Was in the area and had seen the sign for Mendoki (www.mendoki.com/) a few times in the past.
The pictures online passed the eye test and I had a chance to stop by for lunch today.
I mean, check out their Jiro-style offering.
That ain’t no joke.
The Chef (Ramenolo?) at Mendoki, Akimoto, is an alumn of the famed Taishoken.
He was in the kitchen today making each and every bowl himself.
I do not know what the Taishoken ramen trademarks are but when I asked about the soup in the Chuka ramen he let me know it is a tonkotsu-gyokai (pork bone and fish stock) soup and indicated that this was Taishoken style.
We ordered the Chuka Soba, Abura Soba, and Chicken Karaage.
Don’t be thrown by the names. “Ramen” and “Soba” are often used interchangeably at ramen shops.
Here is the Chuka Soba:
This was really good. This is tonkotsu-gyokai soup, but do not think of milky, blended white tonkotsu. This is a rich tonkotsu soup, but even more present than the rich porky bass drum in the background are the fish stock (niboshi?) snare notes. The fish stock brings complexity and a slight bitterness.
The noodles were medium thickness and cooked to a semi al dente doneness.
The chashu was fresh, meaty, with a good ratio of fat.
Man, this was a really good bowl of ramen. I haven’t eaten ramen out in a while. My last ramen was at Tao before pandemic closures. This is my new favorite ramen for Orange County, ahead of Tao and Kitakata.
I didn’t take pictures of the Abura Soba or Karaage, but here are pics that look identical:
The Karaage was excellent karaage. Fresh fried and well-seasoned.
The Abura Soba was also fucking good. Abura Soba is a “dry”, soupless noodle dish where you mix and coat the noodles with seasoned abura (oil/fat) that is at the bottom of the bowl. At Mendoki, the abura seems to be pork backfat. From their Abura Soba, what stood out to me was the definite smoky notes coming from the abura. I think they smoke or get some char on the pork before rendering the fat. Man, I wish I had Gold’s words to help explain these dishes better. For all you egg sluts, their eggs have that gooey golden yolk that you are longing for.
Anyway, this is a legit ramen shop. No worries of “bait and switch” because Akimoto-san is in the house making your noodz. (I really don’t like the phrase “bait and switch” being misused to describe ramen shops that are trying to localize in the US.)
I can’t wait to go back and take on their Jiro ramen! Just have to prepare mentally to take on that beast…
