17 Cafe Ramen

For a place that has «Ramen» in the name, the ramen is not great. The broth lacks flavor and the noodles quality is subpar.
HOWEVER, their other dishes are pretty good! The Spicy Tofu Fish bento was delicious! The Black Pepper Chicken is also good. You get little side dishes and rice for a pretty decent price. A good place to get some Taiwanese style bentos without breaking the bank.
Just don’t come here if you want good ramen.

This is my favorite location after playing basketball at Irvine. I was sold when I found out their black tea ($ 1) comes with unlimited refills! It’s actually decent tea unlike Mickey D’s sugar water tea. The food here is average — its really complementary to the unlimited black tea after warm day of exercise. I guess my standard is a bit higher for taiwanese food, but the popcorn chicken combo in wooden basket is the only thing worth getting here!

I really enjoy this place, they do a good selection of ramen as well as curries, fried dishes and rice. Also, they offer a lot of the boba teas and similar milky creamy drinks. Unfortunately I’m lactose-​free so can’t try them, but I stare jealously at them going past.
If you’re a fan of spicy food, make sure to ask for the spicy oil, it really heats up the ramen.
One star off five as they can be really slow for such a small place, but it’s still somewhere I’d recommend for easy ramen. Avoid school lunch time, though. It suddenly becomes packed with noisy kids.

Yes, I am a fan of their crispy popcorn chicken. It is by far the best for me in Irvine. However, the price is relatively high too. It costs more than 6 dollars and others charge typically less than that!
Never try their ramen, will update after I got a chance!

The food was awesome. I have the spicy beef Ramen and the pork gyoza. Both did not disappoint. The food was good and hit the spot on a cold rainy day. Highly recommended!

4 stars is for the Taiwanese food. I’ve never thought of trying this place — I mean a name like 17 Café just doesn’t sound like a place that serves up great ramen. I was surprised when my friend recommended this restaurant for the Taiwanese food. I ordered their ramen and Taiwanese popcorn chicken on my first visit. The ramen wasn’t any good but the popcorn chicken did warrant a second visit.
Subsequently we always ordered the Taiwanese food and everything we’ve tried so far turned out good. I like that their food tastes homemade and feels less greasy than other places. Some of the items that we’ve found success with — the various kinds of fried rice, spicy fish fillet with tofu bento, black pepper fish fillet teppanyaki and the stir fried tofu with mushrooms.

It was a cold night and we ended up here having spicy beef ramen and chashu miso pork ramen with pork gyoza, fried tofu and popcorn chicken. Ramen tasted ok. The side dishes of food tasted better. I think the popcorn chicken was a little salty then maybe that is how it is suppose to taste. Gyoza always is good at any ramen place and the fried tofu was cooked nicely. Small little place.

This is my favorite restaurant in Irvine and I come here almost 4 times a week. Their food is absolutely fresh and you can actually tell the quality of ingredients they use, including the meat and the tea. The food is not too oily nor heavy taste. In addition, the friendly staff are very helpful on the order suggestion. Everything they recommended were delicious. I love their Mayo Chicken noodles, dandan noodles, beef with green onion, popcorn chicken and spicy chicken. I strongly recommend this restaurant if you are looking for some real Taiwanese food with good quality ingredients.

Avoid this ramen place. Got 3 orders of the pork chaysu ramen. Broth flavor was horrible and the pork was tough making me guess it wasnt cooked in the soup that long. The upside is the ramen broth wasnt oily. Will not come back again.

Ummm. Ramen is no bueno here. Very tasteless. Gave this place a 2 star because the popcorn chicken is ok. Will not be back.

Two words… Pepto Bismol
The fries were good, but if you have ever put green onions in a cup of noodles, you have tried their Ramen. I just want to lie down now.

Flavors are not for me. The smell of a dirty wet dog describes the smell and flavor of the miso soup base of their ramen. The noodles were okay I just couldn’t get over the smell and taste of the broth.
I dunno — if you’re going to open a ramen shop you better make sure you have good ramen. I would be better off with a $ 0.15 instant ramen package. Not worth my time, money or calories.
The fried chicken was flavorless. Customers are expected to dip their chicken into a barbecue sauce but a chicken should stand on his own too.
The workers that are nice and respectful but also aloof which lead to problems. Overall my experience wasn’t horrible, it just wasn’t good.

Taiwanese-​run restaurant pretending to serve ramen.
Fortunately you can skip the ramen and order the Taiwanese dishes instead, which, while less forgettable than the ramen, are still described as moderately mediocre at best. Popcorn chicken isn’t too bad, the pork and bamboo shoot plate is itty bitty pieces of pork that, while pretty decent, are so small you barely taste anything. The side bits of corn and pickled veggies are indifferent.
Wish it was even average, but then, I guess we can’t complain too much considering the area.

I wouldn’t give it five stars because of the junk music they play in there. Also I don’t give 5 stars unless it is just a flavorful aroma and ECSTASY.
Strawberry slush: this is just delicious. Bomb af. Flavorful, amazing. Sour and sweet balance perf. Boba adds a chewy taste to it. This is a 5 star.
Popcorn chicken: crispy and salty. Not the best I’ve had, 4 stars.
Sweet potato fries; I’m sorry. But just no. The salty taste is disturbing. It could’ve been good if it’s only the sweetness of the potato and the extra kick with the cocoa powder. They had to add salt. The salt doesnt go well with the sweet potato.
Spicy beef ramen: this is pretty good, like your average spicy beef ramen joint. Nothing special.
Friendly staff, but there was only one person working when I went. Nice location, they just gotta play different music

Although there is «Ramen» in the name of this place, it’s definitely not a Ramen joint. You’ll find maybe 5 ramen choices on the menu. It’s more of a Taiwanese café than a ramen restaurant.
I ordered the seafood ramen. Good portion and the noodles had great texture, not soggy at all and never became soggy. Broth had an overwhelming taste of bamboo, and wasn’t as thick as traditional ramen places.
Service wasn’t the best, but wasn’t completely terrible either. If you’re looking to satisfy your ramen craving, this isn’t the place to do it!

I knew there was a reason why I haven’t stepped foot into this place in the 10+ years I’ve been living in Irvine. It’s straight up terrible. Some of the worst Asian food I’ve had in a long time. How does this place still stay in business? I don’t get it. Service is really slow but friendly enough which is this place’s only saving grace because the food really is confusing and tasteless.
We ordered the Pork Chasu Ramen, Miso Pork Cutlet Ramen, and the fried Pork Chop Rice. Now, if there is the word RAMEN in your name, I expect the RAMEN to be good. This was not the case here. The broth was flavorless and reeked of MSG. On top of that, the broth was very salty which just made it very difficult to eat. The Miso Ramen was better than the Chasu Ramen simply because the miso created a different level of flavor. The Pork Cutlet however was very mediocre. The Fried Pork Chop Rice looked promising because it came in a cute wooden bowl and with three different sides. But the pork chop was mainly gristle and it was just terrible. In addition, the three minuscule portions of sides that actually was necessary in order to consume this pork chop? No refills so you better portion out those sides because you aren’t getting anymore.
I can’t see myself every coming back and I don’t understand anyone that voluntarily dines here. It’s expensive and flavorless. Never again! ¹⁄₅

This place is awesome! My husband and they were randomly in the neighborhood and wanted some good lunch.
He ordered the Chasu pork miso Ramen. The meat was so juicy and tender and the noodles good texture, chewy.
I got the bamboo shoot and braised pork belly. It tasted exactly the way my grandma used to make it! (In other words it was mind blowing) The fattiness of the pork and the flavor and everything was so good over steamed rice. I like how it came with a side 3 veggies (steamed cabbage, creamed corn, spicy tofu bits with chili 辣椒小炒）
The service was really good they kept checking up on us. You were starving so we’re glad the food came out really fast. There were older Taiwanese groups eating in there so you know it’s definitely legit :)

Chicken chop is great! However, working staff doesn’t seem to patient enough to brief the items on menu. I felt like being hurried to order what I don’t really know what I’m about to eat and drink…
Boba tea is really not that good. Boba is stiff, not chewy at all.

17 Café Ramen makes a decent bowl of noodles but seems to be suffering from some sort of identity crisis.
With the word «Ramen» in its billing and the fact it has survived in Irvine as long as it has, it would be understandable for one to assume that this would be a Japanese restaurant that specializes in… well… Ramen. Once inside you quickly realize that this is a Taiwanese owned restaurant and Ramen is more of an afterthought by the most recent owners who are going for some sort of Asian Fusion spin but felt constrained by tradition (if not the very name) to offer Ramen. I watched what others were ordering and noticed pseudo-​Japanese bento boxes that were really Taiwanese rice plates being placed in front of customers more often than not.
I had no clue as to what the hell to order. Since it was cold and overcast, I wanted Ramen and asked which was the most popular. Spicy Beef Ramen was the answer. «So on with it» I thought to myself and ordered just that.
The Spicy Beef Ramen was a no frills affair with an interesting broth: Deep, complex and savory with a spicy kick in its finish. I quite liked it actually. The portion of meat was a bit frugal for my taste as I could not find any more protein after just a few bites and the noodles were a touch undercooked and starchy. Complaints aside, Ramen is about the broth, and the broth was on point.
The prices at 17 Café Ramen are fair (roughly $ 9.00 a bowl), interior is clean and the staff seemed plenty friendly. No complaints on that criteria. It could be argued that I ordered Japanese in a Taiwanese Restaurant and I would have enjoyed some of their other options more had I tried them but with the dish I was seeking being in the actual name of the business, I thought I showed plenty of diligence in my choice here.
Would I return to try the Taiwanese in the future? Sure! Why not? The Ramen? Doubtful, although my lunch suited me just fine, Santouka is a mere 3 miles away.

I feel like the quality of food at 17 Café Ramen has gone way down since I last came here with the hubby.
My sister was visiting from out-​of-​town. I brought her here for lunch since no one at Thai Kitchen could be bothered with greeting us after we stood around for at least ten minutes looking like idiots.
My sister ordered the Tan Tan Ramen (Spicy Pork) and I ordered the Spicy Chicken Bento. Had I known that the chicken would be served breaded and fried, I definitely would have ordered something else. The gingery sauce was tasty albeit salty, but the chicken was much too oily and fatty for my liking. Sides included cold scrambled eggs (or maybe it was tofu?) swimming in sweet and sour sauce; cold, rubbery-​tasting diced mushrooms; and cold, bland mixed vegetables consisting of broccoli, carrots and cabbage. For what it’s worth, my sister liked her ramen and said she would order it again. The dish came with a side of steamed gyoza which were edible and satisfying.
3 stars for the friendly and accommodating waitstaff. Furnishings and décor are modern with earthy tones. Also, the dining area and restroom were both clean.
One interesting (read: bizarre) incident that occurred while we dined here: some lady walked in her with her son (he looked about nine years old) and went to every occupied table asking/​requesting/​begging for money. She had a cardboard sign that read «My husband lost his job and we need money for food.» My ever observant hairstylist sister was quick to point out that the son was sporting a sleek-​looking mohawk with various colors in it that couldn’t have been cheap. 17 Café Ramen should post a «No Soliciting» sign in front of its restaurant if it hasn’t already.