Daikokuya is Officially My New Favorite Ramen

Americas - USA West Los Angeles
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I could’ve sworn we’ve discussed Daikokuya on FTC, but can’t find the thread.

It is on Sawtelle at Olympic, part of the corner mall anchored by Marshalls. Daikokuya is nestled snugly between Lollipop and Baja Fresh.

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Inside it looks like an ancient Japanese dive bar, but instead of beer kegs behind the bar, there are vats of boiling broth.

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The Daikokuya Specialty

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Tender, fall apart pork with ring of fat that literally melts in your mouth. (Yes, literally.) A pile of chopped green onions, a handful of very fresh bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and that’s it for toppings. And an egg.

The Egg

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So very custardy. So well bathed.

The noodles were thin, supple and chewy.

The broth was my ideal ramen broth. It tasted umami, not a grease bomb, not a salt bomb, just pure, clean flavor. I tried a spoonful of broth with a little chili oil drizzled on top. Wow. I don’t usually add anything to ramen because I want to taste the broth, but the chili actually made it taste richer and even more of itself. So very good.

Final notes, the ginger on the table was fresh and gingery, not dry or sour or bland, and it also went well with the broth. And I liked the menma! I usually find the flavor and stringy texture off-putting, but this bamboo was chewy and firm and almost mushroomy in taste.

I am very happy with this ramen. I will probably be eating here a lot in the near future.

My favorite part of the menu

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Daikokuya
2208 Sawtelle Blvd. (at Olympic), West L.A., 90064

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They need to use better noodles.

I go to Daikokuya (in Little Tokyo) for their pork belly bowl. The sauce is fantastic. It’s like a Yoshinoya’s beef bowl kissed by Aphrodite, and plated by Hera herself.

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So pig pretending to be steer blessed by wisdom and presented by jealousy herself. My only experience was on jury duty walking down there and getting seated right away. It was pretty great. Then I got dismissed in time to drive home without traffic. It was a good day!

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That sounds amazing. When I used to go to Yoshinoya, I would always ask for an extra pour of beef juice over the rice. :slight_smile: Will have to try the Daikokuya version…

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Cmaaan. Daikokuya was acceptable 8+ years ago. For tonkotsu and shio just try Santouka first. Then all the rest like shinsengumi etc.

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Just had the pork belly bowl and a side of takoyaki at the WeHo location. Super delish. Daikokuya tastes a lot better when there is zero waiting time.

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Santouka is good, it’s my regular lunch ramen; and it was my first ramen.

But I don’t know, since so many ramen places have opened the past few years, I’m not as enamored of it it as I once was. I’ve tried so many different kinds that I’m starting to be able to zoom in on what makes me happy in a bowl of ramen. Or maybe I’m getting jaded.

I definitely preferred the broth at Daikokuya: less salty, and a richer mouthfeel without fat coating my tongue, and it tasted more "umami’, for lack of a better description. (Time to study my food-description thesaurus.)

I think ramen may be like pizza, we like what we like, even if the differences are subtle.

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Shio is salt so yea, that’s the reason I stopped going as well but it was the choice for me for a long time. These days I just go to Tatsu because it’s best closest and all homemade noodle is quite great.

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When you take your child for spicy ramen to cure him of his cough, and add too much chili oil and ginger to the soup, and accidentally almost kill him.

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Wish my mom would almost kill me like that! :wink:

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Lol, he had to go outside he was coughing and choking so hard. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Actually, I can tolerate spicy heat in my food, but my last experience in Daikokuya was similar to your son’s.

So for me it was interesting to hear of your son’s reaction. I think in retrospect, my experience was an ingredient that led to me having a psuedo-acute allergic reaction right there at the restaurant. During that episode, I had to go outside and catch my breath as well. And again, I can tolerate heat in most foods.

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Glad you’re okay!

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