Glad to support small businesses read more

I have eaten at mirin cafe quite a bit usually for their ramen since they were the only ramen place in Escondido. Not as good as the ramen places in san diego but pretty good. I ususally order the seafood ramen as i think their chicken tastes like it has been re-heated and not cooked fresh. Not sure if this is the case, but to me that is what it tastes like. Place is very small, and the kitchen always looks crowded, but not a problem, they get the job done. Going through the drive through, check your food before you leave. Once they forgot my egg, and another time there was a crack in the ramen broth container, and it leaked all over the floor of my car. Have them double bag it. read more

I ordered their Chicken & Shrimp Entree for to-go pick up. The food was alright, the chicken did not taste like charbroiled as claimed on their menu. Other than that, I really enjoyed the shrimp tempura and the green salad! read more

Mirin Cafe - Chicken & Shrimp Entree - Japanese Near Me - Escondido, California

Food is amazing!!! We split some noodles and each had a crunch roll and they were both fantastic!

This restaurant is dark and stuffy inside. As soon as I walked in, a pungent of oily smell hit me. Although the restaurant didn't look dirty but the oily smell made me very uncomfortable. I ordered the vegetable yakiudon. The flavor was good but the tofu was over fried, hard and dried. The service was ok because the food took a long time to come out. I can see the chief joking around with some other people behind the counter before making the order. I hope my next experience will be a little better, if I decide to give another shot. read more