WADAYA - Costa Mesa — Restaurant in Costa Mesa

After sharing my Ramen obsession, I was recommended Mogu Mogu in Costa Mesa. Turns out that Mogu specializes in Mazemen, not ramen. Mazemen is similar to ramen, but the main difference is that Mazemen is a broth less noodle dish.

Since Mogu specializes in Mazemen, I would do myself a disservice if I were to get a ramen instead of their specialty. I am still going to review the relevant components for fun, but it won’t necessarily be comparable to a normal ramen review since I can’t judge the (arguably) most import part of ramen, the broth.

Mogu provides a friendly guide on how to eat Mazemen for the uninitiated.

How to eat MAZEMEN (Soupless noodles):

1. Snap It! Take a picture of our good looking bowl of Mazemen and share it with your friends!
2. Mix it! Mix really well for about 30 seconds!
3. The better you mix the better it tastes! Umami! About half way done with your bowl, try our homemade Umami vinegar for a new taste!
4. Oi-Meshi! Small scoop of rice will be served at the end to fully enjoy our bowl of Mazemen.

The restaurant features a countertop bar with about 8 seats, and a fair amount of tables inside. They also have multiple tables outside including a tent area in the parking lot for additional seating.

The menu offers a selection of Mazemen with various toppings, and spice levels. There is a Tonkotsu and Miso ramen for those who want broth with their noodles. They also offer a vegan Mazemen and ramen option. Accompanying these main dishes are some typical Japanese sides and also a happy hour menu.

Today, I ordered the deluxe Mazemen, which is their offering with all the toppings, including: Sliced pork chashu, Spicy minced pork, Poached egg, Chives, Minced garlic, Fish powder, Seaweed Soft boiled egg, Seaweed flakes, Scallion.

Overall: 8/10. Would recommend. As an overall experience I would certainly recommend Mogu Mogu. The noodles are thick in shape and firm in texture. They provide excellent chew, texture, and still have flavor of their own. Mixed in with the sauces and spices, the end result is a noodle dish with an excellent balance of savory notes from the sauce base and fish powder, and also well balanced flavorful spiciness. I think that overall, the chashu and soft boiled egg in the deluxe bowl is not necessary, so I would recommend the Tokyo style. Near the end of the meal, each order of Mazemen is provided a small serving of white rice served in a ramekin. The intention is to mix the rice with the remaining sauce as a finishing treat. Not only does this provide an interesting texture change from the noodles, it pushes the bowl from filling to...

Food: 3.5/5 Service and Setting: 3/5 Value: 2/5

Mogu Mogu is one of those hyped restaurants that I am skeptical of. The plaza that it is in gets busy and it might get hard to find parking. Come early as you can because they seem to be always busy! Going in, the servers are all very nice and attentive but something shocking to me was how dirty the restaurant was. The sesame seed grinders were covered in gunk and the rays of sunlight showed dust in the hard to reach places on the barstools. My food came out pretty slowly and the servers knew when to bring out the last bite of rice. Overall, the hype is not here.

Mogu Chicken: 3/5 The waitress helping me out hyped up this chicken and I will say that it is meh or at least not my style. The chicken had a coating similar to karaage but a bit crispier. The sauce on the chicken is very similar to a Korean gochujang sauce and eh, it was just a bit boring. Even when I eat Korean fried chicken, I prefer plain or soy glazes over the more traditional gochujang and Mogu’s take on it was uninspiring. The side of spicy mayo they serve was good and had a good bit of tartness to help brighten the dish. I would skip.

Deluxe Mazemen: 3.5/5 I was so hyped to try this and I was wondering how it could be bad. While it was not bad, it was not that good really. I can see how average Americans would really enjoy this as it looks very “authentic” yet tastes very mild. The thick ramen noodles had a texture similar to udon but with that sort of sulfurous bite you get from typical ramen noodles. The flavor of everything after it has been mixed up is generally savory, but the strongest note is fish powder. If you ever had tsukemen, dipping ramen, you will recognize the smokey oceany flavor immediately. The vinegar also is very mild and does admittedly have a slight umami taste, but nothing to write home about. It does help add another dimension to the mazemen but overall everything is just sort of bland. There is depth of flavor but what does depth do if it doesn’t taste like anything? I wanted to taste something so bad but just ended up eating thick noodles in a thick sauce. I will admit that the boiled egg they serve was cooked to perfection, the main star of the meal. The rice they give is literally 1 bite. I am not sure if the rice is supposed to be really overcooked but I did enjoy it; it gave me congee vibes. I am not an expert on Japanese food let alone mazemen, but I was definitely hoping for a concentrated noodle adventure seeing how strongly flavored tsukemen is. Pretty, approachable,...

This bowl was a chaotic mix- but not a mess- of flavours, a thunderous clash of noodles that fade like mist into an unidentifiable soup of flavour- having said this, there is no soup; there is no need for soup, as the noodles are as rich, no, more flavourful than any soup imaginable, golden strands of herb infused texture, they surpass the need for soup as accompaniment, transcend the very concept of soup itself. The heartiness of a good winter soup, savoury flavour of a medium rare steak, and easy-go-down fun of a tapioca drink are all here in the noodle and its uniquely crafted sauce.

There is a special method for eating these noodle bowls: first, the bowls are brought, toppings perfectly placed, portioned artistically like the carved clifface of Rushmore, softboiled eggwhite slathered, crowning the hill of green onion and tumble of meats like snowcapped mountain peaks.

Enjoy its serene beauty while it lasts; in the next moment you must inundate it with your own hands, stir it apart into an unrecognizable whirlpool of meats and vegetables, wrench it so mercilessly that all ingredients blend into one freeform mesh, as meat tears and golden yolk runs, jumbled and improvised but the final calm after the storm perfectly portioned and planned; the end result is a fantastic savoury extract, an absolutely supreme umami slam finally ready to eat.

Head empty, I simply consumed.

The thick noodles didn't feel overbearing at all- it was as if its diameter didn't exist, its thickness irrelevant, imaginary. The nori was a nice touch- always a great accompaniment to any oily carb. The final step in the eating ritual was greatly appreciated; an extra tiny scoop of rice brought just when you're nearing the end of your meal, to mix into your bowl and sponge up all of the dripping sauces, flakes, and flavours, was the perfect light breeze, the rainbow topping off a great meal.

Service was great and the prices were fair. I got the deluxe, which was a little pricey at ~$17, but you won't be missing out with any of Mogu Mogu's options.

It has been a while since I had so simply accepted and enjoyed the flavour of a...