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HiroNori is a new ramen shop that opened in Irvine recently and is my current favorite ramen spot. Their tonkotsu ramen is the best I’ve had outside of Japan.
The ramen shop has a very simple menu with only three ramen choices.
Tonkotsu Ramen
Their tonkotsu broth is boiled for 24 hours, resulting in an ultra rich, creamy, silky, porky broth. I found each sip to be deeply satisfying and love the way the broth coated the wavy noodles. To help break up the richness of the broth, the ramen is also accompanied by an array of vegetables including spinach, bean sprouts and cabbage.
While the broth is the obvious star of the dish, the pork chashu is also quite impressive. Thick slices of pork are marinated and charred. Even though the pork belly looks heavy on the char, it didn’t taste bitter, burned or overcooked. Instead, each bite was blissfully tender and flavorful.
Shoyu Ramen
We also opted to try their shoyu ramen. While this was a prettier presentation and a decent bowl of ramen, it was a slight letdown after the tonkotsu ramen.
Overall, we were very impressed with the tonkotsu ramen here and will definitely be back next time we’re in the area.
Menu
HiroNori Craft Ramen
2222 Michelson Dr #234
Irvine, CA 92612
