The 15 Best Ramen Shops in Los Angeles Eater LA
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Sushi and donburi are also available, if you’re in the mood for more than noods. The restaurant has two more locations—one in Boston’s Back Bay (called Berklee Noodles Factory) and the other in Waltham. Those who still mourn the closure of nearby Curry House will enjoy the Little Tokyo location of Champion’s Curry, an international chain whose curry-making history dates back to 1961. Served fast-casual in a bright, airy setting, the curry at Champion’s is some of the best in the city, particularly when paired with their ultra-crunchy katsu cutlets.
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While the area has long been a go-to among Angelenos for sushi, ramen and Japanese comfort food, a handful of newer destination-worthy eateries have moved in alongside old-school joints, giving even more reason to explore the area’s dining scene. The neighborhood is small—just a few blocks, really—so a fantastic bowl of noodles isn’t more than a few steps away from a diverse array of sushi spots catering to every seafood whim and price point. This tsukemen specialist took over sister restaurant Aizen Udon, which moved to the Little Tokyo Marketplace a few blocks over. Tsukemen Aizen’s deluxe offering serves thinly shaved pork in a flower-like formation, along with a mound of thick noodles, spinach, lotus root, and boiled eggs. The star — a side bowl of fishy, umami-riddled dipping broth — coats every dipped noodle with an explosion of salty, fatty flavor. This diminutive ramen shop is the best place for Japanese noodles on the Westside.
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The tsukemen’s broth is tinged with a vinegary kick and served with flat noodles that work well for dipping and slurping. Both the tonkotsu ramen and tsukemen are among the best versions available in LA. The broth and noodles are nearly perfect, with a strong seafood umami to round the soup out. With ramen for me, it’s all about the broth and the noodles, but with a heavy emphasis on the broth. The broth for the kurogoma tan tan men was on hit and I definitely recommend this ramen to anyone who is not sure what to get. This woman-run cocktail bar is a breath of fresh air—of the salt-air variety.
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This unfussy Japanese eatery serves a menu “based on the traditional vegan dining style of Buddhist monks,” so all of the options are plant based. The restaurant's Dragon Breath ramen is rich in umami and spicy notes, and is made with vegan meat, tofu, mushrooms and more. If your definition of a good night with friends involves a smoky room filled with platters of yakitori grilled over an open flame, bottles of Kirin crowding the table and boisterous laughter, Izakaya Bizan is for you. This Japanese pub inside Little Tokyo Galleria has a tempting menu of sushi, udon, ramen, tempura—you name it—but we recommend any of the yakitori above all else. For group dining, it’s a solid place to start the night, gradually adding plates and pints of beers as the meal rolls on.
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Before “plant-based” became a meaningless buzzword, this Tokyo-based noodle chain had already begun making kombu-based vegetarian broth in 2011. With four locations in L.A., including one in Little Tokyo, Rakkan Ramen offers an array of light, flavorful soups with whimsical gem-based names like Garnet (miso-flavored), Pearl (shio-based) and Amber (soy-based). Yes, there are vegan options, but even if you’re primarily a meat-eater, you can come away from Rakkan feeling satisfied, particularly with the Spicy Garnet topped with egg and chashu pork. Inside, you’ll find a stylish pale wood interior with mood lighting at night, as well as a small outdoor patio. Relatively new compared to other area sushi restaurants, most meals don’t come cheap at Ootoro Sushi, which also has locations in the eastern San Gabriel Valley and Orange County.
Not so at Sushi Takeda, which, as of writing, remains surprisingly easy to walk into on any given day for an amazing nigiri-only omakase. Hidden away on the third floor of Little Tokyo’s Weller Court, Hideyuki Takeda’s tiny counter-and-table operation remains somewhat overlooked—even after a recent shout-out in the L.A. Few ramen joints in the area but this one seems to have more flavorful tasting ramen. Derived from high quality materials, with a special blend of our master chef, ramen warrior provide special menu at restaurant only you can feel us. Here's our top spots in this Downtown neighborhood full of cozy, family-run restaurants and delicious, mostly Japanese eats.
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Maybe it doesn’t matter, especially at West LA’s Mogumogu which specializes in well-sauced, fully-loaded mazemen with toppings like chashu and poached eggs. One of the best online food ordering App for restaurants across the states. In the video, a pink-haired Bass passes a love note to husband Michael Turchin, who is eating ramen.
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(There’s also a vegetarian version with a seaweed and shitake base). Customize your bowl with toppings like spicy bamboo shoots, kikurage mushrooms or a seasoned boiled egg. If you’re really hungry, go for the oversized mega ramen that includes all the pork variations. The original outpost of this veritable ramen mecca (with four total locations) dates back to 2002, but time hasn’t stopped peak hour lines from forming outside Daikokuya in Little Tokyo. A wraparound counter faces the open kitchen, adding to a convivial atmosphere well-suited to slurping up bowls of flavorful pork broth and chewy noodles. Add an order of house-made pan-fried pork gyoza or crispy pork tonkatsu to make the wait worthwhile.
At dinner, omakase prices start at $300, though they also offer an á la carte menu with items hovering around $40 on average, plus more moderately priced two-item combo plates at lunch. Open since 1990, Sapporo is still a top choice for a quick bowl of satisfying ramen when you’re hungry and in a hurry. You can post up at one of the bar seats or benches, or take it to go and enjoy it back at your desk or kitchen.
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National Ramen Day: Yelp names top 100 ramen shops in California.
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This ramen joint started in Chinatown and quickly made its expansion into Harvard Square last fall, followed by a location in Waltham. In addition to ramen, a variety of donburi (a bowl of rice topped with a dish, which can be chicken, beef, pork, or fish) and hand rolls are offered, as well as an extensive sake and Japanese beer list. James Beard Award-winning chef Tim Cushman and advanced sake professional Nancy Cushman—the culinary power couple behind o ya and Hojoko—bring you this colorfully-named eatery, which specializes in delicious twists on chicken and dumplings. Only at Time Out Market Boston, Ms. Clucks offers a "Signature Spicy Chicken & Dumpling Noodle Soup" made with 48-hour bone broth, ramen noodles, spicy ground chicken, truffled chicken wontons and green onion. Near the Arts District, Little Tokyo dates back to 1886, when a Japanese ex-sailor opened a restaurant on First Street. Today, it’s a historic district, dining and shopping destination and a central touchpoint for L.A.’s Japanese American community.

Sign up for our email to enjoy Boston without spending a thing (as well as some options when you’re feeling flush). The menu for Ryujin Ramen House may have changed since the last user update. Customers are free to download these images, but not use these digital files (watermarked by the Sirved logo) for any commercial purpose, without prior written permission of Sirved. In recent years, Little Tokyo’s proximity to Skid Row and the worsening homelessness crisis citywide have meant that visitors are likely to walk by larger tent encampments nearby.
This quirky izakaya, located within the Fenway area’s Verb Hotel, gets creative with maki rolls, robata, a large-format tiki drink menu and off-the-wall dishes like the BLT okonomiyaki. Chef Rob Wong's ramen is equally edgy, featuring a 48-hour chicken broth. Choose from the Funky Chicken (soy-marinated egg, menma, robata-grilled koji chicken) or the Spicy Miso (hatcho-miso, spicy pork, corn tempura, menma and soy-marinated egg). It may take you a couple tries to find Far Bar, but trust us, it’s worth it for their ample craft beer offerings, laidback string-lit patio and delicious pan-Asian fusion bar snacks. Look for the giant CHOP SUEY sign on First Street, then stroll down an alleyway on the right that opens up into its twinkling, plant-lined courtyard.
To make the Grand Central Market stall’s signature vegan broth, Hall takes umami-rich ingredients like konbu and shiitake mushrooms and combines it with roasted sunflower seeds and white miso. The result is a rich broth that’s as good as a traditional porky one; a vegan “egg” tops every bowl. Mecha Noodle Bar started in Connecticut with multiple locations across the state. Last year, it started opening shops in Seaport and Brookline, and quickly went viral thanks to its boozy boba program and the eclectic cocktails.
This Orange County ramen shop recently expanded to Gardena, with a stall inside the Tokyo Central Market serving tsukemen and ramen. While the disposable bowls are an unfortunate aspect of this casual outlet, the specialty of miso-based broth — either tamer white miso or more aggressive red miso — brings a rounded sweetness and deep umami flavor. This versatile ramen shop tucked in a sleepy Koreatown strip mall prepares everything from a classic shoyu to a Tokyo-style yuzu shio and wagyu beef ramen. In addition to the extensive ramen menu, there’s a wide selection of izakaya fare including sushi rolls, fried shishito peppers, and more. Los Angeles has a long history of great ramen, but only in the past few years has the scene hit its stride. From rich tonkotsu (pork) to shoyu (soy sauce) and shio (salt), here now are the 15 essential ramen shops in Los Angeles.
Huge bowls of ramen feature thick, house-made noodles, and you can add an extra portion of the sweet, savory beef to most bowls (which you absolutely should do). The restaurant’s name means “talk about your dreams,” and you'll likely be asked to share yours out loud with everyone after finishing your meal, so be warned. This Connecticut-based ramen joint has locations throughout New England, and opened up spots in the Seaport and Brookline this past year. The restaurant specializes in ramen and pho, but they also offer boozy bubble tea, like the creamy Thai iced tea spiked with whiskey. The spicy miso ramen has a nice kick but won’t have you reaching for your drink with every slurp, and the tonkotsu is made with a Hakata-stylem 24-hour pork broth that’s packed with flavor.
Open since 1976 and taken over by Hiroshi Yamauchi a decade later, the family-owned Kouraku offers no-frills Japanese diner fare inspired by the food eaten in Japan between the end of World War II and the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Allegedly, It’s also the first ramen restaurant in the United States, and spent much of the early aughts as a beloved late night haunt. Today, Mihoki Yamauchi continues to carry on her late husband’s legacy at Kouraku, albeit with more regular eating hours. This tiny family-run restaurant can trace its neighborhood roots back to 1929, when the Morishita family first opened a restaurant on nearby First Street. Here, you’ll find affordable lunch specials and excellent nigiri by the piece, all inside a quiet, homey sushi bar with thick wooden frames around the doors and windows and a handwritten daily specials board. One of LA’s most creative ramen shops comes from Top Chef winner Ilan Hall.
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