Tsujita is a well known mini franchise that’s popular both in Tokyo and LA. It’s hilarious, because when we live in Tokyo, Tsujita is just our neighborhood ramen shop (along with many, many others). All of their branches specialize in different styles of ramen, but Tsujita’s main attraction is tsukemen, or dipping ramen. Mike had the tsukemen and it’s one of his top ten bowls. The noodles are thick, bouncy, and served with a wedge of sudachi lime. The dipping broth is super flavorful and full of bits of pork. When you finish your noodles, if you hold your bowl up, the staff will fill it up with hot unseasoned broth and you can drink the soup. Pictured here is their regular bowl of ramen, which was what I had. I like tsukemen, but usually, given a choice, I’ll go for regular ramen.
Mentsudan
Ramen always gets all the love, but give me a bowl of udon any day and I’ll be a happy camper. Menstudan, like so many other udon bars in the city, is an unassuming affair where you walk up to the counter, order your noodles, then head to the tempura bar to pick out your toppings. No big deal, right? Yes, and no – the noodles are hand made in store and the tempura, if you time it right, is hot and fresh. Bonus, there’s a DIY beer pouring machine that’s a little bit of extra fun.

Tsukemen might not be my favorite kind of ramen, but when you go to Gachi, you definitely want to have the chicken karaage tsukemen. I have a very obvious thing for fried chicken and I’m crazy for noodles, so when Mike discovered this ramen joint that combined two of my loves, it was totally love at first sight. The fried chicken is karaage style, with a thin crispy batter. It comes with seaweed (of course), a perfectly soft-boiled egg, deep fried bamboo shoots and a wedge of lemon. The noodles were nothing spectacular, but the combination of cold noodles, hot dipping broth, and crunchy fried chicken is something I still dream about. It’s a good bowl of noodles.
Whew! Did you make it?! I have to admit, it took me weeks to write this, on and off. But now it’s done!! Woot! I hope you guys make it out to Tokyo. It’s absolutely one of my favorite cities in the world.

PS – If you made it all the way to the end, we need to grab a bowl of ramen together!

Tsukemen might not be my favorite kind of ramen, but when you go to Gachi, you definitely want to have the chicken karaage tsukemen. I have a very obvious thing for fried chicken and I’m crazy for noodles, so when Mike discovered this ramen joint that combined two of my loves, it was totally love at first sight. The fried chicken is karaage style, with a thin crispy batter. It comes with seaweed (of course), a perfectly soft-boiled egg, deep fried bamboo shoots and a wedge of lemon. The noodles were nothing spectacular, but the combination of cold noodles, hot dipping broth, and crunchy fried chicken is something I still dream about. It’s a good bowl of noodles.
Whew! Did you make it?! I have to admit, it took me weeks to write this, on and off. But now it’s done!! Woot! I hope you guys make it out to Tokyo. It’s absolutely one of my favorite cities in the world.

PS – If you made it all the way to the end, we need to grab a bowl of ramen together!

Tsujita is a well known mini franchise that’s popular both in Tokyo and LA. It’s hilarious, because when we live in Tokyo, Tsujita is just our neighborhood ramen shop (along with many, many others). All of their branches specialize in different styles of ramen, but Tsujita’s main attraction is tsukemen, or dipping ramen. Mike had the tsukemen and it’s one of his top ten bowls. The noodles are thick, bouncy, and served with a wedge of sudachi lime. The dipping broth is super flavorful and full of bits of pork. When you finish your noodles, if you hold your bowl up, the staff will fill it up with hot unseasoned broth and you can drink the soup. Pictured here is their regular bowl of ramen, which was what I had. I like tsukemen, but usually, given a choice, I’ll go for regular ramen.
Mentsudan
Ramen always gets all the love, but give me a bowl of udon any day and I’ll be a happy camper. Menstudan, like so many other udon bars in the city, is an unassuming affair where you walk up to the counter, order your noodles, then head to the tempura bar to pick out your toppings. No big deal, right? Yes, and no – the noodles are hand made in store and the tempura, if you time it right, is hot and fresh. Bonus, there’s a DIY beer pouring machine that’s a little bit of extra fun.