The Background

Orange County is a hot bed for ramen with a ton of restaurants in the area. There’s a lot to choose from, so deciding on one place can be a daunting task if you start going down the rabbit hole of researching ramen spots.

During one of these recent ramen deep dives I came across Kashiwa Ramen in Costa Mesa. Voted Best Ramen of 2019 by OC Weekly, it wasn’t a ramen place I’d tried yet. Something that really stood out to me at first glance, was that they’re famous for chicken broth.

I haven’t seen too many places that offer a chicken ramen broth. Most places have the pork based tonkotsu broth so seeing a chicken broth was interesting.

A few different types of ramen on the menu also sounded delicious and unique,so this was a pretty easy choice to check out on this day.

The Experience

I got to the Kashiwa Ramen right around the time they opened, 11:30 am on a weekday, to avoid any potential lunch rush and walked right in. Nestled in the corner in the back of a large shopping center, there’s ample parking, especially at this time.

The restuarant itself is pretty small. I see how it can fill up quickly.

The two types of ramen that caught my eye earlier were: the Spicy Black Garlic (I’m sucker for all things spicy) and the Tsukemen aka Dipping Noodle. I haven’t seen much dipping noodle ramen options in Orange County. I’ve seen it on food vlogs but haven’t yet experienced it. Choices, choices, choices. Quite the food predicament of what to order. They also have a ramen + rice bowl combo which clearly I had to try as well.

I couldn’t decide which ramen to try so I asked the server which bowl was the most popular and they pointed out the Spicy Black Garlic. Sold! I also decided on combo-ing it with the Soboro Bowl. That poached egg was calling to me.

The Soboro Bowl

The Soboro Bowl came out first. A Soboro Bowl, for those that don’t know (including myself, I had to look it up) is a deep bowl dish of rice topped with a seasoned protein, in this instance ground chicken. Seasoned with a combination of soy sauce, mirin and ginger it’s generally topped with egg, this one being poached.

It’s a deep bowl with a lot of ground chicken and rice. The egg was poached perfectly while the green onion makes the bowl “pop” with color. It’s definitely a nice looking Soboro Bowl!

Breaking up the egg and mixing it into the seasoned crumbled meat and rice provides a further richness and creaminess to the side dish.

The Spicy Black Garlic Ramen

Soon after the Soboro bowl came out the bowl of ramen followed. The ramen is topped with four pieces of grilled pork, half an egg, green onion, and wood ear mushrooms.

Anytime I get a fresh bowl of ramen the first thing I have to do is get a nice spoonful of that broth. I chose the swirl as my base broth, a combination of the chicken and tonkatsu broths, which sounded too good to pass up. A spoonful of the broth delivered a real jolt of flavor.

The garlicky, peppery flavor with a hint of smokiness, and spice from the homemade chili oil, strikes the taste buds all at once. It’s defintely one of the most flavorful broths I’ve had. The spice level was moderate. They bring out a side of the chili oil so you can adjust the spice level to your liking.

The wavy noodles were al dente and fresh tasting while the pork pieces were tender with great flavor. The wood ear mushroom provided a different type of texture and crunch to each bite.

The Verdict

Overall this was a very enjoyable lunch and quite filling. The menu has some intriguing options that are different than the usual Tonkatsu broth joints around.

The Spicy Garlic Ramen and Soboro Bowl hit the right spot for me and certainly have provided me more options to think about when I’m craving ramen in the OC.

I look forward to going back to try the Dipping Noodles along with another one of the rice bowls in the near future!