Another new ramen place in Costa Mesa! Zetton Ramen, located in a tiny plaza behind “the Camp”, is one of the only new ramenya in Orange County to not specialize in tonkotsu ramen (that’s exciting news!). They serve a regular and kotteri versions of a shoyu or shio ramen, a spicy miso ramen, and a tsukemen, and that’s it. It’s about time someone tries to bring good shoyu ramen to the OC. The friendly and helpful waiter explained that the regular ramen broth is cooked for 4 hours, while the kotteri versions stew for 10 hours. Let’s try the kotteri!

The gyoza was tasty enough, with a good amount of meat and chives(?), and it’s not too garlicky, but it had an overly sour taste to it that I wasn’t crazy about.

The kotteri shoyu ramen comes with green onions, a slice of nori, some sesame seeds, and a thick bacon-like slice of chashu. I also opted for an egg. The egg had great texture and a lightly marinated flavor, but the yolk was hard. Ah well. The soup was rich and oily, and the noodles were al dente. Good stuff. I wished I would’ve started with the non-kotteri version. There’s always next time. The chashu was good! I usually prefer the fatty, melt-in-your-mouth chashu that some ramen houses have, but Zetton’s chashu was chewy without being tough, and flavorful.

Costa Mesa seems to be in the midst of a ramen explosion (more reviews to come in later weeks), and I’m happy to see a non-tonkotsu entry into the race. Service is top-notch and friendly, and I encourage everyone to check it out.

Ramen Zetton
735 Baker St., unit B
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
714-241-1625

Tues-Fri: 11:30am to 2:30pm, 5:30pm to 10:30pm
Sat: 11:30am to 3:30pm, 5:30pm to 10:30pm
Sun: 11am to 4pm

Cash only

5 thoughts on “ramen quick review: ramen zetton – costa mesa, ca”

  1. Hi Ed! I don’t know how I missed this post! I discovered them by chance today meaning to check out Ikko next door. I had the Kotteri Shoyu too. It’s subtle but nice and totally agree in that we need more places that serve a good shoyu. Looking forward in trying their tsukemen next.
    Have you checked out Iroha since it’s become permanent? Is it really as bad as Yelp says? haha. Hope to swing by maybe tomorrow to see for myself. Anyway hope you’re doing well!

    1. Hi Dennis, so how was Ikko? Yeah, I’ve been to Iroha at Torrance and Costa Mesa. Torrance was a bit better, but Costa Mesa’s is pretty good. Yeah, I kind’a doubt that what you get here is the same as the actual award winning ramen, but it’s good! If I don’t talk to you soon, Happy Holidays!

      1. Hi Ed! Still haven’t made it to Ikko. I’ve tried the tsukemen at Zetton since and unfortunately can’t recommend it but I really look forward in the Shio next. I’ve tried the Kuro Ramen at Iroha Gardena again too and it lost a lot of its impact. Maybe it was an off day but probably be a while before I try them again. Been enjoying more the Premium Shio and Shoyu at Yamadaya Costa Mesa. (the one in SD only serves tonkotsu.) Happy Holidays to you and your family too!

  2. Hi Ed,I just want to say that I’m glad to have ran into your blog via UrbanSpoon. I too have recently reviewed them on my blog (http://themetropolitanlounge.blogspot.com) as well although yours is certainly much better looking than mine. Agreeing with your comments, I’m glad that they have Kotteri Shoyu Ramen as well. As I’ve mentioned in my blog post, the Kotteri Shoyu ramen at Zetton completely resembles to the stuff I had in Tokyo. This is my favorite ramen in Orange County very much so due to their authenticity, even more so than say Santouka (gasp!). I feel that it’s crucial for others to know that they should order the Kotteri Shoyu ramen at Ramen Zetton as that seems to be the general consensus of what to get on Yelp. The Shio ramen is good as well but I still prefer shoyu over shio. I think I’ve overheard from the staff talking to a customer that with the Kotteri (Heavy) soups vs. their light counterparts is that they add more “redder” meats such as beef and pork whereas it’s chicken-based for the light soups. I’d double check with the staff just to make sure.

    To Dennis and Ed, I would highly recommend trying Ikko as it’s my favorite sushi restaurant in Orange County. The main suggestion I would advise anyone going to Ikko for the first time is to skip the omakase and order mostly sushi with maybe one or two appetizers. Their sushi is very traditional as they’re preseasoned by the chef which is why I love Ikko vs. the other sushi restaurants. However, The appetizers are fusion. What everyone raves about Ikko is their Uni. They get it fresh from Santa Barbara.

    Once again, thanks for your review!

    P.S. Please delete my other partially made comment as I was trying to log on midway in the comments selection, thanks.

    1. Hi, I like your review, and thanks for the great info. I’m also a shoyu ramen fan and I’m glad there’re more of us out there! And thanks for the tip on Ikko. That’s one of those places I’ve been wanting to go to but somehow haven’t gotten around to. I’ll be sure to try their Uni.

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