Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai - Costa Mesa — Restaurant in Costa Mesa

Gimme a slurp, gimme a slurp! Slurp me up some of that Kitakata soup!

Aburi miso ramen, to be exact.

After using my LALALA Ramen Pass 5 times last week before it expired, you'd think I'd be tired of ramen. Think again, amigo!

I've been hearing good things about Kitakata, since they opened a few months ago. So, with time & prudence on my side, I found a good time to make the schlep to Costa Mesa for lunch.

Upon arrival, I noticed how small the restaurant is. Not a place for large groups, there a few tables & counter seating. Arriving a little before 11:30am, no line awaited me as I sat at a table all to myself.

I haven't been to Japan yet, but I imagined that I was with the ambiance & décor. Japanese music playing lightly on the speakers, with cute little figurines by the window. Kudos to Kitakata for giving 2 spoons with each bowl. One for the broth & the other a metal one with holes to scoop up the ingredients sans soup.

Complimentary tea is always a plus.

After a quick glance at the menu, I decided to go with the most bang for the buck, IMHO. Aburi miso ramen ($7.95)- Pork broth, miso base, bean sprouts, seaweed, corn, menma & green onions. Happiness, piping hot in a bowl! First & foremost, the noodles are made in-house. Chewy, and yet not tough, you can tell the difference with each slippery chew. The pork chashu were sliced big, with that rich, fortifying pork fat contributing that delectable flavor. The broth was hearty, with a lot of green onions, seaweed & menma bringing it all together. Lastly, the corn added the sweetness which complimented the savory flavors. Large portions & for not a lot. My only gripe would be no included egg, but that's only a minor guffaw.

For the meatlovers, chashu ramen may be your best bet, with its plethora of chashu slices. Additional toppings, such as egg, can be purchased a la carte. People also recommended Kitakata's gyoza, which looked enticingly good. Alas, those will have to wait till next time.

Service was good. Even though the place is small, 3 attendants were busy going table to table, addressing any needs diners may have had. Considering I've dined at other ramen shops with the same number of wait staff but double the space (cough Gomen *cough), the service was on point.

Parking is in a small private lot. I had no problem finding parking, but I arrived shortly after opening on a weekday. I'd imagine during dinner & weekends, parking can be harder to come by, so plan accordingly.

Kitakata, you deserve a green tea Kit Kat because you've impressed me. You've managed to earn the much coveted 5 stars from this frugal foodie. Great portions of delicious ramen for not a lot, on top of great service.

Can't wait to come back!

Highly...

There's a direct correlation between rainy days and having a super long lines at soup /ramen places. So of course, after some coffee libations in the morning with Muchaboutfooding, this was the best thing afterwards. The food that is, not the line.

This place is small. I mean it's not as small as the standing room sushi for 100 yen I saw in Shinjuku but it's small enough that they will cramp you in here the best they can. Sign up your name in true Japanese fashion on the clip board and they will call you when it's ready.

So they're known for their flat, white, and curly noodles. It states it's slightly chewy. Unfortunately for my ramen, it wasn't as chewy as I had liked it. I am a al dente kind of guy, and this was flaw number one for me. Although most ramen places will offer you an extra bowl of just ramen for a set price (かえだま), I should've just just done that and saved the broth. Perhaps next time I will and ask how much that extra bowl of ramen would be.

I ordered the Green Chili Ramen. It had tons of scallions, slightly spicy, and extra peppery especially towards the end of the soup. The soup is light, shio style. I personally still like Santouka's broth still, which is really oily and hearty. However, I would say this broth is still quite good. The charsiu slices are quite large compared to most ramen places. It's also thick enough but flavor wise, it's also on the lighter side.

We also had the Tsukemen here. Comes with some Zuri Daikon on the side with a lime wedge and a dipping sauce. Quite refreshing and good portion for 2 kids to share.

Oh speaking of sharing, their small rice dishes is a good size. At $2.80, the small aburi charsiu bowl is quite filling and the light unagi sauce is quite good with it. I would definitely order it again. We also shared some gyozas from here, which they were kind of small. I couldn't really taste any flavor out of the gyozas. The little dab of green grind peppers on the side were a nice touch but I would say it's not a must order.

I want to come back here again, there are definitely items I wanted to try I didn't get to try this time. This place is almost not quite a 5 star for me just but its intrigued me enough I want to give it another shot. I hope to come early and not fight the crowds. Perhaps I should just come here on a day that is hot in the 90s, so no one...

Came here with great expectations based on large amounts of raving reviews.

To preface this, I am comparing Kitakata to the other ramen places that I have been to. I have been to many of the ramen places in the area, including , Shin Sen Gumi, Santouka, Yamadaya, ect. Though I personally prefer the tonkatsu broth for its rich and creamy qualities, I also like shio, and shoyu broths for their lighter tastes. So I understand that there are many different varieties of ramen.

Personally, I found that the shio broth at Kitakata ramen was very mediocre. It was overly salty and lacked any true flavoring. When compared to the broth that you get at Santouka ramen, this falls way short. It tastes like a very basic broth seasoned only with salt and possibly mirin or kombu. Not only that but it was overly salty. It really took away from the rest of the dish. Secondly, their actual ramen noodles themselves were very overdone. They were soft to a point of breaking in your chopsticks and seemed to be overcooked. Remind you, this is how the ramen was like when we first got it, before we even started eating. Finally, I ordered the menma bamboo shoots as a side and they just dumped a truck load onto the bowl. The ratio of menma to noodles was 1:1.

One good thing I do have to say about them is that they do their Char Sui very well and it was extremely tender and tasty.

When compared to other ramen places, I do not think Kitakata is good. Even as a stand alone restaurant, I do not think it is worth it to wait here to eat. Personally, I still think Santouka is best ramen place...