Daikokuya Ramen

When you walk down 1st Street in Little Tokyo, you are treated to a wide array of Ramen/Donburi shops for your dining pleasure.  However, if you're smart, you will walk straight to the yellow awning and enter into the world of Kurobuta pork.  This is to pork what Kobe Beef is to the almighty cow.

The layout of Daikokuya is typical for a ramen shop.  A long counter with limited table seating.  The hosts are exceptionally polite (as you would come to expect at a Japanese restaurant) and fortunately for us, it was not as busy as what we're accustomed to seeing.  I will say that it would be quite a challenge to seat a large party at this restaurant so I would encourage a more intimate small-group setting when dining at this particular establishment.

There are many items to choose from on the menu but Shana and I came for one reason and one reason alone: Tonkotsu (pork broth) ramen.  We ended up ordering the following

 items: Daikokuya Ramen, Daikokuya Ramen Kotteri Style, Gyoza and Small bowl of Shredded Grilled Pork.  You can see all of the items ordered in the picture to the right.

The gyoza was excellent.  It had a nice crisp yet chewy skin and the pork/vegetable mix inside was juicy and not overly seasoned.  In my combo, I also got the grilled pork bowl.  The pork was great but the shredded nori overshadowed the taste of the pork with the rice and I feel that they could have toned down on this particular topping for the dish.  On to the ramen -  I ordered the kotteri ramen which is made with extra pork fat and the broth was definitely the high point of the meal for me.  Compared to Shana's, it was very rich, almost creamy, because of the pork fat.  The quality of the meat made the flavor superb.  Also, it provides for a much more filling soup.  The pork itself was amazing as well.  Each bite had just the right amount of fat attached at the top so that it would be melt in your mouth but not be slimy as it went down.  The hardboiled egg here is the best I've ever had at a noodle house.  Excellent flavor in the marinade and it's cooked just enough to be done.  The yolk is still a bit orange and this makes it taste much more delicious than the average marinated egg at a ramen house.  My only problem with the ramen is that while the soup is definitely exceptional, the noodles don't quite sit in the same class.  It's very tough to put into words but they didn't have the chewiness that I like from my ramen.

Beyond the food, I liked that they provided both pickled ginger and hot mustard right at the table instead of forcing you to request either of the items.  At other restaurants, I'm always forced to ask for extra ginger and here, not a problem!  Also, the tea was good, but never served scalding hot which is how I like it to start.  However, it was tasty and easy to drink as it did not burn your throat going down.  

If you like tonkotsu-men, then look no further because no other ramen shop I've been to does pork as well as Daikokuya.  We also filled up for $15/person which is not too bad considering the quality of food that they serve.  Definitely one of the best ramen shops you'll find in the So-Cal area.

Cheers!

~ 平安 \/. ^_^