Ramen Yamadaya's tonkotsu ramen is the closest thing to melting a whole pig into a bowl. The broth is so thick and so rich the viscosity is closer to 10W-30 motor oil than soup. Nothing in the ramen-rich kingdom of Costa Mesa quite prepares you for the potage the most recent import from LA pours—not Daikokuya's comparatively lightweight bowls, not Kohryu's scorched scallion-flecked beauties, not even Santouka's venerable but always-too-salty brews. Compared to Yamadaya's broth, all other tonkotsu-style soups seem as filling as Gatorade. On the one-page menu, Ramen Yamadaya's hog concentrate is advertised as being cooked for 20 hours. Believe it. After the lengthy simmer unlocks the collagen and extracts all of the essence and every molecule of flavor from pig bones, the result is a soup so weighty that if the noodles, egg and slices of roasted pork were taken away, the liquid alone would still... More >>>