I don't know ipse, when was the last time you dined in OC?

OC Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese food probably best SD comfortably. Mexican is probably SD's strength but does it destroy the Mexican food in Santa Ana? Doubt it.

As for high end, Italian, or French, which ones in SD do you think destroys OC?

OC has Shuck oyster bar doing 15 types of osyters including belon, Pizzeria Ortica for Neapolitan pizza and fresh pasta, Pizzeria Mozza, Playground which is doing good gastro pub/cal cuisine stuff along with $180-$250 Chef's tastings at IO, Marche Moderne for classic French, excellent Cuban in Bella Cuba (way better than what Versailles is offering LA), excellent Peruvian food in Cass Inka...the list goes on and on.

Sorry to offer a multi city perspective again, but I wouldn't write off OC in OC vs SD so readily. Looks like SDians don't even think SD beats OC.

Next to Ikko. Just behind/before Mesa.

I know right? Haven't tried it yet. Maybe today. Very curious.

The Margherita is my favorite. Sometimes I'll add spicy salumi to it depending on mood. The alla Norma is also very good.

During lunch, the mortadella sandwich is excellent. Great bread, cold cuts, slaw. Like the godmother at Bay Cities but more refined and every bit as tasty.

Round 2 today.

-Pork Shoyu. Very good. Not as salty as the shio but still a bit too salty for me. Will have to try ask ask for light salt next time.

-Chicken Shio. Rich stuff. Pretty much the same richness as the pork. Again, a touch too salty for me.

-Tsukemen. Again outstanding. The broth is very different from the pork shoyu. Complex, great fish brininess. Wish I could get a bowl of regular ramen with this broth. I asked about the noodles and they said it was made with tapioca. Don't think I've ever had tapioca ramen.

Eggs were better today. Custardy and liquid center.

Definitely my favorite OC ramen for now.

I did just get a lead on a place called Meiji Seimen that supposedly does good udon and ramen just down the street. Will look into that later this week.

Nothing was advance order. Turnover is so high and everyone seemed to be ordering it.

A lot of people also seemed to be ordering the braised fish tail in brown sauce.

Dinner was only $40pp after tip. No comped desserts. Too stuffed anyways. Couldn't even finish the pork and pan fried buns. There were plenty of other larger tables ordering excessively though so maybe they did :-)

You still consistently recommend MLV for Shanghainese food and XLB. These days, it really lags behind the competition.

Where else do you usually go for Shanghai cuisine?

Boggles my mind you still prefer MLV over this and SN1.

Literally every table was packed by 630pm so they are crushing it.

Different strokes for different folks I guess ;-)

Thanks to TonyC for this one. Better than Shanghai No. 1 at every dish except for the pan fried buns. Every table was packed by 630pm on Saturday.

We had:

-Trio of medicinal soups. Duck, chicken, and squab. The duck and chicken were the favorites.

-Crab XLB. A bit leaky but still filled with plenty of juice. Similar to J&J but with a much thinner wrapper.

-Pan fried buns. Only real miss. Same as your average pan fried buns anywhere in LA. No soup on the inside. Easily better at SN1.

-Braised pork. Pretty F-ing awesome. Really flavorful. Fattier and more tender than the SN1 version. Real winner.

-Crab with rice cake. Also much more flavorful than the SN1 version. Crab was very fresh. Ended up with 3 claws. Odd.

-Sautéed pea leaves. Very tender. Not too oily. Well done.

Service as attentive as Elite or Sea Harbour. 2 bottles, no corkage.

Steamed fish at other tables look good, so did the lions head.

We are all looking forward to going back.

That spaghettini with abalone and truffles is absurd. Simply absurd.

Also considered buckwheat but the noodle was smooth, no grit. Very nice to see some individuality and specialization.

My friend had mentioned it before but once it was confirmed by Professor Salt, I had to go.

With the slow and steady decline of Yamadaya and a pretty mediocre bowl at Santouka just 2 days prior, this instantly became my new local favorite.

They had shio and shoyu made with pork and chicken, tsukemen, and tan tan mien.

I opted for pork shio and tsukemen.

Pork shio was good. Sounds silly but the broth was a bit too salty for me. Noodles were thick like the ones Yamadaya uses for their tsukemen. Stayed chewy until the end. Chasu was nicely flavored but just a touch dry. Will try the chicken and pork shoyu soon to compare. Wish the egg was a touch more runny but Yamadaya's is fully cooked now so it's still an upgrade.

Tsukemen. Excellent. They offer it warm or cold. I picked cold and the waitress also recommended cold. Blew away Yamadaya's version that I had on Monday. Noodles have dark flecks in them and I'm not sure what they are made from. Nice and chewy. Chasu was pan seared and actually more tender than the chasu in the pork shio. The dipping broth was delicious. Complex, touch of seafood brininess, ginger, etc. Really good. I'm not sure it's thicker and more concentrated than the regular pork shoyu. Seemed about the same concentration and saltiness as the regular ramen. At any rate, lots of flavor and complexity. My new go to spot for tsukemen in OC.

With Ramen Zeppon, I think I've had my last bowl of ramen at Yamadaya OC.

Cash only.

Ramen Zetton is very good. May be my current favorite in OC with the slow steady decline of Yamadaya and a mediocre showing by Santouka on Thursday. Completely agree with Professor that the broth is more complex.

Will do a separate thread for full review.

Below is the Tsukemen and Pork Shio.

+2 Ortica for cocktails, meatballs, pizza, and fresh pasta (bolognese and lamb ragu).

How is Ramen Zetton? Any recommendations? Tsukemen, shio, shoyu? Will get 2/3 and report back tomorrow.

No. That's why I would like OP to give it a try ;-)

Try Shunka. My friend recently recommended it but I am skeptical. Would love to hear your comparison.

Oshima was okay for the price. Personally I'd rather pay the extra $15-20pp for Kasen. Kasen is more traditional and no toppings or extra sauces like at Oshima.

Skip the potato one. Potato and mushroom and potato and squid were better.

+1 Red Medicine. Aka. Win win.

That's what he *said* but it would not have been difficult finishing the entire thing. So good...

So a more objective multi-city perspective is the wrong perspective? ;-)

LA does so many things so well there's no need to embellish. It doesn't have to be number 1 in everything.

No. But if one hasn't explored Spanish Harlem or Elmhurst or Jackson Heights, that is large swaths of fine cuisine and communities one is not accounting for when one proclaims LA king for "x". It would be like missing out on SGV or Torrance.

For example, I do know there is a large number of Central American restaurants in Queens. But I haven't had much exposure there or here to say it definitely goes either way. I suspect it could go to NY even though an educated guess based on proximity would say LA wins.

One would guess SF has good sushi given its location and population, but for some odd reason, it doesn't. Sometimes there is no substitute for experience.

Educated is very relative. How one crowns LA best in so many categories with such conviction is a bit telling.

Tenure often breeds ossified biases, that a frequent visitors does not fall prey to.
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Ironic position for this thread don't you think? ;-)

As a visitor you're going to some occasion/visitor worthy spot on your visits. How many spots in Spanish Harlem have you tried in NYC in all your trips? Not Patsy's but I mean the local places you see walking up York or 1st Ave.

As someone that lives in a city, you can make long treks out for low end neighborhood stuff and explore because you have the time and you've already done the more recognized places so many times over. It's no big deal losing out a couple of meals in the spirit of exploration. But if you're in town for a week, a couple of meals becomes a significant percentage.

Your point about not being mired only with one perspective I agree with. Which was my point with so many self proclaimed "LA does it best" threads. Living in multiple cities gives one both the perspective of other cities but also the depth of exploration.

Got back from the Costa Mesa one.

No special ramen. Boo! Santouka shoyu just didn't do it.

Settled for the fried croquettes which was in the fried fish cake booth. Crab and cream, mushroom and potato, squid and potato, potato and cheese, and pumpkin. First 3 were actually all very good.

Very sad, no special ramen...

Like I said, vegetarian easily SF. To say otherwise just means minimal exposure to SF.

I wonder when people coronate LA for "X" cuisine if they've even lived in the other cities in contention. Visiting for however many times for business or vacation just isn't the same.

Peruvian and Colombian food has also been a strength for Miami. I remember driving out to Kendall to a Peruvian restaurant recommended by my co-worker. It's filled with Peruvian restaurants out there.

With the recent influx of Brazillians and already a large community in Boca Raton I don't see how LA even competes.

Regarding vegetarian in SF...they pretty much started that farm to table stuff. I'm sure this conversation would be much different on the SF boards.

But as you say, to each their own.

Providence does/did one. Not sure what the current prep is.

Even more impressive is the charcoal grilled turbot for 2.

What are you looking for? Strengths are Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and a really good Thai Place. Lunch or dinner?

Vietnamese:

-Trieu Chau (lunch only). Dirty hole in the wall noodle shop. Get the house special noodles with thin white pho noodles

-Newport Tan Cang. Vietnamese/Cantonese. Famous for their very flavorful house special lobster. Their vietnamese beef is also good. The only downside is that the lobster is a minimum of 5-lbs.

-Com Tam Thuan Kieu . Broken rice plate. Monster portion for like $6.99. Grilled chicken, fried fish cake in bean curd, some meat pie thing. Funky and delicious.

Japanese:

-Kasen for traditional sushi. Not funky. Pristine, simple, and delicious

-Kappo Honda for izakaya. Huge menu, think Yakko-san but much better

-Tsuruhashi. Japanese bbq beef. Great stuff. Excellent quality.

Chinese:

-101 Noodle Express. Dumplings, noodles, beef rolls. One of my personal favorites. Long lines at peak lunch hours and weekend.

-Sam Woo Culver. Really good high end Cantonese seafood. Many tanks of live seafood swimming around and ready to be cooked to order. Can get pricy if you go crazy.

-Little Sheep. Mongolian Hot pot. You can get half spicy and half clear broth. High quality sliced lamb and beef. Also very good seafood and vegetarian options.

Korean:

-Kaju Tofu (Garden Grove branch not Irvine). Good Korean stewed tofu. I like to combo it with the chicken bulgogi.

Thai:

-Thai Nankorn. Outstanding. Green papaya salad +/- raw crab, chicken yellow curry, stuffed fried chicken wings, BBQ chicken, piguaut beef curry (if you want a little funkier).

Welcome to the OC.

You can get good tail at Torihei without hoping for VIP leftovers.

Also stopped Kokekokko after 2 visits because of the black and white plates hierarchy treatment. I saw one of the black plate regulars rise up and kiss the chef's slightly extended hands as he left. Just silly.