GoodEats@ Daikokuya Ramen

I come from a family of good eats. My mom is one of the best cooks ever, but you put her with my two Aunties together and you've got a triple threat of good things from the kitchen. I can only hope to master what my Ba-chan has instilled in them - a love of food and a gift of cooking.

My ba-chan is a woman of many complexities who grew up in a different time, a different land, and a different set of values. Traditional to the core, she taught me how to understand the bits and pieces of Japanese language and culture that make me who I am. She makes me remember that family is important above all else, that it's "gyougiwarui" (bad manners) to lick my plate clean, and that it's good to cook Oscar Mayer hot dogs sliced up with grilled onions in a shoyu sugar sauce with some ochazuke.

So when the family got together for a weekend lunch in Little Tokyo, we decided to check out "one of the best ramens ever" according to my grandmother.

"Better than Ramenya?" I asked.

A quick affirmation from not only my grandmother but my two aunties too, was enough reason to check it out.

We drove around Little Tokyo to 1st Street, right by JANM and the promised soon-to-be-opened Chop Suey Cafe, and I saw the bright yellow sign that read "Original Noodle & Rice."

Once we stepped inside this small little Japanese noodle shop, we signed our names down for a table for 5 on the clipboard at the front of the restaurant. It was a little past noon and all seats and booths were occupied. I spied a group of 5 finishing up their meal, and guesstimated that we'd be seated at the front table where there's enough space to seat us all. Unfortunately, this place doesn't have too much space and nothing for large parties of more than 5 unless your party would like to sit at the counter. Lucky for us, we missed the second wave of lunchers and were seated fairly quickly.

The simple menu made it easy for me to order, and I started out with some Spicy Tuna Roll. The sushi roll came out shortly after the small bowl of shredded cabbage in a sesame dressing. After eating some additional Gyoza that was ordered, I could only eat one small piece of the spicy tuna roll and packed the rest to eat for later. After all, I needed to save some room for the main entree - their famous Daikokuya Ramen with a side of their special Fried Rice too - the combination for a great deal of about $10 and 50 cents.



So what makes Daikokuya ramen so good? Well, according to their website and menus, the ramen broth is made up of pork bones that are boiled nearly all day long along with some shoyu. They soak their hard boiled eggs and use tender cuts of pork with tons of green onions, sesame seeds, bamboo shoots, and bean sprouts. And was it that good? If it's any indicator, I inhaled all grains of rice, consumed all noodles, pork, egg, bamboo shoots, and bean sprouts, and slurped up the entire bowl of pork broth. I did, however, leave some of the green onions behind.

Another lesson learned from grandma: Good ramen should never be wasted. Drink even the broth.

Daikokuya Original Noodle & Rice-Bowl in Little Tokyo
street: 327 east 1st street | los angeles ca | 90012
t: 1.213.626.1680
web: www.daikoku-ten.com
open late - check website or call for hours