Ramen

It’s Friday, the work week is done, and you just a bit to eat with your coworkers. That is how it usually goes down, and I have to say, Happy Hour isn’t in our best interest. Some how, some way, we always end up at Daikokuya. That is officially our go to spot. Someone suggests that we grab some dinner after work and ideas start floating in the air — happy hour, burgers, a new restaurant, a quick bite in Koreatown. After a nice hour of indecisiveness, we decided! And no, it wasn’t Daikokuya. We were headed to our destination, which was actually in Little Tokyo. We found parking instantly right in front of Daikokuya (by fate), and we noticed that there was no line. The one time we decide not to go to Daikokuya, we found parking without hassle and there wasn’t a wait. We took this as a sign and went to our usual spot — Daikokuya.

As usual, I ordered the ramen combo, and it was filling. After finishing it, I was stuffed. Comparing it to the one in Monterey Park, the original one in Little Tokyo just tastes better. Maybe it is because its the original, or it feels more authentic, but the ramen just tasted better. One thing I did notice was the egg. The Monterey Park location has the egg over easy on the inside, but the egg temperature on was cold. The egg from the Little Tokyo location was warm. This may sound like nitpicking, but it makes a huge difference. Eating cold egg yolk is not a good feeling.

One new thing I tried here was the gyoza. The gyoza were nice and fried on one side, steamed on the other. The skin was nice and thin, yet tender, and the filling was filled with meaty, oniony goodness. Dipping it in the soy sauce, the bite I had was delicious. The contrast from the fried side and steamed side is what pleasured me. You have a crunch of something crispy, and the mouth feel of something chewy. This combines into a perfect bite with the succulent meaty filling. This was my first time trying the gyozas, and am now a fan.

Daikokuya in Little Tokyo is our go to spot. Sit at the bar with no wait, and you are transported to Tokyo. Chefs rigorously cook the noodles, fry the rice, and cook everything else in between — all in front of you. This fairy tiny ramen shop is popular amongst the Los Angeles community. Lines start forming at dinner time, so it is best to go early or man up and sit at the bar. Either way, get ready for some good/authentic ramen. For more reviews on Daikokuya including other items, check the post on the Monterey Park Location.

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Ever since I was a little boy, I made simple things at home.  My first dish would have been ramen.  Boil that water, put the packet in, crack an egg, and you got yourself “oodles of noodles”. That’s not really cooking is it.  I surely thought that it was home cookin’ — but I was sadly mistaken.

My cousin from Oregon was visiting and we always try to share good meals together whenever possible.  My brother, my visiting cousin, and I were trying to think of  place to eat.  I had the idea of taking them to eat ramen — neither of them have had ramen at a restaurant before.

Making ramen from scratch is actually really difficult.  A lot of ingredients come into play as well as time to make the broth.  Daikokuya makes theirs perfectly.  Why go to a restaurant for ramen when you can just make it at home for about 25 cents?   It’s all about the broth my friends.

Entering Daikokuya, one can’t help but feel like they entered a tiny ramen shop in Japan.  The decorative wall pin ups and accents really give this illusion. They serve everything from sushi to fried rice, but ramen is their specialty.

Each bowl of ramen can be a combo.  Each combo comes with a side salad and rice bowl.  I had the egg and chicken bowl, my brother had the unagi bowl, and my cousin had the pork bowl.  Each side dish was amazing.  My favorite was the pork bowl.  The pork was so juicy and tender, no signs of dryness.  The unagi was perfect with that sweet teriyaki sauce.  I love seafood so this bite was surely a treat.  My egg and chicken bowl was my least favorite of the three, but it was still good.  Maybe it needed some of that tasty teriyaki sauce the other bowls had.  My favorite is their side cabage salad. They put this dressing on that is a mixture of something like 1000 island and smelt roe.  It gave it a seafood taste that was so delicious.

The ramen at Daikokuya is something I yearn for every so often, sometimes all the time.  All these years eating ramen out of the package, this surely was an eye opener for me.  Their noodles didn’t taste stale and actually had some bite to it.  The best was the slices of pork they add in the ramen. I think it’s the same pork they use for the pork bowl.  It was so juicy — the flavor and fattiness went well with the saltiness of the broth.  Oh, and here is the kicker.  They added a hard boiled egg inside, and the yolk was slightly medium, but not runny. That truly takes talent, and you know how much I like runny eggs.  I always have the perfect bowl of ramen at Daikokuya.

Me and my family know how to eat, so we ordered some appetizers too.  My brother ordered the spicy tuna roll, and my cousin ordered the Chicken Karage.  The sushi was pretty decent, considering it’s from a ramen shop.  I did not have the chicken Karage, but the fried chicken filets looked good dipped in one of the many sauces they offered.

Come to think of it, we had already eaten the salad, the prok bowl, unagi bowl, and the chicken bowl.  My family and I were already full, and this was before the ramen came out. In the end of it all, overly stuffed, I knew my family was satisfied.  To think we almost skipped this place because we were scared of a long wait.

If I want ramen, this is my spot.  To get away from it all, get away from Los Angeles in Los Angeles, I just step into Daikokya. I can sit at the bar, order some authentic ramen, and enjoy it in “Japan”.  The packaged, dried, ramen squares just won’t do anymore.

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