Aoki No Chuuka

Cute Japanese Chuuka eatery with relatively affordable dishes!My fiancé and I came for lunch on a Saturday, shop is small with table and bar seating.The vibe is a typical Japanese Izakaya.We got the Sapporo draft (small $5 each), yuzu shio ramen ($13), half fried rice ($6) and liver stir fry ($15).The Sapporo draft was icy and cool, very refreshing.Yuzu shio ramen wasn't the best I've had, comes with a piece of chashu, menma, green onions, and bean sprouts, flavor is light so I was able to finish.Liver stir fry was a little salty but portion is generous.The fried rice was the best! Not overly salty and had hint of MSG.Overall solid Japanese eatery with good food and fast service. Would love to try the curry my next visit!

The restaurant itself is tucked in the corner of the shopping plaza. Plenty of parking available. The restaurant itself is pretty small. We were greeted and seated right away. Server is friendly and the food came out quickly. However, the food ...is not great. I definitely won't be back here. Personally, I wouldn't recommend this place. There are plenty of other places in the area with more flavorful food. Sapporo on draft: (5/5) This was delicious! The only thing worth coming here for honestly. Side of fried rice: (4/5) Surprisingly, the fried rice had a lot of flavor. It was pretty good. Steamed dumplings : (3/5) Average, simple but not bad. Probably wouldn't order again. Spicy pork Mabo tofu: (3/5) I love mabo tofu, but was disappointed with the taste of this meal. Chashu ramen: (3/5) The chashu was pretty good, the base broth itself was very plain and definitely needs more flavor. Despite adding chili oil, it still wasn't good.

Prior to visiting Aoki No Chukka recently, I was rather excited to find out there's Chuuka Restaurant available in the area. Where I just moved from, there isn't one. We have tons of fusion restaurants but no Machi-Chuu at all. The food we ordered and got to taste was delicious despite the outrageous and hostile behavior of the servers, menu price and system. The gyoza is nothing to write home about and I would not recommend ordering. Neither are the takoyaki. The place also does not care about what order the food arrives. None of the appetizers arrived prior to our entrees arriving. And my dining companion's meal arrived well before mine, and the appetizers arrived well after both of us were nearly done with our food. The most noteworthy thing about the whole dining experience was the hideous behavior by the server and complete lack of care by the owner who witnessed the whole thing. What's with the rather overt and shameless ethnocentrism and xenophobic Japanese restaurant staff? I am ashamed to ever admit I come from the same tiny a*ss island these folks come from. Let me elaborate.We visited during a Saturday lunch time. There was just one other table being served and awfully quiet for weekend lunch hours. The diners looked not at all happy. That should have been a sign.The interior of the restaurant actually have menu items not listed on the menu that's just plastered on the wall. I wasn't quite sure what I should order. Everything actually sounded appetizing. I asked the Japanese waitress who initially seated us and came to our table to take the order what she recommends ordering. She was speaking to the owner in Japanese, so I spoke to her in Japanese to ask for her recommendation. I didn't think the questions were so cringeworthy for her. It isn't like I was making unreasonable requests or attempting to haggle menu price or something really tacky and ridiculous. "I see that there are many appetizing dishes on the wall and on the menu. Do you have any recommendations? What do you like eating from here? Tell me your favorite dishes. Any suggestions?"To my f*king surprise, you know what she said for response? Are you ready?"ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. THERE IS NOTHING I LIKE EATING FROM HERE. PEOPLE TEND TO JUST ORDER WHATEVER THAT'S ON THE MENU WITH PICTURES. JUST PICK THE DISHES THAT HAS PICTURES IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE DECIDING. THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE ORDER MOST. I GUESS YOU CAN ORDER THE SEASONAL ITEM - HIYASHI CHUKA IF YOU MUST."WTF!?!?!?!? I am fairly freaking used to receiving rude a*s service. Curt. Short. Rude. Expensive. Shamelessly friendly only during checkout type of stinking horrible service. But not quite this f*cking bad. Like I've lived in the US for 24 years and never have I received this kind of downright hostile and seriously rude service. I should have just gotten up and leave. I wish the server could have seen the aghast face me and the owner behind her, my dining companion, the other server, and the two other customers she was serving behind her had. It felt like the whole atmosphere truly froze and we were just.......so appalled. It's hilarious to me when people like that makes assumptions that I must not be Japanese nor do I speak or understand any because I don't look like one. And then act super ugly when I decide to alleviate their emotional discomfort by speaking to them in the said language they assumed I don't speak. I thought I was doing them a favor because they feel uncomfortable speaking English even after being in the US for quite some time. There's no winning with folks like that. Another Aoki No Chuuka surprise? If you order anything that's not donburi dishes, YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY EXTRA $2-$3 FOR A SMALL BOWL OF RICE. I got myself Happosai - that's basically chop suey. It's a heavy gravy with vegetables and meat and seafood type meal. You cannot eat them WITHOUT RICE. Like why the hell would you even not have rice accompany a meal like that? Do they charge for rice if you order Kare Rice too? Like you'd just get the curry but you gotta order rice separately? Do you have any idea how outrageous that is? That's akin to going to places like Jack in the Box and you have to pay extra for burger buns. Like $1 for a top bun and another $1 for bottom bun type thing. You get the picture. Would you be happy if someone legit asked you a question like that?Now the Yakiniku / chashu don was delicious according to my dining companion. I would not mind eating their food again, BUT NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER AGAIN IN-PERSON. Blimey, the offensive server actually refused to serve our table after I asked about menu item recommendation. It's as if I violated her human rights. She literally stood and glared at me the entire time I ate. The other server was much more friendly but the atmosphere of the restaurant was just utterly painful to eat or enjoy anything.Consider this my warning if you are hesitant to go. Order via DoorDash.

A gem in the Costa Mesa area!! It's been part of the community for years. It's also rare to find a true Japanese style Chinese spot, which also means the menu/flavors are a little different from what most people are used to. We came on a weekend and it was pretty quiet. The staff are friendly and attentive! Food: I got the tenshinhan, which is something I've never had before. While the gravy looks overly thick in the photo, the flavor was actually quite light and not too salty! I ended up taking some home because it was so fillling. The shoyu ramen broth has a clean-tasting quality and isn't too oily. We also ordere the ebichili because we've never seen something like it at a Japanese restaurant. Also delicious! Parking: It's inside a plaza so there's lots of parking available.

I must have gone to dinner on a weird night. First off, the food wasn't that good. I got the spicy chicken curry ramen. I counted 3 small pieces of chicken in the whole dish. Secondly, the whole waitstaff and the owners were drinking alcohol and getting drunk with the customers. Some customer even brought in a bottle of tequila. They were chugging beer and doing shots of God knows what. No joke! I wish I took a video as proof. They were getting loud and making a scene. Not a pleasant atmosphere for a first time customer. Will not be going back.

I love this place!! Aoki No Chuuka has the best ramen I've ever had! Was working in the area and stopped by to get some food to go! Everyone was so nice and welcoming definitely will be back soon to sit down and try a lot more

Best Chinese-Japanese restaurant I've had outside of Japan. Genuinely great food with my favorite being Stamina Ramen.The vibe is incredibly fun with the owner using himself in photos as part of marketing and the staff are extremely friendly.Respectfully for those reviews commenting negatively about the taste, you all have muted tongues and should stick to your steak and potatoes. Just because you can't appreciate the taste doesn't mean it's not good, the problem is with you and your uncultured taste bud

Garlic fried rice was sooooo good!I was watching a lot of youtube about "machi-chuka" and was craving for it. There is no Japanese style chinese restaurant where I live so I was happy when I found out about this place. They didn't disappoint. I will go back when I go to OC/LA again.

My first time eating here, it was good yummy Japanese cooking. I had Chukadon and pan fried gyoza, both were delicious. Will come here again to try on different menus.

The bedt chinese japanese restaurant you can find in costa mesa. Chilled beer mugs and fresh hot food served with a cute and warm atmosphere