Best Ramen in Los Angeles • Roamaroo

As foodies, we’ve traveled all around the world in search for the best meals; from Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo to Era Ora in Copenhagen, Jaan in Singapore to Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles, you could say that our bellies get around J While we love almost every type of food, Japanese food is some of our favorite food in the world – specifically ramen. While we’ve indulged in dozens of bowls of ramen including a Michelin-starred ramen experience, during our visits to Tokyo, we decided to take our love for ramen home with us to Los Angeles. Since then, we’ve traveled all around Los Angeles county in search for the best ramen and we’ve found that you don’t have to travel all the way to Tokyo to find some of the best ramen in the world.

Editor’s note: While most of these restaurants don’t take reservations, many of them now utilize the Yelp app to reserve a spot in line ahead of time. You can view wait times online and then the app will then text you when your table is ready.

Tsujita Annex

Location: Sawtelle Boulevard, West LA

Serves Alcohol: No

Located in Japantown on Sawtelle Boulevard in West LA, the Tsujita Annex is a small ramen restaurant that is always extremely crowded. With a rich fatty broth, heaping portions of pork belly, al dente noodles, and perfectly cooked soft-boiled eggs, the ramen at the Tsujita Annex tastes like chicken soup for the soul. Unlike other restaurants, you order your food before you sit down. Once your meal is ready, you’ll be taken to a table or to the ramen counter. The only downfall is that you can’t wash down your delicious ramen with a beer 🙁 BOO!

Daikokuya

Location: Sawtelle Boulevard, West LA // Little Tokyo, Downtown Los Angeles

Serves Alcohol: Yes

Daikokuya is by far our favorite ramen in all of Los Angeles. With two locations in Sawtelle Japantown and Little Tokyo (downtown Los Angeles) and a third soon to open in West Hollywood, Daikokuya has proven to be a favorite of Angelenos. Having visited both the Sawtelle and Downtown LA locations, we can confidently say that Daikokuya has the most delectable ramen in all of Los Angeles, if not the country. We highly recommend ordering the spicy miso ramen or the Daikoku ramen.

ASA Ramen

Location: Gardena

Serves Alcohol: Yes

This unassuming ramen spot is great for those South Bay foodies. Located in a strip mall (as most delicious restaurants are in Los Angeles), ASA Ramen serves up a delicious pork broth with healthy portions of pork and soft-boiled eggs. The noodles were so-so, but still tasty. If you live in the South Bay and don’t want to trek all the way to West LA or Downtown LA, ASA Ramen is a good choice for your ramen fix.

Shin-Sen-Gumi

Location: Little Tokyo, Downtown LA // West LA // Gardena

Serves Alcohol: yes

Shin-Sen-Gumi has some of the best ramen in all of Los Angeles. The combination of flavors effortlessly dance into your delectable bowl of ramen at Shin-Sen-Gumi. The pork belly is some of the tastiest and most tender pork belly we’ve ever indulged in. Hot tip: we highly recommend ordering wontons in your ramen.

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

Location: Mitsuwasi Market, Torrance

Serves Alcohol: No

Hokkaido Ramen is an unassuming looking establishment located inside of the food court in the Mitsuwasi Market in Torrance. Surrounded by small eating establishments, you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to Tokyo. We highly recommend ordering the Miso Ramen or Shio Ramen.