Oak Coal - Costa Mesa

Lots of friends recommended this place but my first visit. Nick helped us try all the best items. We loved it and are coming back. Don't miss this gem.

Came here on a whim with moderately high expectations for a special evening out and this place blew us away! Our first dish we received was the New York strip skewer (pic attch?d . I can say without a doubt it was the best beef skewer I?ve ever had. The meat was super tender and full of flavor. We got 3 skewers with about 7 pieces of New York on each for $17. This dish is a must try, (unless they have the Wagyu in stock!! . Our second dish was the Mixed Chicken skewers which again, left us longing for more. They use some sort of plum sauce that just enhances the whole experience. If you have some room left, this is another great grab. We finished up with the Fluffy Cheesecake which I can confidently say is now my favorite desert in Costa Mesa. The side of green tea ice cream was equally as satisfying and was the perfect finish to our night. I?ll be coming back here extremely soon to show off this great place to my friends.

The idea feels so simple: grill food. The depth of flavor of the food at Oak and Coal is beyond simple. Everything we had was so bold and savory. The drinks were fantastic, and the staff was exceptionally friendly and generous. I absolutely loved everything that I had: garlic, eel, scallops, spicy chicken wings, corn. You can't go wrong. Also: the menu is broken up into rounds. They planned this!

Delicious but tiny portions. It's a variety of Japanese style kebab meats, seafood, and veggies. Each skewer comes with 4 pieces. Each piece is bite sized. So that means each skewer is 4 bites. Pieces range from $4-$7 per skewer. That's right, $1-$2 per bite of food. There's no corkage fee as long as you buy it from next door (and they check), so buy your own bottle of wine. Otherwise you'll be paying $10 per glass of wine. The dumplings are amazing. The sweet sausages are great. Warning the jumbo shrimp comes shell on. The hot Soba noodle soup is great.

--- Today we ordered six different dishes, and here’s what we thought: 1. **Steamed Chicken Lemongrass Dumplings - 9/10** The noodle wrapping was absolutely delicious. I loved the texture and flavor. The lemongrass chicken was well-seasoned and very tasty. 2. **Bao Buns - 10/10** These came as a delightful surprise. I expected traditional bao, but these were more like small tacos with bao bun shells. The flavors were amazing! The sauces added a nice spice, while the ginger provided a sweet and slightly sour kick. The pork belly was smoky and juicy—simply perfect! 3. **Kurobuta Pork Belly Skewers - 12/10** Oh my goodness! These were phenomenal! Coming from Germany, I’m used to grilled pork belly, which we often refer to as "belly racks" or "grilled torch" because of the high fat content that tends to flare up. The smoky flavor and seasoning were spot on, and I appreciated that they weren’t dried out. 4. **Plain Garlic Noodles - 8/10** These noodles were okay, but a bit greasy and messy overall. The taste was good, but I probably wouldn’t order them again, although others seemed to enjoy them. 5. **Blistered Brussels Sprouts - 8/10** These were generally very good—crispy with a mild spice. We did notice that many dishes had a lemon flavor, which I liked, but some in our group thought it might be a bit overpowering. 6. **Chicken Karaage - 6/10** We were expecting something different here. The chicken legs were juicy but not as crispy as we anticipated. The batter reminded me of calamari, which made my brain confuse the two, so I struggled to finish the chicken. That’s just my personal take; others might not face the same dilemma. Placing the order through the website was super simple, and we didn’t wait more than 30 minutes. The food arrived hot and fresh. This definitely won’t be our last visit. Thanks for a wonderful dinner! --- Let me know if you need any more help!