Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Daikokuya

At long last, I ate at the glorious establishment that is Daikokuya, ramen mecca of pork broth lovers. And baby, it was damn good.

daikokuya 003

I ordered the signature ramen "kotteri" style, which means extra fatty pork broth (I may start calling it "with extra love"). Daikokuya is known for its put-your-name-on-the-list waits, but I lucked out because after a couple minutes, I was directed towards a single seat at the end of the counter (to those of you who do not go out to eat solo: you get seated quickly most of the time, one of the many reasons I like being a lone diner!).

When my ramen arrived, I zoned out into dazed-and-delicious mode. The broth: amazingly rich and comforting. The icing on the cake: slices of falling apart pork, a "soaked-in-a-special-sauce"* hard-boiled egg and a mess of green onions (the crowning glory of any bowl of ramen). In short: a life-altering substance for under $10!

I've officially seen the Daikokuya light. Its reputation is absolutely well-deserved, so if you haven't been yet, don't put it off any longer!

Daikokuya
327 E. 1st St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 626-1680

*according to their website where you can see their menu items and locations.

4 comments:

weezermonkey said...

I love Daikokuya! Perfect for you, my starchy friend. :)

Marie said...

WeezerMonkey: So fitting for me, next time I'm going to try my hand at the ramen-rice bowl combos. I might need a designated driver to get me home though. Pretty sure that much starch will knock me out pronto!

Diana said...

Wow, that looks and sounds perfectly delectable! I've actually never (gulp) had ramen before. Well, aside from Top Ramen, but I'm guessing that doesn't count?

Marie said...

Diana: Do try ramen when you can, that kind of broth doesn't ever come in a packet! There are a bunch in west LA if you don't want to go all the way to Little Tokyo.