Hakata Ikkousha

The ramen is absolutely amazing.
Dear God, just let me eat this forever!
Tonkotsu all the way. The gyoza doesn’t taste frozen, it tastes damn amazing! I’m used to eating crappy ones.
Menu is a little weird but even as a first timer, you can figure it out.

First time here and I was extremely satisfied! Came on a Thursday around 6pm and sat right down. Parking is tight so try to come not during peak hours and take advantage of the complementary valet.
Now to the ramen…
I ordered god fire level 1 and it was fantastic! A strong rival to Yamadaya level 1 but with better, richer flavor. The broth was delicious and the normal noodles were just how I like them. I added an egg because… duh. The service was awesome– very quick and helpful. I also like how they have fresh garlic, ginger, pepper, water and many other condiments fully stocked at your table. This is helpful so you don’t have to keep asking your server for things. My girlfriend got the black tonkatsu and that was tasty too! A little thick for my taste but good nonetheless.
If you are a tonkatsu lover like me and are in south county I would definitely give it a shot. I know I’ll be back.

You order their ramen using a sushi sheet. I ordered the black tonkatsu. We were told that the soup is black because of garlic. The garlic I’ve eaten is not black, so the black soup is still freaky. I also ordered premium toppings which includes 3 extra slices of char su and a soft boiled egg for $ 4 more. Portions were too small for the price. They have condiments galore which occupied about 30% of the table. Thirsty as heck after eating here, so there is MSG in their broth. Don’t think I’ll ever come back since Santouka is literally down the street at Mitsua. Better value there.

The ramen here is sooo good! One of the best I’ve ever tasted. The God Fire Ramen savory and rich! Love their spicy pickles veggied and ginger. Both are fresh, tasty and compliment the ramen well. I also want to come back and try their Tonkotsu Black Garlic Ramen. Heard it’s delicious!
The ramen comes with 1 large piece of pork chatsu, which is pretty lean. I kinda like it a little fattier, like half fatty and half lean; but it was good nonetheless. The egg was delicious! It wasn’t cut in half for you, so I had to cut it with my spoon. I really love love LOVE their spicy pickles veggies! I ate it with every bite of ramen… it’s addicting! When ordering, I like how you can choose light or regular broth (saltier), soft or hard noodles, etc. The premium toppings adds 3 more large pieces of pork chatsu and 1 egg. Highly recommend!
I got the God Fire Ramen, Level 3 Spiciness, with Premium Topping. If you want spicy, this ramen is the business! Spicy, savory, and indulgent. However, for normal people, they recommend getting Level 2 Spicy! I’m just a spicy beast lol! Eat at your own risk. :)

Firstly this place is in the same plaza with Halal Guys and Creamistry! And I’m sure ya’ll know how poppin’ this plaza gets on the weekends /​during peak times. I came here on a Friday night during the peak dinner time and it was a MESS to find parking. They do offer valet parking but I decided to just keep circling around for a bit and eventually found parking.
The wait was not that bad. After signing in we were behind just 1 other table for a party of four. To order you get a paper and pen to check off your choices of ramen, appetizers, toppings, and add ons. This seemed to be really efficient and made ordering and receiving our food efficient.
Onto the ramen, ORDER THE BLACK TONOKOTSU, TRUST ME YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE JUST LIKE I DID AND NOW I CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT. My friends all went with other choices because they weren’t too sure with the black tonokotsu and they ALL WERE SUPER JEALOUS OF ME BECAUSE IT WAS SO BOMB. Okay sorry for all the caps but it seemed necessary for this review. Anyways my friends got the regular tonokostu and the spicy one but after trying my creamy garlic broth they were really sad they didn’t order it themselves.
I was very hungry on this particular night and decided to just treat myself and got the premium toppings. The ramen itself does come with chasu and other toppings but when adding on the premium toppings you get extra chasu and egg as well. It was the best decision I’ve made thus far and I savored every bite of it. I will definitely be back very soon.

Came here on a Sunday for lunch and there were already a few people on the list ahead of us but surprisingly we didn’t have to wait that long to be seated. There is an order sheet where you can customize your ramen to your liking (taste, noodle texture, green onions, toppings and sides)
There were several broths to choose from and they all looked good. My boyfriend went with the Black Tonkostu and I got the Mentaiko Tonkostu. We also tried their Gyoza and 1 piece of the Fried Chicken.
We went with the one piece of fried chicken since we also ordered the gyoza. Even though it was only one piece, that piece of chicken was huge! It was cooked perfectly, tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. The chicken was a little under seasoned though, it could have used some salt. The gyoza was good, it had a nice crispy bottom and had flavor. The Mentaiko Tonkotstu ramen was good at first, not too spicy. but then it started to get overwhelmingly salty as I kept eating. I tried some of the Black Tonkostu which had good flavor and I think I prefer that over the Mentaiko. The noodles were a little overcooked to be considered «hard» noodle texture, which was disappointing.
Overall though, the food was good and service was excellent. I will definitely be coming back again to try some of the other ramen broths!

4.5 but with pretty good potential to be 5!
I got super lucky with my timing: no wait and found a parking spot on my first try in this scary packed plaza. The restaurant is pretty small too since a line quickly formed after we were seated. The ordering style is interesting as they mark each table’s spot, like A-​1 or A-​2, which prevents them from mixing up orders. You use an order sheet to mark what you want, so even less room for errors!
I got the Mentaiko Tonkotsu Ramen, since I’ve never seen anything like that before. I got extra green onions (because why wouldn’t you?!) and split an egg order. Egg was pretty much perfect and the broth was delicious. It had that mentaiko taste without it being weird or overwhelming and they definitely made it work! The pork chashu was good and fatty, but it wasn’t the best I’ve had.
Overall, I left happy and satisfied without being too stuffed into food coma heaven, and I’ll have to try other broths next time I go!

If you get the «God Fire,» prepare to have your taste buds up in flames. I wanted to try mine on a «Level 3» (just because I felt a bit bold), but the waitress told me that anything above a «Level 2» would be considered «too hot,» and they will able to send me some extra «spicy sauce» on the side, so I won’t have to deal with the extra «flames» inside my soup. So, I restrained myself, and went for the «Level 1» with the spicy pickled veggies, and man, was it GOOD.
After going to Daikokuya in Monterey Park for a while, I thought that Hakata just blew that place out of the water for a couple of reasons: 1) The location is closer to my house, so I won’t have to deal with the 30 – 40 min. drive from the OC, and 2) The soup [at Hakata] doesn’t taste as oily as the one in Daiko. You get a «numbered» table and a menu slip, and you write your table number on the slip as you put in your order so the waitress (and the chef) won’t get confused on whose order is whose (which I though is pretty smart of Hakata). I saw on another person’s table that they had the fried chicken, but that will have to be saved for another day. :)
⁵⁄₅ stars for both the food and the service. Sorry, Daikokuya — you’re done with the chapter in my foodie book. :P

— Locale Destination —
It’s on Bristol St and Paularino Ave in Costa Mesa.
It’s in the shopping (I should say it’s more like restaurant) plaza, next to «Anjin» (Japanese BBQ).
Ambiance: Simple, modern, casual
Service: Standards. Quick.
Parking: plenty but they got so many restaurants now (Halal Guy, izakaya Hachi, Northshore Poke Co is coming etc.), so carpool!
Menu: Relatively big on ramen varieties. The gyoza and fried chicken were supposed to be their own unique items. I wanna try gyoza next time.
Ordering ramen: Either you mark on the paper at your table, or the server does it for you.
1. Pick the ramen you want
2. Pick the saltiness (Go «normal»)
3. Pick how much «green onions» you want (Go «Extra»)
4. Pick the softness of noodle (I think «normal» is good)
— Gluttony Expedition —
Fried chicken: Relatively big, but 1 piece for $ 3. A bit overpriced yet it got quality and taste. Not frozen meat, yet real quality chicken like high-​end «jidori» shouldn’t smell «chicken». However, its skin was so crispy, not greasy, seasoning on the batter and one for dipping were quite tasty, the meat was juicy. Well done.
Black sesame & garlic «Tonkotsu» ramen
: the garlic wasn’t that overwhelmed as I expected. Traditionally you put lots of grated garlic and red ginger pickles in Tonkotsu ramen (though they already put garlic in it). But most places don’t offer those toppings on their tables in CA. This place is the only place where actually put red gingers (and spicy takana pickles) on the tables. I’m not sure the black sesame works on it, yet the soup had full of flavors. It’s a bit heavy, almost too heavy/​thick for my like. I prefer a bit lighter one yet it was tasty. Less topping works on this broth. Simply lots of green onions and red gingers — that’s all you need. The noodle (I chose «normal») wasn’t bad. The chashu was thin sliced. Compared to the broth quality, it was meh. Good portion. Very good ramen overall. I wanna try their standard salt Tonkotsu next time.
— Conquerors’s Deduction —
Finally a good quality ramen in CA!
This is the best «Tonkotsu» ramen in OC.
Not the best one in my life — I see these high quality ones a lot in Japan. This is definitely a kick ass ramen in CA.
The levels of quality and taste are far better than «Yamadaya», «Santoka», «Zetton» etc. Those places are definitely on the different (lower) level compared to this ramen. This ramen finally shows a hint of «real» ramen standards in Japan. Ramen in Japan is considered as a well established dish. Stand alone dish — the competitions are so fierce, so many styles depending on the areas in Japan, hence the flavors and its quality are super refined. Ramen in Japan is like «WOW».
It’s a bit heavy for me, yet good quality ramen as a whole for sure. Their standards are pretty high and very unusual for ramen in CA.
Bye bye «Yamadaya». Hello to «Ikkosha».
Finally good ramen in CA!

This place is located in the same plaza as Anjin, and there is generally plenty of parking whenever I go. When entering the waitress showed us the various different ramen options, and told us that the most popular ones were the Tonkotsu Black and the God Fire Ramen.
I ended up choosing the Tonkotsu Black with a flavored egg. The broth of the Tonkotsu Black itself was rather nice, but it was missing a bit of flavor for me. I ended up adding some of the minced garlic on the table which made the broth taste much better. The noodles were great though, and the pork slices were good, albeit little without adding more.
The flavored egg was both good and bad. The good part was that it was cooked really well, when I bit into it, the yolk was still slightly runny, which is just the way I love my ramen eggs. The drawback though was that it wasn’t very well flavored, and I couldn’t really taste soy or anything else besides egg.
They also provide a pickle like cabbage, along with ramen sauce which was kind of like salty water, and a few other items that I didn’t really try.
Overall a decent ramen place, though the flavoring had to be adjusted with garlic to make it enjoyable for me.

I’ll admit that I’ve been a fan of Yokohama Ie-​kei style ramen ever since my Japanese-​born roommate introduced me to ramen from his region. However, Hakata style ramen is pretty good too! It’s actually kinda growing on me (shhhhh don’t tell lol).
From what I’m told, Hakata style ramen is anything but subtle. The broth is made from pork bones and boiled for hours to ensure an intensely rich and milky broth. Additionally, toppings such as pickled mustard greens, crushed garlic, pickled ginger, and crushed sesame seeds are left table side for you to strengthen the ramen to your liking.
The process is pretty simple at Kakata Ikkousha. On the order form, indicate which soup that you want, the broth intensity, noodle texture, green onion amount, toppings, extras, and table number. I tend to go with stiff noodles, extra green onion, and premium topping (3 pieces cha-​su, 1 egg).
I’ve had the pleasure of trying their Black Garlic ramen and the God Fire Level 2 ramen. I somewhat enjoyed the black garlic ramen (
). Though black garlic is meant to be a little subtle, I think it wasn’t intense enough for me as I love that garlic flavor. What I really enjoyed was the God Fire ramen (
)! Their tonkotsu ramen is topped with some appropriately named «fire oil» based on what heat level you choose (1 – 4) and adorned with cha-​su, wood ear mushrooms, and scallions. I opted for level 2 just to feel things out. The broth wasn’t terribly spicy but it was hotter than what I expected from anything called «level 2.“The cha-​su was lean and thinly sliced and my egg was perfectly runny in the middle. I decided to add extra mustard greens and garlic and that really added to the complexity of my ramen! They also provided a small bottle of «ramen sauce» which was some sort of secret salty flavoring. Not bad but I’d limit that to a few squirts. Also, I prefer my noodles to have a bit more bite and the ones over here were not as stiff as I’d like.
Service was pretty good and people checked up on us often. They also answered any questions we had so that was cool.
All in all, I really enjoyed my experiences at Hakata Ikkousha and will be back next time I’m craving soup that can roundhouse kick my tastebuds! haha

HOT DAYUM! I love me some delicious ramen! *
My friend and I came here for lunch and there was a bit of a wait (not too bad). We were seated and there’s a order sheet for you and a guest and you write down your order, the type of noodles you want (soft, normal, hard), how strong the broth you want (light, normal) and any premium toppings or sides.
I read about their famous black Tonkotsu ramen, which is basically pork bone based broth with tons of black garlic oil! So I got that and man the broth is very very flavorful. I kind of regret it, but I couldn’t finish it all because I got too full. The bamboo shoots, green onions, and the ramen were very yummy along with the chashu.
If you want the flavorful egg, you’ll need to pay an extra $ 1.50 for 1 full egg. If you want to split it with a friend, make sure you ask them beforehand to cut the egg, otherwise it comes in a full egg in your bowl. Unfortunately the egg counts as a premium topping.
But other than that, service is friendly and pretty quick with the food. The ramen tastes great. Prices are reasonable and there’s plenty of parking. Would come here again and try their other ramen! =)

The Mentaiko ramen is soooooo good! It’s a must try since not many places here serve this type of ramen! It truly is unique! It’s a nice flavoring, not too spicy, and very tasty! It does have a lot of oil in it, so be prepared for that. The soup does congeal if it sits there, mainly because I think the broth is just soooo creamy. Otherwise the food is pretty solid.
I would put this alongside Shinsengumi as one of my favorite ramen spots, but it is slowly but surely replacing SSG!
The egg here is utterly amazing and extremely well cooked. One of the best cooked eggs anywhere this side of town:)! Easily!
The method of ordering is a little awkward since you have to write down your table # which is a little odd to me, but I guess it’s their system.

We came here on Sunday for lunch. The place is very small. Not a good idea if you have a large group like 5 or more people.
We waited about 10 mins for a table. I like their menu which offered fried chicken and Goyza.
We ordered the tonkotsu, shio tonijotsu and the Black tonijotsu. The ramen here is pretty good. I like the texture of the firm noodle here. The flavor egg is good too.
Service here is pretty average. They are friendly and helpful.
Price: $ 8-​$ 9 a bowl. It is expensive for the amount of noodle and 1 piece of meat that you get for a bowl of ramen.
It is a good place for lunch. We will be back again.

We were craving ramen so we came to this place because my roommate tried it here not too long ago and said it was good! It was a Friday night so we had about a 20 minute wait.
I got the God Fire Ramen and my friend got the black tonkotsu ramen and we also shared the Gyoza. The gyoza is not worth the price and I wouldn’t order it because it was whatever. I got the level 2 for the god fire and it was pretty freakin spicy if I might say so myself. I drank all my water and it was so hard to get the attention of the server for more water (which is weird considering how small this place is). The poached egg is really good and I would recommend it as well, although mine was on fire because it was so spicy.
I wouldn’t really come here again because it was more of a one try kind of thing, but it was a pretty good first experience. It’s just that the service wasn’t that great.

When I sat down at «Ikkousha», I had no idea that the restaurant was part of the Hakata Ikkousha ramen restaurant chain, one of which I had visited at Kyoto Station in Japan last year. The bold kanji of the menu instantly looked familiar and I knew I was in good hands.
Instead of ordering the regular Tonkotsu Ramen I had last time, I decided to try the Black Tonkotsu Ramen and fell instantly in love.
With a combination of black sesame and garlic, the black tonkotsu broth is smooth, savory, and rich without tasting too salty or oily. It’s also a testament to the thin noodles and thin chashu pieces Hakata Ikkoushu serves up that both can soak up the broth really well and that the amount of green onions added is just perfect. As usual, I also always judge a ramen restaurant partially on how well they can do a half cooked egg — although Ikkousha doesn’t serve it up in two pieces and instead in one whole piece, the egg definitely contains some delicious gooey goodness in its yolk.
It’s worth mentioning that service is also responsive and friendly here and the store is spacious and well lit compared to many ramen places I’ve been to. It’s also worth noting that Hakata Ikkousha is located at the same plaza Halal Guys and Creamistry have recently opened so parking can be hard to find during peak hours. Costa Mesa is lucky to get a excellent ramen restaurant that reaffirms the city as the OC’s to go place for ramen goodness.

Oh man, the ramen here really hits the spot!– Super authentic, and they have so many locations in Japan!
I love how you have an «order sheet» where you indicate/​mark which ramen you want, and all the fixings. The cool part is that you can specify how hard/​soft, and how light you would like your noodles/​broth.
I tried the BLACK GARLIC TONKOTSU ramen here during the first visit. What’s cooler than a bowl of black ramen broth? The savory pork broth infused with the black garlic is delicious! Black garlic is super ‘garlicky’ like your typical garlic, so don’t expect a super garlicky flavor. The PORK CHASHU here is super tender, not too fatty, and sliced thin. I love that they offer bamboo shoots, and I freakin’ love the flavored egg here! Cooked to perfection– YOLK PORNNN.
The regular TONKOTSU ramen is also on point! You can taste the pork flavor in the broth more than the black garlic ramen, so this was a nice change.
The GYOZA here is cooked perfectly– super crispy skin, and piping hot on the inside.
A bit pricier than your average ramen if you go HAM on the toppings, but well worth it!

The TONKOTSU BLACK RAMEN ($ 8.90) got me curious. Imagine garlic based broth that’s creamy, almost feels like silk coating your mouth but not in an unctuous way, plus the black color of the soup that makes this bowl downright special. As hearty as it would seem, sodium-​conscious people will appreciate the moderate amount they add here compared to other ramen places out there. I hate to admit I have a salty tooth. A dash or two more of salt would have made this perfection. But that’s just me. Oh hey, let’s not forget the tender chashu pork, green onions, and chewy wood ear mushrooms that made this bowl more exciting. Noodles are thin with your choice of soft, normal, or hard. Go for the hard! For that ‘umph’ factor, add the soft boiled egg for an extra $ 1.50. You’ll know it’s money well spent when you see the beautiful yellow yolk ooze out.
Service was quick and attentive. Order is placed by filling out the paper at your table and your server will confirm everything before turning it in to the kitchen. It’s a small place so try to get here before the lunch rush.
Happy to have found another contender to my favorite ramen joints in OC. Looking forward to trying the GOD FIRE ramen next time I’m here.

I love this place. My boyfriend and I have come here twice, and we are obsessed with the black tonkatsu ramen, which is very heavily garlic based. I love garlic so we were a match made in heaven. The broth is creamy and flavorful. The noodles have a great bite to them (if you order hard). I love hard noodles. I love having that bite. It’s not for everyone, which is why this place is great because they allow you to choose.
My boyfriend and I always order the gyoza when we come here. They are amazing. They’re bite sized and the skin is very thin. It’s absolutely delicious. I liked the fried chicken but it’s not the best I’ve ever had. I tried it the first time we went and didn’t order the second time.
Ramen Yamadaya used to be my favorite ramen place but after discovering this place, I fell in loooooveee! That black tonkatsu broth is to die for. My last visit to Ramen Yamadaya was a little disappointing so I was ecstatic to get some quality ramen. My boyfriend and I had come here just before the holidays. We went up to Norcal for the final leg of my winter break and I was dreaming about this place the entire time. I begged him to come here again but the last time we tried to come here, it was crazy packed, but luckily, we were able to stop by last night.
Love this place!

3.5 stars but I’ll round up :)
I came here with my friend to celebrate a special occasion on a Monday evening around 6.45pm. This place was mostly empty, so I’m glad I didn’t have to hear or see any of the «long lines» that I read about elsewhere. We immediately got a table and realized that yeah, you can’t really seat too many people here o-​o. Plus, the parking lot does not fit the demand of the restaurants that are in the plaza.
You get an order sheet and you already also have a table # sticker on your side of the table. Put your side and fill out the order sheet!
They have tonkotsu, shio miso or tonkotsu, miso, black tonkotsu, and god fire. I looked at god fire and I was like. yeah I don’t really do spicy too well so I don’t really think I could handle it. So I chose something else that was different. Black tonkotsu, where you have garlic paste broth in it (according to my friend who I dined with). I was like awww but I want to see black ramen! Nope haha. They have black ear mushroom, cha shu and green onions as well.
After figuring out what you want your base to be, choose a taste: Light or normal.
Then, a noodle texture. Soft, medium, or hard.
Do you want green onions?
Extra toppings! What do you want?
I decided to get an extra 3 pieces of cha shu for $ 3 (yeah expensive) but you can also choose to get the wonderful premium toppings for $ 6. They’ll make your bowl pretty and more filling!
Then you have a side menu (gyoza) and rice bowl (donburis) if you choose to get em.
So I got me the black tonkotsu. Hearing that sounds like it’s hideous. But it’s not! In fact, I decided to add even more garlic as it makes it taste even better (til you eat single pieces of garlic). The ramen wasn’t the best I’ve had (I still like Shin Sen) but it was decent for here. The black tonkotsu broth was good for me: D Who don’t like garlic + pork together? :D And after, I got even more extra noodles because I like extra noodles. :3 Save the cha shu in case you do want to get more noodles! :)
All in all, something interesting that they have displayed in black tonkotsu and the god fire, but at the end, it’s still «decent» for me. Service goes by quickly and you can raise your hand to get their attention. Waiting for the ramen was the hard part (about 15 minutes).
To other ramen places we go!