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[maxcriden]

I work in Torrance.. where should I be going? May as well try making my 30 mile commute worth it some days.

Definitely Santouka at Mitsuwa (to be a broken record).

 

[andymcc]

Vegetarian ramen is tricky b/c the broth can contain bonito (fish) or is made from pork bone. The only reliable place I've been is Shojin in Little Tokyo. The entire place is vegan, so if you are not vegetarian, you may be disappointed. The ramen is okay for veggie ramen, but don't go in expecting Daikokuya. It's also pretty expensive.

It's worth noting that looking for "vegetarian" anything in Japanese places is pretty tricky. Unless you're specifically asking for Shojin style preparation, the Japanese, in my experience, don't usually consider dashi stock meat-based but, rather, the consumption of protein itself is where vegetarianism begins to them.

 

[SouSouRocket]

What about just non-pork broth ramen? I'm dying to try proper ramen but do any of these places offer a non-pork version? It looks so good ;_; I'm hoping to hit up a place during E3 next week.

 

[Robot Carnival]

Kosuke is great. Some one posted about it in this thread saying it's bad but I have no idea what they're talking about.

Food court at century city mall. Surprisingly good. Don't remember name. But quick, short line and real ramen.

well, I'm out of town again and will be back on Wed, gona look into these two spots for when I'm back that night. thanks for the info~

 

[Lambtron]

Vegetarian ramen is tricky b/c the broth can contain bonito (fish) or is made from pork bone. The only reliable place I've been is Shojin in Little Tokyo. The entire place is vegan, so if you are not vegetarian, you may be disappointed. The ramen is okay for veggie ramen, but don't go in expecting Daikokuya. It's also pretty expensive.

Cool. I might have to take my wife there. She knows all too well how hard it is to find things without dashi/bonito, which is why we were having a hell of a time finding some place. I appreciate the heads up!

 

[Haly]

This is currently my favorite thread on GAF (narrowly edging out the MK8 thread), and it makes me think we should have an official ramen thread. That way people in places other than Los Angeles can talk about the local places they frequent. What say you?

Only if the thread title references Tampopo.

 

[Stinkles]

What about just non-pork broth ramen? I'm dying to try proper ramen but do any of these places offer a non-pork version? It looks so good ;_; I'm hoping to hit up a place during E3 next week.

A couple of them have Shio, fish and even chicken based. There's a place in Seattle that has a creamy (from bones and cartilage dissolving) Chicken broth that's god tier (Ramen Man) and a gaffer (Mr. Nug Nug) works there.

 

[BlackSalad]

Anyone ever try Ramen Yukino Ya? Its in City of Industry, my Japanese friend even loves it. Excellent tonkotsu

 

[BriareosGAF]

Vegetarian ramen is tricky b/c the broth can contain bonito (fish) or is made from pork bone. The only reliable place I've been is Shojin in Little Tokyo. The entire place is vegan, so if you are not vegetarian, you may be disappointed. The ramen is okay for veggie ramen, but don't go in expecting Daikokuya. It's also pretty expensive.

Ramen-ya on Sawtelle isn't mind-blowing but it was my neighborhood joint and it has vegetarian stock. That said I don't bother trying to avoid dashi when I'm eating Japanese, it's sort of hopeless, but I do avoid pork, etc.

If anyone visits Portland ME I will take you to a great ramen joint with a bunch of vegetarian options. And awesome tofu buns.

 

[davidpdong]

So, I mean, does LA GAF want to do some ramen meetups? Just to check some of these joints out?

 

[Cels]

i tried foo foo tei in industry/hacienda last night, has some weird fusion thing going on. had the shin shin ramen.

 

[tenton]

IIRC, Jinya in Studio City (presumably their other locations, too) has a chicken based ramen as well as a vegetable based ramen soup base. Can't speak to how good it is, as I've only ever ordered tonkotsu based ramen from there.

 

[JEKKI]

So, I mean, does LA GAF want to do some ramen meetups? Just to check some of these joints out?

let's do it!!

I tried to have one once, on some other gaming site.

this was years ago... like 2007...

and ppl were like "pfffft... a meetup for soup?"

yeay... those guys...

 

[Gentleman Jack]

ok, so what is the defacto list now. Planning what is on my list for E3!

Will you have access to a car? That will make a big difference. Taking a bus/train to Torrance or the west side is extremely impractical, especially if all you're going to do is eat a casual meal.

 

[Friggz]

this thread makes me hungry.

 

[commedieu]

this thread makes me hungry.

ugh

 

[antitrop]

Hey OP, that's some fine looking ramen. You made me hungry, thanks.

 

[mickcenary]

I hate you guys. Do you know scarce

Spoiler

non-existent

authentic and good ramen is in Melbourne, Australia? Ever since going to Japan, I have been hooked, desu.

I imagine the stuff you can get in the States is pretty authentico?

 

[Gentleman Jack]

I hate you guys. Do you know scarce

Spoiler

non-existent

authentic and good ramen is in Melbourne, Australia? Ever since going to Japan, I have been hooked, desu.

I imagine the stuff you can get in the States is pretty authentico?

There's an udon shop two doors down from Daikokuya that makes their own udon. It's incredible.

 

[TheBryanJZX90]

I hate you guys. Do you know scarce

Spoiler

non-existent

authentic and good ramen is in Melbourne, Australia? Ever since going to Japan, I have been hooked, desu.

I imagine the stuff you can get in the States is pretty authentico?

A few of the best places in LA get pretty damn close to the real deal. There is a lot of mediocre stuff too, but hey it's not like every single ramen joint in Japan is amazing anyway.

Also to reiterate Daikokuya is weaksauce. Bye!

 

[Takeda Kenshi]

There's a Japanese food thread that could serve for that.

To be honest I didn't even know such a thread existed.

 

[Nista]

I went to Yotaro in Fountain Valley the other day. Had Tsukemen, and though the broth wasn't as good as Tsujita's, I also didn't feel like I was going to have a heart attack after eating it. Noodles were good quality as well.

I need to take a look at Little Tokyo food spots for E3 for sure.

 

[JEKKI]

so yah; #ramenweek is over... and I ate 7 ramens in 7 days

from top to bottom: Yotaro; Oriental Breeze; BamBiBu; Gomen; Mentatsu; Umenoya; Jidaiya

Umenoya was the best... yuzu shio ramen, frikken delicious.

Jidaiya was not so great... lots of whole garlic cloves in there, so unless you're into that stuff. Also, ramen Zetton in costa mesa makes a baller tan tan men so good luck to other ramen shops trying to make a better one (tho Foo Foo Tei does everything well, so if they have a tantanmen on their menu I definitely needa try it)

also I'm a very active person, so eating ramen for 7 days was one of the worst ideas ever lol. I could definitely feel the loss of strength and energy thru the week, so I'm so glad that it's over! Back to my regular diet I go!