When Daikokuya opened in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles, its owners had no idea that it would kick off a ramen craze and spur the opening of dozens of ramen shops in the city. This “ramen renaissance” made both Little Tokyo and Little Osaka in West L.A. instant destinations for chewy noodles and complex broths.
Although the restaurant has locations in Little Osaka, Arcadia, and Monterey Park, customers still line up for an hour or more to sample Daikokuya’s ramen in Little Tokyo. One reason for the restaurant’s popularity is its opaque, creamy broth, which simmers for more than 15 hours, bathing chewy ramen noodles in an intense and complex flavor. In addition to Daikokuya’s trend-setting ramen, diners also rave about its gyoza. The dish’s flavorful and tender pork wrapped in crispy rectangular wrappers and garnished with heaps of green onions lead many to consider it the best gyoza in L.A.
Tsujita L.A. Artisan Noodle and its little sister Tsujita Annex dominate the ramen market in Little Osaka. Although international noodle magnate Takehiro Tsujita owns both restaurants, the two locations differ in several important ways. The Annex serves noodles almost twice as thick as the original restaurant. It also adds tonkotsu shoyu ramen to the menu and serves ramen for both lunch and dinner. The restaurants’ signature broth simmers for 60 hours—longer than the average workweek—creating the perfect backdrop for the Kurobuta pork, chicken, and dried fish, which is added at the end of the process. Here, diners can slurp their ramen in its traditional form, as noodles bathed with thick broth, or dip their noodles into a sauce-like broth that accompanies the popular tsukemen version.
Although the restaurant has locations in Little Osaka, Arcadia, and Monterey Park, customers still line up for an hour or more to sample Daikokuya’s ramen in Little Tokyo. One reason for the restaurant’s popularity is its opaque, creamy broth, which simmers for more than 15 hours, bathing chewy ramen noodles in an intense and complex flavor. In addition to Daikokuya’s trend-setting ramen, diners also rave about its gyoza. The dish’s flavorful and tender pork wrapped in crispy rectangular wrappers and garnished with heaps of green onions lead many to consider it the best gyoza in L.A.
Tsujita L.A. Artisan Noodle and its little sister Tsujita Annex dominate the ramen market in Little Osaka. Although international noodle magnate Takehiro Tsujita owns both restaurants, the two locations differ in several important ways. The Annex serves noodles almost twice as thick as the original restaurant. It also adds tonkotsu shoyu ramen to the menu and serves ramen for both lunch and dinner. The restaurants’ signature broth simmers for 60 hours—longer than the average workweek—creating the perfect backdrop for the Kurobuta pork, chicken, and dried fish, which is added at the end of the process. Here, diners can slurp their ramen in its traditional form, as noodles bathed with thick broth, or dip their noodles into a sauce-like broth that accompanies the popular tsukemen version.