The Gossiping Gourmet: Good ramen can be found at Gu Ramen

I spend many hours looking for new restaurants to review, so I was surprised to discover Gu Ramen in Laguna Beach on Pacific Coast Highway, which has been open since this past summer. I might never have found it at all if a friend hadn’t mentioned to me that she heard there was a ramen place in town.

I drove up and down Coast Highway and didn’t see it but finally found it online. It had taken the spot that was a sandwich place for many years, and the front looked pretty much the same. I saw nothing in the windows to indicate a new name but finally saw the sign above the doorway.

It was well worth scouting out. The menu consists of ramen noodle soup with a choice of spiciness, toppings and additional toppings on the side. Udon noodles can be ordered instead of ramen for $2 more.

Guests will also find 20 different tapas, three rice bowls and tofu ramen (or udon).

My dining companion and I began our meal with some very tasty tapas. Crispy pork pot stickers were not a bit greasy, and the light crust was crisp. They were stuffed with minced pork and came with a light dipping sauce that tasted like Thousand Island dressing with a kick. A little salad came with the dish.

Thai-style spicy hot wings came next. The chicken was nice and moist, and we liked the classic spicy and sweet hot sauce for dipping. Our waitress recommended the buta belly sliders. Buta means pig (pork) in Japanese.

Another excellent dish was soft, crusted buns filled with chashu (fatty chunks of pork belly) and slathered with another creamy, sweet and spicy dressing.

The poke bowl featured sautéed ahi tuna with a sesame ponzu sauce and the restaurant’s unique ranch sauce, topped with thin garlic slices and shredded peppers.

The ramen is served in a big bowl filled with a wonderful tonkotsu broth, lots of noodles, green onions, mayu (black garlic oil), naruto (fish cakes) and roasted sesame seeds. The broth itself is cooked for 18 hours with chicken, vegetables and pork bones. Diners then have a choice of spice level — non-spicy, mild, spicy or super-spicy — and toppings — pork belly, spicy ground pork or crispy lollypop chicken.

For the final touch, extra toppings may be added for a small price. We selected the “spicy” category, lollypop chicken and corn and mayu. This combination was wonderful. The broth is the real star, and our waitress said some people were at that moment ordering a bowl of it plain. I thought it was ambrosial.

There is also the option of adding bata fumi, pastes that can be stirred into the soup. These include curry garlic, Thai spicy tom yum, bata soy garlic and mild chili miso.

Two newer dishes were indicated by a sign on the table, and I wanted to try one — the filet mignon chunks resting in a bowl of seasoned rice and fried garlic chips. The meat was incredibly tender. It had been sauteed with Gu Ramen’s signature soy, bata yaki sauce, garlic, onions and carrots, then topped with garlic chips and served on the tasty rice, glazed with sweet mirinyaki sauce and spicy red ginger strips.

If rice is your thing, try the spicy pork yaki bowl, the hibachi fried rice or the chasu yaki rice bowl.

The restaurant is quite small. As you enter, you will see two large black boards with lists of beers. A long bar fills most of one side, and it faces two TV’s. The booths are made of wood and could use some cushions. The walls are painted a soft green. One wall is repurposed wood.

A few seats are available outside as well.

Gu Ramen is a welcome addition to the Laguna culinary scene.

TERRY MARKOWITZ was in the gourmet food and catering business for 20 years. She can be reached for comments or questions at m_markowitz@cox.net.

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GU RAMEN

Location: 907 S. Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Prices:

Tapas: $3 to $10 (happy hour is from 3 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, $1 less per item)

Entrees: $5 to $11

Wine:

By the glass: $7 to $9

Bottles: $26 to $55

Corkage: $15

Information: (949) 715-0825