SoCal Ramen

Hakata Shinsengumi is a great ramen shop serving Fukuoka style ramen. My wife, who’s from Fukuoka said she felt like she was in a ramen house back home. Here when you order the ramen, they give you lots of choices so that you can have it exactly the way you want. You can choose noodle firmness (soft, medium, firm), broth thickness and the amount of oil. I usually just go for medium on all 3. My wife prefers firm noodles and light oil.

The ramen is delicious, and I ordered the “D-Set” which included a bowl of Hakata ramen (I added pork slices), half an order of gyoza, a side order (i chose kara age (fried chicken)) and a beer.

Again, the ramen was great, and so was the tori kara age which is kinda hard to do wrong unless you over cook it. The ramen noodles are rather thin, to balance the strong broth. The gyoza however, left something to be desired. They were very small, falling apart and otherwise not too delicious. Since it came with the set it didn’t really bother me much, but I wouldn’t recommend ordering them.

The atmosphere seems pretty authentic with the entire staff greeting people as they arrive and leave in unison. There aren’t too many individual tables, most of the seating is either at the bar, or at a large wooden table in the center. We were there kind of early at about 6pm on a Friday night, and by the time we left at about 7p, there were at least 15 people outside waiting to get in, so it seems this place is pretty popular.

2015 W Redondo Beach Blvd
Gardena, CA 90247
(310) 329-1335
www.shinsengumiusa.com

I haven’t been to any new ramen restraunts in a while. I frequently stop by Umemura because it’s so close and so good, but I haven’t been trying out new places like I need to, to keep this blog current.

While it’s not ramen, a noodle house that I’ve been going to a lot is Otafuku. This place has amazing zaru soba and udon, pretty much the best in the Southbay as far as I’m concerned. I’ve usually been ordering the Zaru Udon with Tempura, which is about $13 and the noodles are so fresh! I’ve heard that they make their own noodles, although I’m not sure if they do it there in the restraunt or bring them in from somewhere else. But either way it’s very good.

The restraunt’s facade is very unassuming. It’s on Western Ave in Gardena and from the street it looks like the place is closed or even abandoned. There’s parking and a kitchen entrance in the rear (the front door is locked during the evening). I think this is to keep out people from the local bar next door, or maybe just to keep out Gaijin like me

Anyway, if you like soba or udon, you need to check this place out. I’ll also be sure to check out some new local ramen shops and get this ramen blog going.

Otafuku
16525 S Western Ave
Gardena, CA 90247
(310) 532-9348

On the way to the LA Auto Show last week, me and a few buddies stopped by Orochon Ramen in Little Tokyo. It’s become somewhat of a tradition to get a bowl of ramen somewhere in the area before the car show for the last couple of years. Apparently this place is known for its spicy ramen (i love spicy) and if you can eat a whole bowl of their spiciest ramen (including drinking all of the broth) they’ll take your photo and put it on their wall.

Aside from not wanting a blood pressure spike from all the sodium that I’d take in from drinking a bowl full of broth, I was too afraid to try their spiciest. Even our server said he’s only had the second spiciest and that it was too spicy. I was hungry and wanted a meal more than I wanted to impress my friends so i went for the 5th spiciest (called #3 Impact on the menu). It actually wasn’t too spicy, but pretty much at the upper limit of enjoyable. My friends had the 7th and 8th spiciest and they weren’t very spicy at all.

The noodles were pretty good, although since the broth was so spicy, most of my taste buds were pretty numb and to be honest it could have been instant ramen and I really wouldn’t have noticed much difference. The service was pretty good, although our 4 bowls of ramen came out over a 10 minute period of time which was kind of awkward. I will be going back though and next time I plan to go for the spiciest bowl and all the glory, but it will be on a day when I don’t have to walk around the convention center for a few hours, just in case it doesn’t agree with me.

Ramen Rating:

Orochon Ramen
123 Astronaut E S Onizuka St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 617-1766

While this blog is dedicated to ramen, I figured I’d throw in some reviews of other noodle dishes that I love to eat in the area. Kotohira is also in the Tozai plaza and serves, udon, soba and other Japanese dishes. The food is very authentic Japanese and good at very reasonable prices.

My wife loves to order kitsune soba, which is soba with fried tofu (kitsune literally means “fox” in Japanese, and apparently in Japan foxes love to eat fried tofu). She thinks that the fried tofu should be more juicy and not so dry, but that the noodles were pretty good.

I usually order one of their chicken or fish dishes with the kake udon side. The kake udon is delicious, as they hand make their udon noodles. The soup base and the noodle firmness is also perfect.

The prices are really reasonable. The combo meals like the mini katsudon set (which comes with a katsudon bowl and the kake udon) is only about $9. The restaurant usually gets pretty busy in the evening, but I’ve never had to wait more than 10-15 minutes for a table. The service seems kind of hit and miss, but it usually just depends on how busy they are.

Kotohira Restaurant (Tozai Plaza)
1747 W Redondo Beach Blvd
Gardena, CA 90247
(310) 323-3966

Kiraku is in the same Tozai Plaza as Tampopo, separated by the Marie Calendars in the corner. They serve an assortment of Japanese dishes, but their main entree is ramen. Their basic shoyu ramen is very good, with a light/mild soup base that isn’t too salty. The noodles are a bit firm for my taste, but I know that this is standard for authentic Japanese ramen.

Kiraku is open for lunch and dinner and is fairly busy during the twelve to one lunch hour on weekdays. Lunch time specials include a bowl of ramen and curry (basic curry, tastes good) or chahan (very good and fresh) for $7.75 and is more food than I can usually finish.

Bowl of shoyu ramen:

Side of curry:

Side of chahan:

Like a lot of smaller ramen shops, Kiraku is cash-only.

Ramen rating:

15472 S Western Ave
Gardena, CA 90249
(310) 515-0966

Tampopo is one of many Japanese restaurants in the Tozai Plaza on the corner of Western Blvd. and Redondo Beach Blvd. in Gardena. I eat here pretty often because it’s close by and I can get a decent meal for cheap, and while the ramen is good, it’s nothing special.

Tampopo is one of those Japanese restaurants that are Korean owned, but try to play it off as authentic Japanese, which always irks me. The staff is friendly and attentive though and the food is good and very reasonably priced. While the restaurant serves all kinds of Japanese food (they even have a sushi bar), I usually opt for a combo meal, like the Tampopo ramen (an average tasting miso based soup) and oyakodon (chicken on rice with onions and egg) which is only about $10 for a pretty filling meal. Like most Korean restaurants, they’re pretty good with bringing you small appetizers before your meal and the service is pretty quick.

Ramen Rating:

15462 S Western Ave # 102
Gardena, CA 90249
(310) 323-7882

Umemura is one of the best ramen shops in Gardena. I often have drinks with my father at different karaoke bars in Gardena and chat up the old timers about ramen restaurants in Gardena and the most frequently recommended restaurant is Umemura.

Situated in a converted 80’s Taco Bell restaurant (the kind with the classic archways), the inside resembles a regular ramen shop with bar and table seating. The menu is in Japanese on one side and English on the flip side. There are about 20 different types of ramen, my favorite being the Tan Tan Men ramen in a miso base. The soup base is thick and rather spicy with ground pork and vegetables. The soup is so delicious, I’d seriously drink the entire thing if my wife wasn’t there glaring at me and calculating the sodium content. The noodles are wavy and a medium thickness and perfectly cooked.

No matter where we go, my wife usually orders the basic chashumen (soy sauce based soup with pork slices) ramen, which she not only loves, but helps her gauge how good the ramen restaurant is. umemura is her second favorite ramen shop in the United States.

While the ramen is really good, their side dishes leave something to be desired. The chahan usually seems like it was cooked much earlier in the day, and the gyoza, while perfectly cooked, didn’t have the most delicious contents. But, you go to a ramen shop for the ramen, and Umemura is one I definitely recommend.

Bowls of ramen are about $8 and the service is excellent. There’s plenty of parking in the back behind the restaurant. Oh, and it’s cash-only!

Ramen Rating:

1724 W Redondo Beach Blvd
Gardena, CA 90247
(310) 217-0970

I live in the Southbay area in Southern California so I have quite a few wonderful ramen restaurants all around me, particularly in Gardena and Torrance. I’m half Japanese and go to Japan once or twice a year and with a Japanese father and a Japanese wife, I know my way around Japanese food, particularly ramen. So with all of the different restaurants I go to, I figured I’d share my reviews and experiences of the places I go and the ramen I eat. So break apart your chopsticks and get out your renge spoon, we’re gonna eat some ramen!