Great place for a quick and tasty meal! The food was delicious, the service was fast, and everyone…read morewas so friendly. We had a great experience!

Orange County has no shortage of great Japanese food, including udon, but somehow, amid the crazy…read morecompetition, I believe Marugame Udon is the best udon in the county. It is also surprisingly affordable. Both Orange County locations I have been to (the one in South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa and the one in Jamboree Plaza in Irvine) are sadly in very busy areas. It can be annoying to find parking and/or wait in a long line just to sit down and eat. Thankfully, the food is so good that I will go out of my way to eat there, even if it means having a super early lunch to avoid the typical noon-to-1:00 p.m. lunch crowd. The main thing I love about Marugame is its surprisingly large amount of udon options. You can get the softer-tasting broth or the stronger-tasting broth called BK broth, which is generally my personal go-to because I think it has a more savory yet smooth flavor. There is also a surprising amount of customization, from basic choices like a regular or large size, extra noodles, and whether you want the typical Sanuki-style toppings of tempura flakes and green onions. There are also options like curry udon, beef udon, pork-broth tonkotsu udon, and, more recently, rice bowls. That said, one of my favorite things about Marugame is the number of tempura options. These do not come with the udon, so you generally have to pay roughly a dollar per piece, depending on the type of meat or vegetable you get. For example, the standard tempura choice, shrimp, costs around a dollar each. Thankfully, the shrimp are fairly long and thick, with great batter and flavor. There are also other meat options, such as squid, along with plenty of vegetable options like zucchini and onion. If you are someone who eats out often and likes rewards programs, Marugame has a mobile app where you can earn points toward things like a free Spicy Bomb, extra noodles, or extra tempura. I definitely take advantage of this. Just make sure to either order through the app or save your physical receipt so you can upload it to the app. Overall, when I want great, specialized udon and tempura, you cannot go wrong with Marugame Udon in Orange County, whether you choose the South Coast Plaza location or the Jamboree Plaza location.

Really friendly server, food even better! ambiance very lively. If big party consider splitting…read morebecause only the middle tables can fit bigger parties and you'll just have to wait longer

The cold noodles were so refreshing, but I like the spicy ones a little more. The spicy version…read morewasn't too spicy, just the perfect level for me since I can't handle a lot of spice. The deep fried dumplings were delicious. The soondae was also really good and didn't have any gamey taste like other ones i've had before. There's a good amount of seating inside, and the service was friendly and welcoming. I'll definitely be back to try more of their dishes!

Food was much better than I remembered (not that it was every Bad)…read more Service was also much better than I remembered (not that it was every Bad). I would most definitely come back and I Love that it is open late, especially in Irvine!

They stay open fairly late! We came around 11 pm and 3 tables were occupied…read more The portions were much larger than I thought; though I wish there was a bit more vegetables, like a little more bok choy or even bean sprouts. The popcorn chicken is great: savory and crispy. I wasn't a huge fan of the braised beef. I feel it would've done well with shrimp. It tastes fairly similar to bò kho.

Feeling like some Korean food, I remembered being curious about this place. We are often in this…read moreplaza because we're always shopping for groceries at the H Mart. We finally gave it a shot today. We ordered the steamed pork belly, cold noodles, and the galbi soup. The food was very good. My mom was quite happy with the cold noodles and my kids consumed every drop of the galbi soup. My dad and I had the steamed pork belly and we agreed that it was pretty good. The part I want to really emphasize was the service. The young man that took care of us was very attentive and most importantly, treated my kids so well. He provided them with all their usual needs like plastic silverware, extra bowls for soup, and even offered extra soup when he saw that they devoured the galbi soup. He went out of his way to give them some BTS Edition Oreos and little bags with stickers in them. I am always very grateful anytime people take care to treat my kids well. I'm glad we decided to give this spot a try.

Yuk Dae Jang is a solid spot when you just want a heavy, comforting Korean lunch. We rolled in for…read morea work lunch and even though there was a good crowd inside, we got seated right away with zero wait, which is always a win when you're on a lunch break. If you're going with a few people, the Braised Spicy Premium Beef Ribs with the flat glass noodles is definitely the move. The portion easily feeds two to three. The meat is super tender and just falls off the bone, covered in a rich, spicy sauce that has a nice kick to it. The flat glass noodles soak up all that sauce, and the chunks of kabocha squash add a slight sweetness that balances out the spicy, heavy beef. Service is super fast. You get your banchan pretty much the second you sit down, and the food comes out steaming hot without a long delay. If you're looking for a quick group lunch spot where you can split something huge and spicy, it's definitely worth coming here.

Different menu from other locations. More skewer Chinese style bbq. Delicious!…read more Easy parking. Good service.

Came for dinner with friends on a Saturday night - arrived around 6:30 and beat the rush!…read moreWhen you arrive, you get seated and order through the QR code, which is really convenient! We ordered quite a bit because we were starving!!! The soup dumplings weren't the best I've ever had, but they were passable. I would stick with the typical pork ones instead of some of the other unique types. We ordered the Chinese pancake with pork, which was delicious - so crispy and flavorful. We also got 2 noodle dishes - Dan Dan noodles and the jajiang mian. I preferred the Dan Dan noodles because they had a bit more flavor. At the end we decided to try the crispy chicken and that had some spice!!! I really enjoyed the mala spice that the chicken had and would def get it again. Overall, the food was pretty good and service was great as well.

This is our go to Korean comfort restaurant. We've been coming here ever since our friend took us…read morehere when we were first visiting California 10 years ago. Still great, always consistent. They have great sides that the waiters are attentive and keep refilling without you asking. You can choose to sit indoors or outside on a nice day. We've tried almost everything on the menu at this point and everything is good. The best is the rib soup. They have a dinner set menu for about $20 now which I opted to try this time. I enjoyed it!

We came here today with a large group, including children. After being seated, it took us some time…read moreto organize and place our order because there were many people in our party and we ordered several dishes. I have always really liked this restaurant, which is why today's experience was especially disappointing. Unfortunately, what happened today was truly awful. From the beginning, our server appeared visibly impatient. When we repeated a couple of dish names to make sure the order was correct, she began speaking to us in an unnecessarily loud and irritated tone. Her voice was loud enough that another employee noticed the situation and offered to take over the order. Instead of accepting the help professionally, our server responded that the other employee would not be able to understand what she had written in Korean. When the other employee later asked her to repeat our order, she read it back very loudly and with obvious anger. The entire restaurant could hear her, and the experience made our whole family feel embarrassed and extremely uncomfortable, especially since we had children with us. Later, she seemed to realize that her behavior had affected us. She brought us a noodle dish "on the house" and briefly said sorry. While we appreciated the gesture, it did not undo the way we were treated in front of the entire restaurant. My question is: if you knew your behavior required an apology afterward, why treat customers that way in the first place? Customers should not be made to feel like an inconvenience simply because they are dining with a larger group or placing a larger order. We came to enjoy a family meal, not to be spoken to with hostility and publicly embarrassed. Unfortunately, this experience completely overshadowed the food.

Sharing is caring! Head to Yoo's place for the best cold noodle dishes in Orange County! Great…read moreservice! Great prices and large tasty portions which include all kinds of small dishes with kimchi, pickles, radish etc....

ok I just have to say.. as a 31 year old Korean who has lived in Orange County her whole life…read more. this is my new favorite Korean restaurant. Service was amazing, food was sooooo good, best banchan, and big portion meals. Price is totally justified by portion size. 10/10 experience and will be back with friends and family! Thank you for a great experience!! We loved it.

Definitely come here with an empty stomach beforehand as the bowls are HUGE…read more Big bang for your buck in my opinion I love ordering from here when I'm looking for something hefty and filling

Visited another location (Arcadia) and now trying the Irvine location. The noodles were tasty but…read morethe minced meat was a little dry and they gave you very little spinach. The four stars is mainly for the potato shrimp. Very tasty and comes with a sweet chili sauce. Service staff were friendly and fast, really appreciated that. Restaurant appeared clean and quiet vibe.