The Piece de Resistance

Santouka Ramen

665 Paularino Ave.

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

The time has finally come to fully explore what it means to be covetous. I mean, what could possibly make a person wish they were me or wish they were with me in Southern California eating $6.00 bowls of noodle soup amidst a bustling and crowded Japanese style food court?

In short, two words: Santouka Ramen.

In the inhospitable landscape of So Cal tract housing, strip malls and crowded, poorly-designed freeways, there exists a small and unassuming refuge by the name of Mitsuwa Mall. Here, you can find Japanese food and products of all kinds. The Mitsuwa Market is a supermarket that offers everything from produce and meat to Japanese snacks and beverages including Dakara, a more tasty version of his favorite beverage, Pocari Sweat, which can also be found here. (It kind of tastes like sweat. I kid you not.)

Nestled in the bustling central food court of Mitsuwa is Santouka Ramen, indisputably the best Ramen place this Asian couple has found yet. We have so far been to two Santoukas- both of course inside of Mitsuwa malls. The first is in Costa Mesa and the second is in Torrance. Both serve up hot, steaming, salty, porky bowls of deliciously fulfilling ramen. Both offer atmosphere- bamboo furniture, Japanese business men in fine tailored suits, a mini pavilion in which to eat tatami-style. (The pavilion exists in only the Torrance location.) And both are no frills, cheap thrill type establishments.

Only have a credit card? Too bad, you can't eat here. Want to take your bowl to-go? Too bad, you can't do that here. Want extra soup or noodles? You're in the wrong place, idiot. Don't you get it?

This place does not need you, nor does it need me, for that matter. Santouka Ramen is an institution and it covets no one. It serves Ramen Perfection- tender pork, perfectly made noodles shipped from Japan, and hearty, hot, unfiltered broth. (Rameniac explains the history and particularities of Santouka's regional ramen style thoroughly well.) What do I mean by unfiltered? Well, their broth has substance. Small bits of pork fat float in it. You cannot see through it. Sipping a spoonful feels like swallowing a subtropical developing nation. It is hot in there and people of all ages are busy working 12 hours in a factory with no air conditioning. The air is thick with humidity and the day is overcast. Wood fires are burning. God, do you sweat.

But this is as it should be.

With a small bowl of ramen you get 1 large piece of fall-to-pieces-in-your-mouth pork; a larger bowl offers at least 2 slices. You have the choice of ordering the shoyu, miso or shio broth, although I recommend the always reliable shoyu. Santouka also offers meal sets- a bowl of ramen with ikura over rice and a hard boiled egg, for instance- to accomodate the extra famished. Get in line, fight for a table in the court, wait for your number to be called, and then go get your blue bowl of This is What Dreams are Made of Ramen. After you finish, you will be thinking about it for days.

Just look at it. What's not to covet?

Having Santouka is better than having a new i-phone or having that new Philip Lim dress at the Co-op or having a boyfriend that other girls may want. Santouka gives me reliable satisfaction,(yes, that kind of satisfaction).

So there, covetous bitches.