Yamadaya Ramen now open in Costa Mesa...like 2 months ago.

[Porthos]

I must have missed the memo and don't recall seeing a post here but clearly the word is out. The place opened at 1130 and was packed by 1145.

Yamadaya all stars was just as good as the Torrance branch is currently. Overall a slight slippage sInce the solo shop days but still a superior bowl of ramen.

[ns1]

Dropped by over the weekend.

Had the tsukemen and kakuni tonkatsu. Overall good but...

1. Noodles not my preference, thin style noodles ie SSG style
2. Eggs just okay, it was a hard boiled egg cooked perfectly but wasn't as godly Jinya's or Mottainai's.
3. Kakuni wasn't as tender as I expected, but this pretty much was in line with my kakuni experience last time.
4. Tsukemen was pretty good and had thicker noodles that looked as if they were hand pulled. Broth a bit saltier than ikemen/tsujita based on my memory

Overall satisfying but didn't blow me away. Most interesting to me is seeing how the Togo's of my youth has now morphed into a ramen shop.

[Porthos]

NS1. You should try the premium shio broth. I go 3-4 times a month and haven't had the tonkotsu broth 6-12 months.

The egg sucks now, like you said, near fully cooked but that might be because I saw some patrons pick out the soft portion of the egg back when they were doing the egg somewhat right. Sigh...

For the egg alone, Jinya is easily better. Unfortunately the Jinya noodles turn soft after a only a couple of minutes. I am a fast eater but not even my gluttonous speed cannot overcome this fatal flaw.

[ns1]

yeah I don't think noodles are Jinya's strong point

I didn't even see a "premium shio" so I'll have to check that out, maybe bring my parents here.

[Porthos]

Close to the center of the menu right next to the premium shoyu with pictures. Don't forget to combo with the karaage and fried rice. It's a smaller "healthier" bowl of ramen.

[mrhooks]

Sounds like CM is much closer to you, but the Torrance branch offers a choice of thin or thick noodles. Also, the CM branch gets really slow when things get busy. The Torrance branch manages to stay fairly efficient, both in terms of seating and getting your food out quickly. Of course, CM is like 3x the size of Torrance.

The problem with the kakuni is that they don't make it fresh every day. Get it the day it's made, and it's really good. A couple days later, and it's dry.

The chicken karaage is pretty good, but nowhere near as good as Bincho (I'm probably the only person here who preferred Bincho as an izakaya instead of a yakitoriya).

Has anyone ever tried asking specifically for a hanjuku egg? I always ask for my noodles super-hard (I don't consider their idea of katamen to be katamen at all), and they (CM, but not Torrance) usually honor that request. Or are all the eggs pre-cooked? I guess I'll have to try next time...

[ns1]

I'm actually in LA now but my parents are in OC. Going to torrance takes almost as long as going to CM, and my 1 and only visit to Yamadaya torrance led to less than stellar results.

I think I'm gonna give up on the kakuni now, esp. since I have no clue how often it's made.

[A5 KOBE]

If you like spicy is suggest getting the Yamadaya spicy. I got it at level two and it is worth going back for.

[Porthos]

I'll ask next time but today the egg was cooked all the way through without a hint of soft yolk. Horrible.

[cdub]

it seems to be the norm at all yamadayas now. the egg is miles better at jinya. the other issue i have at yamadaya now is that you can't get the think noodle with the tonkotsu. you can only get the thin.

i've been going to jinya more and more lately just on the basis of the thick noodles and better egg. the tonkotsu black at jinya is currently my fave.

[mikester]

The ramen is crazy-good here ! Sooo rich !

The fried chicken is pretty great as well.

[carter]

Then you might enjoy the news that Jinya is expanding to Costa Mesa, @ 1450 Baker, near Harbor Blvd. fairly soon.
http://www.abc.ca.gov/datport/LQSData...

[Porthos]

Music to my ears. OC ramen looking pretty good these days.

[Johnny L]

Jeez seems Jinya and Yamadaya are having an expansion war.

My dream would be for one of them to come to the SGV even at least Little Tokyo so I can be closer.