Slurp Worthy: Best Asian Noodles in Southern California

If you've been following this blog, this is one of several posts (I will link the others at the end) dedicated to noodles. Simply put, I love noodles and all their variations across global cuisine. This post is dedicated to Asian noodle dishes at excellent restaurants in Southern California.

Menya Ultra (Japanese)

Menya Ultra opened its first ramen shop in Odate, Akita Japan in 1994. (Read more about ramen here). Between 1997 - 2016, Menya Ultra opened another 10 ramen shops in Japan and Taiwan, winning multiple prizes including "Most Popular Stall" and "Best Seller" (7,644 bowls of ramen) at the Tokyo Ramen Show.

Miso Ramen

In 2017, Menya opened its first U.S. location in San Diego, California where I shared an incredible lunch with family and came to understand why this restaurant is so popular. In ordering, we decided to try both sides of the ramen spectrum, from creamy to spicy, and share both.

Our first bowl of ramen was a Menya Ultra classic, the miso ramen. It is made with a secret pork broth recipe, house made miso, fish and garlic oil, one slice of pork chashu, bean sprouts, julienned green onions, wood ear mushrooms, grated ginger, roasted sesame seeds and red pepper. It is rich and velvety.

Spicy Tonkatsu Ramen

Next, we moved to the spicy side of the spectrum with the spicy tonkatsu ramen. This ramen also starts with a secret, house made pork broth. To that, soy sauce, fish oil, one slice of pork chashu, bean sprouts, green onion, wood ear mushroom and roasted sesame seeds are added.

What makes Menya Ultra so special is their home made noodles and signature soup that is silky with a rich, umami flavor. Owner, Takashi Endo has said his goal in opening U.S. locations, is to introduce high quality ramen to American palates. If you want to try Menya Ultra, you will have to visit one of their three San Diego locations. Soon however, Endo will be expanding the chain and heading up the West Coast of California.

Yuchun (Korean)

Yuchun

Craving noodles on a hot day, but don't want something warm? You have options. One of my favorites is naengmyeon, a cold noodle dish from Korea. My favorite place to enjoy it? That would be at Yuchun in Los Angeles because this restaurant's preparation most closely replicates the delicious naengmyeon that I enjoyed in South Korea.

Secret Recipe Sipping Broth

First, Yuchun starts you off with a thimble of some kind of sipping broth that for me, is the embodiment of umami.

Bibim Naengmyeon

I enjoy the spicy naengmyeon at Yuchun, but if you don't like heat, there are other versions you can order.

The spicy noodles are served in a cold, beef broth and when I say cold, the broth can be downright slushy. It's an amazing contrast when you enjoy this dish on a sweltering day. The noodles are topped with sliced beef, vegetables, sesame, egg, and spicy, red sauce that also has sweet, tangy and savory elements.

The noodles in naengmyeon are traditionally made of buckwheat, sweet potato starch or arrowroot, which is how they are made at Yuchun. They remind me of the texture of rice noodles with a little more bite and flavor.

To enjoy naengmyeon, mix up all the ingredients so the noodles are well coated and each bite incorporates the distinct textures and flavors of the different elements in the dish.

Súp Noodle Bar (Vietnamese)

Súp Noodle Bar, started in 2014, has two Southern California locations in Buena Park and Irvine. Súp is a Northern Vietnamese-style restaurant and was the first project by Kei Concepts. Since then, the group has opened almost ten other restaurants including the Michelin-rated Gem Dining in Fountain Valley, California.

Golden Bao

While Súp advertises themselves as a Vietnamese restaurant, there are other dishes and influences on the menu including Cajun, Chinese and Cuban. This bao bun is one example of the Chinese influence. It is Súp's interpretation of traditional bao.

The bun is lightly crispy on the outside and stuffed with ground pork shoulder, caramelized onions, mushroom, hard boiled egg and Chinese sausage on the inside.

Garlic Chicken Wings

Before moving on to the noodles, we also tried Sup's crispy, fried, chicken wings tossed in black pepper and minced garlic, and garnished with parsley.

Anthony Bourdain Pho

Now onto the noodles, of which we chose two types. The first was the pho featuring wok-seared scallions, red onions and minced garlic with rare filet mignon and flat rice noodles.

Sound a little different than the pho you're accustomed to? This dish was inspired by Anthony Bourdain's visit to Vietnam and is definitely a departure from traditional pho that includes tripe, bo vien (meatballs), brisket and tendon. For my less adventurous readers, this is a very approachable pho made with a flavorful broth and filet mignon that melts in your mouth.

Accompaniments

It comes with the traditional accompaniments including bean sprouts, fresh jalapeños, lime and basil, but Súp also includes a side of pickled jalapeños and garlic, which are great additions to the soup.

Rib Eye Cajun Garlic Noodle

We ended our meal with the rib eye and cajun garlic noodles. The ribeye steak was cooked to a medium rare and placed on top of wheat noodles that were tossed with butter, garlic, and a secret cajun sauce. The whole dish was topped with scallions and served with aji sauce, radish and lime.

Sen Thai Noodle Bar (Thai)

Sen Thai Noodle Bar

Representing Thailand in this post is Sen Thai Noodle Bar, located in Orange County. You won't find all your typical Thai rice dishes here because this restaurant specializes in noodles. In fact, I learned that the word "sen" is the term commonly used to describe rice noodles in Thailand.

Leng Saap

I chose to order Sen's leng saap which is a spicy soup. The broth is flavored by searing and then boiling pork bones and adding Thai chilis, lime and scallions. In that broth you will find large, succulent pieces of pork that fall off the bone.

Rice Noodles

Sen serves its rice noodles on the side. I love this. It prevents the noodles from becoming soggy and it allows you to add only as many as you want.

This soup is on the sour side which I really enjoyed, but if that's not a flavor you are fond of, I suggest trying something different. Sen's menu offers a wide variety of soups, some with meat, others with seafood, different noodle options and each dish has a customizable spice level.

A & J (Taiwanese)

Last in this post is A & J restaurant, featuring Taiwanese dishes. This hole-in-the-wall restaurant located in Irvine, always has a line for a reason. Everything on the menu is delectable!

Spicy Wontons

My favorite items are the cucumber salad, the fried pork chop, the scallion pancakes and these spicy wontons stuffed with pork, but none of those are noodle dishes so I will save them for a future post.

Pork and Tomato Noodles

For this post, I will talk about A & J's minced pork noodles that are served in a tangy tomato sauce.

The best way to describe this dish is to say it is a Taiwanese spaghetti. I am told that the meat sauce is made in almost all Taiwanese households and served over either rice, or noodles, as it is at A&J. In terms of flavor, take your traditional Italian tomato sauce, omit the garlic and olive oil and substitute Chinese five spice mix, light and dark soy sauce, black vinegar and a touch of brown sugar.

All the noodle dishes above are on my list of comfort foods and they are indeed slurp worthy. I hope you'll try them at one of these restaurants and that when you do, you'll enjoy them as much as I do.