Yakamoz Craft Ramen

Steps away from Stonecreek Plaza neighbors Thai Kitchen, Pho Ba Co, and Layer Cake Bakery, Yakamoz Craft Ramen opened in Irvine’s Westpark neighborhood at the very end of 2024, replacing Mooji Ramen, a four-year-old Japanese/Taiwanese restaurant. Today, the Yakamoz dining room has a cozy, somewhat eclectic vibe, combining wood and marble tables with various types of chairs, a marble front counter, faux fireplace, and prominent kitchen behind a large glass window.

Based on its Turkish name, one might guess that Yakamoz serves Mediterranean or Middle Eastern food, but the simple one-page menu focuses substantially on untraditional preparations of Japanese items. On our visit, the menu included 14 items: the “signature” collection included duck or wagyu beef brisket noodle soups, chicken or beef curry with rice, wagyu beef brisket with rice, garlic butter shrimp, and fried chicken wings, plus appetizers ranging from wasabi edamame and french fries to three salads (garden, duck, or steak), and stir-fried choy sum vegetables with garlic sauce.

Prior Mooji customers may recognize these choices as heavily streamlined and tweaked compared with the last restaurant’s expansive collection of ramen, curry, and noodle offerings. Our server explained that Yakamoz will evolve its menu seasonally based on what’s available from suppliers, though we didn’t get the sense that it will reach old Mooji levels by quadrupling over time.

While our group was split between “good” and “fine” verdicts, at least one of us – the only one who sampled everything – really enjoyed the whole meal. We ordered both of the soups, finding both to be legitimately worthy of their “craft” billing, though not generously portioned for their nearly $20 asking prices. The signature duck ramen included slices of tender breast meat, a pleasantly duckfat-flavored broth, ultra-thin noodles, and wonderfully fresh bamboo shoots, while the wagyu beef brisket used the same noodles and shoots with a stronger-than-pho-level beef broth, slices of wagyu, and cilantro. Each bowl’s flavors were nicely balanced, and the broth was worth drinking on its own.