Mr. Makoto Ramen House

Fantastic ramen. Spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. Flavors compliment each other perfectly. Come with friends for a bowl and you won't go wrong.

This place was so good. Just drove by today and found it closed. Hopefully it can reopen or move somewhere close by.

Ramen choices in Long Beach have been almost non-existent in the past with no dedicated ramen restaurants. I was excited when I first noticed Mr. Makoto when walking in the neighborhood. I was nervous on my first visit waiting for my order of spicy ramen..."PLEASE be good!" They did not disappoint! I will be a regular going forward. Thank you Mr. Makoto and your friendly staff! Oh... And I love your wall murals. ????

The chicken wings are something to order, at least once. Light and crispy.

The spicy miss ramen though, is pretty stellar. Love the huge chunks of pork, and the milky and salty soup base.

Before getting to my review, let me explain my rating system since I think it gives a lot of perspective. My rating is a blend of absolute food quality (how awesome it tastes regardless of price, service, or ambiance), value (did I pay $20 for something I would have paid $50), service, drinks, and atmosphere. 85+% of my review is based on the food and value, but I figured the other items might be helpful. In general my stars mean the following:
5 stars - top 25 place I've been to in my life
4 stars - loved it, will go back and recommend it to others
3 stars - didn't hate it, it's possible I go back if it's convenient, I might recommend it based on what you are looking for
2 stars - didn't like it, will not go back
1 star - miserable, will actively tell others not to go

Overall (3.5 stars): If half stars were available it would be a 3.5. That said I rounded up for a couple reasons. I’m a local and I think the neighborhood could use a spot like this and I believe in the potential of this place.

Food (3 stars): the thing they did the best is the most challenging aspect, the broth. Our table got the vegan and pork versions. The complexities were great, spice added value without covering up underlying flavors. Their simple menu reflects the quality of effort that goes into making the basic building block of ramen. Subjectively I believe the broth would be marginally better if they lost the corn and added purple onion and mushroom. I didn’t award the fourth star because there are some easy wins they haven’t taken advantage of. They offer customers the ability to add garnishes, but it’s limited. Having broccoli, mushrooms, crispy onions, etc are all easy ingredients to manage from a supply chain and storage perspective, as a result I would expect management to make this calculation.

Absolute value (4 stars): I felt good about the bill considering the savory utility it brought me.

Service (3 stars): it was fine. I didn’t feel like an invited guest, but everything got to me in a timely fashion and was correct.

Drinks (NA stars): they are still working on getting their wine/beer license as of October 2018. So be ready for a water

Atmosphere (4 stars): clean and functional layout. Also, I’m a big fan of the art. It’s not something I would have in my home, but it works at this place and is well done. Done in a style I haven’t seen a lot of so it also provides food for thought.