Hashigo Tofu - Costa Mesa

Hashigo Korean Kitchen
3033 Bristol St
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 557-4911
Type: Korean food / tofu / restaurant
Map



redundant info.


Heard good reviews about this place on the internet. It's located kind of near the South Coast Plaza, but closer to the Active Rideshop and Urban Outfitters stores. If you don't know where those are at, then I can't really explain how to get there. I didn't drive and I'm not familiar with that area too much. Hashigo is in a small shopping plaza right next to an MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) store and a sushi place I believe.

For the non-observant, we got there at night. The place wasn't packed but there were enough people in there that you weren't really worried if the place was gonna suck. It was pretty dark inside. Almost like a club or lounge kind of lighting. The place is kind of small with modern Asian fusion-looking design. There looked like a bar at the end of the restaurant.

We got seated right away and looking at their menu, I noticed it's different from most of the other tofu spots we've been to. This place serves more than the usual tofu soups, bbq short ribs, and bulgogi. If I can recall correctly, they had some sushi items. They also had other stuff which I always forget or are too lazy to jot down in my notes. Since we came here for tofu, that's just what we ordered.

I got the seafood tofu ($8.95) which comes with the usual shrimps, clams, and oysters. My girlfriend got the-- I forgot. It's mostly all the same anyways. All the soups are the same price. Before we got the soup though, comes the moment of truth. The maker or breaker of tofu restaurants for me. The sides i.e., banchan. So first comes the pickled cucumbers and sweetened potatoes. And then come the.... and then come the.... ahem... and then come the!!! What the freak man?! That's it? Two sides? I was so shocked and appalled. This was not gonna be a good meal for me I thought. Oh well. Just gotta make due with what you got. So we dug into the measly sides, and they actually weren't bad. The pickled cucumbers weren't too tangy and sour. The sweetened potatoes tasted just right. The two went together nicely.

pickled cucumbers and potatoes... and that's it.


The soups came soon after the sides. A pleasant surprise was that the soup pot/bowl seemed bigger than most other places. Another point for Hashigo. It tasted like most other good tofu places so that's a good thing. Like I said before, most tofu spots usually know how to make their soups consistent. They all taste pretty similar to me. You gotta be having an off day or you got rotten ingredients to have bad tofu. That's just me though.

larger than most tofu soup portion?


So I was disappointed in the amount of sides we got. Luckily for them-- and us, the two sides we got were perfect compliments to the soup. My girl said she wouldn't want to go here again. I say it's better than BCD and I wouldn't mind going here if I'm in the neighborhood. It's a good place to go if you're fiending for some soon tofu and your companions want something else. They got other options available at Hashigo for them. For me, I'll stick with the tofu here.