Who Wants Ramen?

If you live in Los Angeles, you no doubt have your favorite ramen joint – but how about one that offers up delicious Ramen bowls AND Tempura as well – and you slide your tray by the food you want?

Welcome To Sawtelle Japantown AKA Little Osaka!

On the westside of Los Angeles, west of the 405 and north of Olympic there is a neighborhood known officially as Sawtelle Japantown, and there are many terrific restaurants lining the street. Many in the area also call it “Little Osaka” as well…either way, there are terrific ramen restaurants including Marugame Udon – which is a terrific Ramen Noodle and Tempura Bar – where everything is served cafeteria style!

I have eaten here a half dozen times, the last one when I had lunch with Cameron Diaz. Well, she stood in front of me when ordering and sat nearby, so it counts. 

Yes, it does.

So here is the process that Cameron followed: you wait at the entrance to peruse the menu, then step up to order…

The fresh noodles are cooked right in front of you, then dumped into a bowl where a second Chef adds the rest of your ingredients…Ms. Diaz ate the same thing I did, the sweet beef with the softboiled egg added…

Then you slide your tray, cafeteria-style, past a terrific array of tempura: everything from chicken (Karaage!) to vegetables, asparagus, squid, fishcake and more…here’s how I did it:

As you can see, lots of options, including lots of vegetables as well…and after loading up on Tempura, you can get some Musubi rice balls as well!

After sliding around to the cashier, you can head over to the condiment bar, where there are fresh herbs, green onions and tempura krispies as well…

So what did I have? I got the udon with sweet beef and a soft-boiled egg added, then got myself some chicken, shrimp and squid tempura – and it was time to dig in…

While the ramen is certainly filling on its own, I couldn’t resist pieces of tempura shrimp, squid and chicken as well:

I begin eating them separately but by the end those tempura ended up in the bowl, soaking up a bit of the broth as well!

The verdict? Delicious! The sweet beef Udon is really flavorful, the soft boiled egg gives the broth a yellow-y thickness – and the tempura is perfectly cooked…this is a great meal!

The street is lined with terrific places to eat – including sushi bars as well as three of Tsujita’s restaurants as well on this block – a treasure trove of great Asian cuisine…and just a few blocks away is another of LA’s legendary food haunts:

Yes, just a mile or so away is The Apple Pan, which has a counter where you order a cheeseburger and the best apple pie in town!

You can see my entire review of The Apple Pan by clicking here:

Since you are on the west side, why not go to the edge of the world for a burger?

This is the last burger in the US, because you eat it on a pier sitting over the Pacific Ocean!

See that story here:

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