Daikokuya Ramen

327 E 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA
(213) 626-1680
http://www.dkramen.com/

This is by far one of my two favorite ramen shops to go to in Los Angeles! Everytime when I'm in LA, I make sure I make a trip there, even when it's too hot for ramen.

Daikokuya is not a very big shop, so there is always a group of people waiting for seats outside the shop. Oh yes, and the wait is well worth it! The soup looks like miso soup, but it is actually made with soy sauce and pork bones. It is really tasty, and I can always taste the pork flavor in the soup. The chashu they use is kurobuta or black pork, which is one of the more tender kind of pork. The boiled eggs they used in the ramen are soaked in a special sauce over night before serving, and the yolks are always golden yellow and custard-liked. The ramen is thin but chewy. If you want the soup to be richer, you can ask for kotteri flavor, which uses "added soup extracted from the back fat" of the pork.

Daikoku Ramen - tonkotsu soup base, boiled chijire style egg noodles, kurobuta pork belly, marinated hard boil egg, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts and a tons of green onions.

It is pretty standard thing to order gyoza with ramen, but that's not the case with me most of the time. BUT at Daikokuya, ordering gyoza is a must! It is homemade, pan-fried and not deep fried like most ramen shops. The pork and vegetable filling is so juicy and tasty.

I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but Daikokuya loves topping their dishes with green onions. So if you don't like them, ask them not to put them. I always forget, so I always end up digging them out. I must say, they add up to a big pile every time!

I can't wait to go back again!