Daikokuya

327 E. 1st Street,
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 626-1680
http://www.daikoku-ten.com/

Hours
Mon-Thurs. 11 am – Midnite
Fri-Sat. 11 am – 1 am
Sun. 12 pm – “Until the soup is gone”

daikokuya is a ramen & rice bowl shop located in little tokyo, downtown la, right across the street from the village plaza. i went on a friday night, and it was totally packed. so during our wait i took the time to admire some of the crazy stuff decorating the walls. a godzilla figure. ultraman and pikachu masks. old wartime era poster ads and products. and to complete the crazy old-school iconic japanese feel of the place, they played this creepy yet strangely catchy and pleasant soundtrack with like.. marching band music, and singing kids, and uber traditional japanese music. after probably about a 45 min wait, our party of four sat at the counter.

the menu’s pretty simple. they have ramen, and also have rice bowl dishes and appetizers. if ur hungry u can also go for a combination of ramen and a rice bowl. either way, id definitely go for the ramen since they go thru the trouble of handing out explanations on what makes their ramen so special, along with the menu. theres not really any variety to choose from, which is perfectly fine in my opinion. it makes ordering easy, and i dont need to take my chances with variations that might not live up to the original recipe. if you really want to try something different, i hear you can ask for soup with extra rich flavor. but im a lil scared to try that out.. i dunno if i can handle all of that flavor u kno…

WHAT I ORDERED: Daikokuya Raumen, and split a teriyaki rice bowl with sister.

so the meal started off with a salad, which came with the teriyaki bowl. im not sure if it was cuz i was really hungry, but i really liked the salad. and then came the ramen. now ever since watching naruto ive been constantly craving ramen. one good lesson i took away from naruto was the art of ramen tasting.

so when tasting ramen, the first thing you do is take a big whiff of the bowl. and really get ur nose in there and take in that rich flavorful scent. so i take a whiff. smells good and flavorful, which is expected of any authentic japanese ramen shop. but in some of the really bad chinese-owned places i’ve been to, the soup is basically flavored water, with no distinctive scent other than chicken broth. next, i taste a spoonful of the soup. the broth is nice and thick. i like it because it’s flavorful but at the same time, very clean-tasting. the rich flavor doesnt really weigh you down at all.

finally, the ultimate test. i take some of the noodle into my spoon and dip it into a little bit of soup so that i can taste the noodles and the soup together. the noodles are very good as well. they’re nice and firm, and not too thick, so that once again i can enjoy the taste and not get weighed down at all. the bamboo shoots also add a bit of complementary flavor and contrast in texture. im a big fan of the bamboo shoots. it’s like im chewing on something kinda crunchy, feeling the texture of the noodle strands all around my mouth, and have a lil bit of soup swishing around my tongue as well. it’s a combination of at least 3 distinct textures and flavors, all in one shot. i also liked the pork. it’s kinda fatty, which is how i like my pork, but some people may think it’s too much fat. the only thing is i kinda wish there was more random stuff in the soup, like those little pink fishcake things. but overall, it’s probably some of the best ramen i’ve ever had.

as for the teriyaki chicken, i’m not really big on teriyaki to begin with, and the ramen kinda stole the show at this point, so its not something id come back for. i’d definitely come back for the ramen.

SUMMARY
Pros: Excellent ramen, fun and casual atmosphere, inexpensive.
Cons: Very few tables, long wait time (Fri night)
Grade: 8.5/10