DTLA Ramen — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Best vegan/vegetarian ramen I’ve had (and I’ve been to Japan!) It is hard to find a vegetarian-friendly bowl of ramen that has any flavor, but their Spicy Creamy Vegan ramen is packed full of flavor.

I’ve been coming here since they opened and have never had a bad experience. I always make sure to bring friends and family when they are in town and everyone I’ve brought raves about the food as well (including the non-veg options). I live in the area and will always choose this place over Silverlake Ramen, which is actually closer to me! We went there once and the whole time thought, “Man…we should have gone to DTLA Ramen instead.”

Service is always speedy and friendly, but last night they went above and beyond. My partner had a small health episode as we were eating and the staff immediately noticed and rushed over to help after I asked for water for him. They helped me move him to a better seat and offered us a can of soda while he was recovering. After he started to feel better, I burst into to tears (it was pretty scary!) and our waiter came to check on me. They even comped our beers, which they absolutely did not have to do! The entire experience just solidified my love for this place. I will always be a loyal customer...

Chicken karage was solid... nicely cooked and sauce had a tangy kick to it.

Problem was the mazesoba/mazemen... noodles were absolutely horrid. Soo thick and heavy the texture was overwhelming. Not even sure how to describe it but they definitely aren't meant for mazemen. The sauce wasn't enough to engulf the noodles either.. overall this seems like it was made by someone who's never had mazesoba. IDK what kind of noodles they use but apparently it's the same one they use for the tsukemen? Not sure if true since the one in mazemen was more yellowy.

I've had some quality mazesoba in Japan (none in socal yet because there aren't any) and this was an absolute failure. Hope the chef re-formulates the recipe in its entirety. This was one of the few times I barely touched the food because I love noodles and will tolerate most things but if you're charging this much and making mazesoba like this, you need to wake up. I am sure other ramens are good here but I came here for the mazemen. And they did not deliver. Just don't get the mazemen. There's basically 0 flavor with terrible noodles.

Also, the injected egg tasted like a normal egg?? What's so special about it?

The complimentary beverages saved this place...

Overall a really solid bowl of ramen. Would recommend if you're in the area. If just visiting LA, a few of the other ramen shops in town would be a better option in my opinion.

Located in a busy part of downtown, the restaurant itself is a little hard to spot from the road, and parking is horrendous as you'd expect.

The service was really good and the complimentary tea is a great touch. However, it was borderline uncomfortably hot in the restaurant and I was hoping for some more AC.

I ordered the tonkotsu ramen with the injected egg. To start, the broth itself was just okay. It was a little light on flavor, and the broth itself was a little thin relative to some of the other ramen shops in LA. I got the thick noodles and the texture was very good and springy, I would definitely recommend it. The pork belly was thick and very flavorful. It could be a little more tender, but the flavor more than made up for it. Finally, the injected egg is something I haven't had before. It is soft boiled, and soy sauce is injected into the yolk. The texture and flavor was very well done.

Overall a pretty good ramen shop. It's broth is the only thing holding it back from being a great bowl...