Makoto Tanaka has maintained an illustrious career, to say the least. In addition to working as head chef at Spago during its early 1990s halcyon days, the Japanese native ran his popular Beverly Hills restaurant, Mako, for more than a decade until 2011. Most recently, Tanaka oversaw the kitchen as executive chef at Mélange inside the Le Méridien Pasadena Arcadia hotel.

Now the seasoned chef turns his attention to Seal Beach where he and his business partner, Joanne Kim, have quietly opened Mako Ramen, a small yet dynamic eatery that allows Tanaka to return to his roots. The ramen spot, which has softly opened, will have its official grand opening later this month.

“Right now ramen is very popular in the U.S., especially tonkotsu, but I’m making more of a ramen-soup concept,” said Tanaka. “Instead of mainly focusing primarily on tonkotsu, which is delicious but a bit heavier, I’m focusing more on shoyu ramen.” The noted chef points out that the base at Mako Ramen is 100 percent chicken stock, which is made in-house and simmers for roughly 10 hours, resulting in lighter yet intensely flavorful broth.

Hungry? Sign up for The Eat Index, our weekly food newsletter, and find out where to eat and get the latest restaurant happenings in Orange County. Subscribe here.

He points out that Mako also serves a tonkotsu, for those of us who cant get enough of the rich ramen.

Ramens include shoyu (chicken broth with chasu pork), miso (miso soup with ground chicken and bean sprouts), umami seafood (dashi broth with Napa cabbage, fish cake, baby scallops and shrimp), tan tan (vegetarian sesame broth with Napa cabbage, carrots, shiitake musrooms and bean sprouts) and tonkotsu (pork broth with chashu pork).

Yakisoba omelet (egg filled with pan-fried noodles, pork, cabbage, carrots, onions and bean sprouts) and the Mako special fried rice (pork, eggs, green onion, carrots and mushrooms) also appear on the menu, as do such sides as glazed Brussels sprouts, gyoza, karaage, sumi salad (shredded cabbage with miso apple-ginger dressing) and red or white kimchi.

Right now, Tanaka works at the new shop seven days a week as he trains kitchen staff, including the head chef.

Mako Ramen, which takes over the old Crazy Fish Grill space, is open seven day a week from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Find it: 12420 Seal Beach Blvd, Seal Beach