Sanukiseimen Mugimaru

It is what a noodle house should be. Simple and delicious soup base with udon cooked to the perfect texture. Best of all, it only cost less than 7 dollars.

Some of the best Udon I’ve ever had!!!
On my first visit here I wasn’t quite sure what to get… in the end I wind up getting the Beef Udon with a soft-​boiled egg… After you receive your Order (they actually made me another one because I initially order the wrong one) and as you proceed down towards the register you can pick other side items… And they have a free self serve topping area for your udon-​tempura bits, green onion, seasoning, sauce. etc
All in all this place has great food… Great customer service!!! I just luv this place…

Ordering here is a little slow and works like a cafeteria line. First one places an order for the type of noodles desired, then chooses tempura accompaniments (starting at $ 1.70) and/​or rice balls ($ 1.50), pays at the cashier, and then complimentary toppings can be added.
I ordered a large Kake Udon ($ 5.90) which is basically Udon noodles in a light broth. The noodles were soft, chewy, and thick. They tasted great and reminded of a popular udon place I used to frequent near Waikiki beach in Hawaii. The broth was light and I was impressed with the quality and the size of this dish. This is truly an incredible value! After paying for my meal I added as much of the complimentary tempura flakes and green onions that I wanted.
Since this was my first time here I wanted to try some additional items so I went with the beef sukiyaki (thinly sliced cooked beef pieces) rice bowl ($ 2.40). There was an extremely generous amount of beef and rice in this bowl.
I also ordered a salmon rice ball (onigiri) [$ 1.50]. It seemed like a really great deal as other places that I had tried onigiri were at least twice the price, however those places had much more filling as compared to rice. The rice ball here consisted of mostly rice and a little bit of salmon paste, all wrapped up in sea weed.
Overall the items tasted great and this is definitely an incredible value! It was nice to see the noodles being made in house and weren’t from some frozen package. The udon should be enough for a meal and the additional items I ordered were just too much food. So basically for about $ 6 you get a great tasting and filling meal.

One of, if not the best place for Udon soup. But this place and the rest of the food court only accept cash.

More like 3.5 stars…
Here’s a good alternative to Santouka Ramen when inside Mitsuwa. I am more of an udon person so this was a sight I cherished when I laid my eyes on their offerings. What’s more exciting is it reminds me of Marukame Udon in Oahu which I’m a big fan of. The concept is similar, cafeteria-​style, where you pick your type of udon broth first (quite a few variations to choose from), pick your tempura add-​ons, and then add your toppings after you pay. It’s cash only as most stalls are in this food court but the difference is, you’re not waiting for your order to be made. unless they are out of something which happened in my case.
I went with a large #1 of KAKE UDON ($ 5.90). It’s a hefty serving enough for 2 people. The noodles gets added to an empty bowl first followed by the hot original broth before it is handed to you. You’ll notice right away how bare it is but don’t fret, toppings of tenkasu (tempura flakes) and green onions can be added at the very end of the assembly line at your heart’s content. Meanwhile, pick your little piece of fried heaven. The squid and fish caught my attention but shrimp was what I had in mind and fortunately for me, there’s nothing left that’s already made so I was able to get it cooked-​to-​order. 5 minutes into my bowl and my number was called. Alas, two perfectly crunchy and golden pieces of EBI TEMPURA ($ 1.70 ea) greeted me and completed my meal. The batter was tastefully seasoned without being heavy or greasy. It was a very appropriate mouth feel that brought contrast to the gummy and rubbery texture from the noodles. The shrimp was a good size unlike other places where majority of it is batter. Truth be told, it was surprisingly the best part of this meal.
Complaints: Broth is on the salty side and could be hotter in temp, while noodles seem under cooked and don’t have that nice silky bounce and chew. Don’t go crazy on the tempura sides, it adds up! Call me traditional but I’m not a fan of slurping my soup with a regular plastic spoon, I want the Asian-​style soup spoon.
Fukada in Irvine has got the udon game down but I’m counting myself lucky here because compared to the former, you don’t need to wait long for a table. It’s not at all bad to have found a go-​to for an udon quick-​fix though.

Oh my lord. Have I died and gone to heaven?! This is the BEST Udon I have ever had. I got the Pork Toktason (I’m sure I have misspelled that) and a can of green tea for $ 8.75. This is amazing. I’m so excited to have found my new favorite udon place!

You’d really think an udon shop would put a bit more effort to not have terrible udon.
I got an ontama udon with tempura shrimp, chikuwa, and kabocha on the side. The tempura was pretty decent, and despite being kinda cold they still stayed super crunchy. I liked the onsen tamago as well. Everything else was a total mess.
In the other reviews, people are all like «wow they make it fresh!!!» Nah man, they just boil pre-​made noodles to order. I mean, I’d be pretty pissed if I ever stumble on an udon shop that just has a bucket full of cooked noodles ready to go. I’m not mad that it’s pre-​made, I’m mad that it tastes just like those refrigerated packets of instant udon. The noodles were firm yet gummy, had absolutely no bite. The broth lacked body and flavor, unless salt counts as a flavor.
The people working there were pretty nice though.

Came here for lunch on a weekday while craving some udon. Located in the food court in Mitsuwa Marketplace. They have a variety of different types of udon displayed right before you order so you have a general idea. Before the cashier, there is also an assortment of tempura and onigiri. After the cashier, they have a tray where you can add your own garlic, scallions, and tempura flakes. Ordered the ‘Beef Udon’ and ‘Shrimp Tempura’ and it was filling! Wished they had a spicy broth option. For a quick lunch on a budget, this is your place.
Tip: CASH ONLY

This place is also inside Mitsuwa market. After Hunny and I ordered our ramen, I went to look for a place to sit while the hunny line up to get some tempura at this joint.
Man, everything they laid out here looks pretty tasty. It is like Tempura galore here. They serve everything fresh and you choose and pick as move your tray tall the way to the cashier. Hunny got some shrimp tempura, eggplant, sweet potato and crab leg tempura. The shrimp and sweet potato were the best ofcourse. You can skip the crab leg because I think they just used imitation crab instead. I would suggest to get the squid and fish tempura as they look tasty and I will get them next time we come back here.
Again– one important tip– BRING CASH! All places around here I think take cash only. And be prepared to line up and wait. Trust me. It is worth the wait.

Deliciousness. I got the okana udon and I felt overly satisfied when I finished because I was the warmest and fullest girl on earth. I love having hot udon on a cold winter day like today. The soup base tasted wonderful that I drank the whole thing and the portion was perfect. I don’t know what it is but seeing the meal handmade right in front of me feels very authentic. My aunt got the spicy beef udon and it tasted great also but I didn’t feel like meat after having so much turkey and ham on thanksgiving yesterday. The okana udon is the perfect soup to get if your looking for something light to eat. I’ve also tried the fried tempura here and it was good. Crunchy and not too oily.
Service: I think people here are quite friendly.
Oh yeah since it can get very busy during the holidays, make sure you find a table before you order your food, otherwise you won’t be eating.

One of my favorite udon places! They’re really quick, which I like. They soak the noodles in hot water the minute you order. It only takes a few seconds so the noodles aren’t over cooked. It’s nice and bouncy. There’s a good bite to it. I really dislike over cooked, mushy noodles so I appreciate the udon’s bite here.
They have a lot of different flavors. I usually either get the dip udon (which comes hot or cold) or the salted chicken udon. They’re both really good.
This place has the best tempura, hands down. It is never oily and always crunchy. There’s also a wide variety. My favorites are the pumpkin, shrimp, and egg! If you’ve never tried tempura hard boiled egg, you need to try it here. I like it because the yolk is not over cooked so there’s no sulfuric taste. Great place!
They also have rice balls for $ 1.50 or so. They’re really yummy. I usually grab a rice ball for a snack for later. After discovering this place, I’m pretty sure I came here about once a week.

Came here for a quick dinner since I was starving hungry and didn’t want to drive anymore after buying hair shampoo and stuff at Mitsuwa. I picked this spot out of others because I saw their udon display. I wanted something hot with noodles in this freezing weather!
I walked to the store front and spotted the beef udon. This is kind of like a help yourself kind of restaurant. I grabbed a brown tray and proceed with it to tell the cashier what I want. The beef udon was pretty good priced I must say. $ 7 you get a beef udon soup regular or large $ 8. They also have tempera self serve (you get what you want and pay at cashier). This beats starving and getting in line for some other restaurants.
The udon’s broth was good and very flavorful but the beef was hard to chew and I only ate maybe 3 pieces of it but I can’t complain for its price. Come check out the Mitsuwa food court area for quick fix!
Cash only*

This is my go-​to spot for lunch. Their udon is inexpensive and taste great, not to mention they gave a nice selection of tempura vegetables to accompany it for around $ 1.30 each.
If you want a nice quality inexpensive ramen I recommend the kake udon which is $ 5.65 for a large portion.
The Tempura here is perfect, not oily and not too much batter. My favorite is the sweet potato, pumpkin, and shrimp.
Only downside is the mitsuwa parking lot gets really crowded at lunch time and it’s hard to find parking, and when that happens it’s sometimes hard to find a spot in the food court to sit.

Did the broth change? I don’t recall it being so thin and lacking body :(it was as though they put hot sauce in udon soup and called it a day.
I used to enjoy my time with bouncy noodles and a pseudo heart-​stopping broth (as opposed to santouka), but I don’t think I’m coming back :(it was definitely missing something that it was once had before

Decent food at very reasonable prices.
Came one night after hitting the gym for a quick bite to eat. We ordered 2 types of Udon with different broth base. Our food came out very quickly and we sat at a table in the food court to enjoy our meal. The price was reasonable but the ingredients were majorly lacking in my bowl. It was a large bowl of broth and udon but very little to nearly none of any other ingredients or toppings. We got 3 very thin slices of meat in one of the bowls and the other one practically had nothing in it. That was rather disappointing.
The food court also close rather early and the cleaning crew comes and cleans the area immediately after everything closes, so we had very little time to eat our food.

This place is located inside the Mitsuwa Food Court in Costa Mesa.
I didn’t try their ramen but I did get their spicy tonkotsu udon. The broth was good. They udon is premade but they cook it in front of you. You can add on other stuff on the side.
By itself there isn’t much in it, but it’s enough to fill you.

I love that this udon shop is the first on your left coming in so when there is a line it doesn’t crowd and overlap with the others. The way it is set up is an assembly line like service. There are food samples in a display cabinet in the beginning, and as you move along there is a menu, then the ordering slot. After you’ve ordered, the food is provided in front of you pretty quickly then it’s on to the unhealthy fried items. Once you’ve picked up some tempura goodies, you go pay.
After payment, good luck finding a seat among the crowd and happy eating!

I love how cheap, quick, and convenient this place is. I used to come here when I had short 30 minute lunches and this was the only place I was confident I could eat at and get back in time. I can actually be done with my meal and leave in 10 or so minutes here. You get your food as you order, so there is no wait to get the food from the kitchen!
I tend to stick to the salted chicken udon. I don’t like the beef udon because the meat is too dry/​tough. I tried the tonkotsu broth udon last time and I didn’t like it as much as the original broth. They even have the cold udon with dip but I wasn’t a fan of them charging 75 cents extra for the grated daikon. You can pay a few bucks to add a beef bowl or you pay a little more to get salmon bowl to add to your udon. That might be a good idea since the udon itself isn’t much food if you have a big appetite.

This is my substitute for Waikiki’s Marukame, I haven’t tried any of the udon spots in Little Tokyo yet to compare with in the ranking of my California substitutes of the Hawaii one, so forgive me if I’m offending anyone.
Pick up a tray and a plate –if planning to get tempura, tell the man what kind of udon you want, get your udon, pick the tempuras and/​or rice balls you want, pay, and add toppings.
I’ve come here twice and both times I’ve ordered the beef udon with an added soft boiled egg. The broth IMO is more saltier and heavier flavored than Waikiki’s delicate and sweeter broth. Personally I prefer the delicate, sweeter broth while Pinky likes the broth from Sanukiseimen… my sister likes both. The meat in the beef udon is better here as I did not enjoy the Waikiki’s fall apart, almost disintegrate at the slightest touch meat. However the beef here is more tough, probably because the cut is also thicker. Waikiki meat is thin like Yoshinoya beef bowl meat while Costa Mesa is like bulgogi meat if that makes sense.
Kabocha & sweet potato tempura all the way!!! Choose the other tempuras wisely, the large shrimp isn’t that large, it’s just a lot of batter, tasty batter nonetheless. Is the octopus tempura supposed to be so soft like that? I mean I still eat it, but is it??? The chicken karaage is pretty tasty when fresh, don’t get stuck with a soggy one! Skip the small shrimp tempuras as they are tasteless like water. Shiso (pepper) tempura is not bad, but you either like it or you don’t.
As with all the other food stalls at Mitsuwa, cash only!
Until Marukame comes to So Cal or I try one of those udon spots in Little Tokyo and they blow my mind, Sanukiseimen gets 4 stars.

This place serves nothing but udon. It works like an assembly line. You start at the far left and move along to the right. Grab a tray and order your choice of udon, add various tempura and rice ball for additional fee, pay, then help yourself to toppings (garlic, green onions, and ginger). Everything is prepared ahead of time so you can get your food pretty quickly.
I tried three different items so far and my favorite is the Spicy Tonkotsu Udon. The tonkotsu broth wasn’t as fatty and rich as the ones I’m used to getting in a ramen but it still had a good, clean flavor. It came with few pieces of chashu which were just ok. I also tried Spicy Udon and Salted Chicken Udon. I kind of wish these can be combined so I can get the spicy broth but with chicken pieces. The Spicy Udon has good broth but doesn’t come with any meat. The Chicken Udon is kind of like chicken noodle soup so it’s great when you’re sick.
Overall, I liked the broth but the noodles were disappointing because they were too soft and a little soggy. For a place that specializes in udon, I thought the noodles would be better. Still, I wouldn’t mind coming back here few more times, especially when the weather is cold. The broth was quite comforting and wasn’t heavy on my stomach, even the tonkotsu broth. This was one of the few places I was craving while I was fighting the flu. I am probably giving this place a slightly higher rating because I’ve been sick.
CASH ONLY.