HiroNori Craft Ramen — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Updated review: 3/17/2025

I am really sad that I'm updating the review to downgrade it. We've been Hironori customers for years now, especially because of their exceptional vegan ramen for my husband. Few of our visits to Westchester location hasn't been good with the last one being horrible. Our orders didn't arrive for 40 ish min. They had to go orders so that's understandable, but the group that came after us got their orders 1st. When we aked one of the servers, she went to check inside but never gave us any update even after coming out and passed by us. I ordered tonkotsu ramen with thin noodles. When it arrived, it arrived with original thick. I asked the server for the thin noodles as previously requested and also requested to prioritize my order since they messed up, served the table that came after us before serving us, and most importantly we had a baby so we were really trying to get out on time. The server told me regardless I might have to wait. Then later someone from the kitchen came to tell me they don't have thin noodles. My husband asked for extra sideof noodles which took almost 20 min and we kept looking at the kitchen and at servers hoping someone could attend us. It finally arrived looking all mucusy (not strained properly) and tasted overcooked. We also ordered side of corn for baby. Now this doesn't require any cooking but surely took over 10 min to arrive with lot of water in it. They were busy, I get it but there was also ignorance, no acknowledgement, and didn't own up to anything. It was one of the most horrible experience, that we had to ask them to remove the service charge because no one even stopped by after delivering the food to us. They may be gaining customers but they sure are losing their interest, quality, and customer loyalty. We used to proudly take our friends and family there, which now I might be embarrassed to brag. I think we might consider hironori only when my husband wants vegan ramen from there. Otherwise we might not go back.

Older Review: We have been going to Hironori long Beach for several years and it's our absolute favorite. We have also been to Torrance location few times, but the taste and quality felt different and unsatisfying. When we found out about this new location which is few min from us, we couldn't be more thrilled. Their service, quality, taste, environment, etc. Everything was great, just like how they do it. This place is also our favorite stop because my husband is vegetarian. Veggie/vegan ramen are usually bland. It tastes like chef feeling sorry to even make meatless version. But at hironori, they make vegan ramen so sophisticated, creamy, and delicious my husband really enjoys it. We are so happy HiroNori is now in our neighborhood. Parking for this location is in the back but it's pretty limited. During off timings, there are a lot of street parking right outside. In the occasion when street parking is full, there's a huge complex across with a little...

I think there's no point in explaining this place, it's well known by locals.

It's just a fantastic ramen place. Pricey but fairly good if you want really specifically good quality ramen. Very pitch perfect, but it's going to cost you if you want to leave full. Also keep in mind they have the sugar fish model of a fixed gratuity although you can ask to have it removed if you're willing to have that awkward conversation in a very small room.

They also have an amazing watermelon and herb infused water which is complimentary that I'm a fan of.

I would say the only negatives are that the sides I've tried werent very good. Technique was high quality but unagi tempura buns didn't exactly work for me. You need the fat and salt of pork BBQ or crispy duck skin to make that work. For $8 you get essentially a single bite for two people, it should really pop or not exist as an option.

I would recommend eating your ramen quickly. The first taste is perfect but I suspect the ramen is "engineered" for that first bite because the broth and everything doesn't "decay" the way I expect. I've never felt the desire to order more noodles at the end.

Also while I appreciate the vegan option, I don't think it gets the same love as the other options. There was an attempt to add the umami punch by charring the brocolinis and seasoning them with sesame oil, but either real or imagined the taste of burnt sesame oil combined with what I assume is a Sapporo-style miso ramen with almonds or some other sort of nut blended in? That's sort of why I recommend eating quickly, I suspect whatever was mixed into the broth that never emulsified or if it was only suspended, separated. This is all conjecture really, the taste of miso was so weak I'm not entirely sure it was even a miso based ramen. Maybe the nut was sesame And that's why everything tasted like sesame oil? Overall it was a very confused dish.

Having said all that, I would definitely try this place out. It has an amazing sense of balance you typically don't get at this price point...

My expectations were pretty high coming into this due to the huge positivity shown in the reviews and it did not disappoint!

I ordered the tonkotsu ramen and it definitely is up there on one of the best tonkotsu ramens I've had. The broth was rich and creamy, the charshu was tender and not overwhelmingly fatty, the ramen egg was just the perfect amount of sweetness and saltiness, and the noodles were perfectly chewy (default is thick noodles but I heard you can ask for thin).

The atmosphere was pretty chill. It felt relaxing to just dine in especially as a solo person. The service is what you would expect, so no real problems there. The only issue I had was that I arrived at opening hours, 11 AM on a Saturday, and no one working there was visibly in my view so I put my name on the waitlist on the register screen thingy inside the restaurant (I was 2nd on the waitlist behind a group of 3). I then waited in my car for 30 minutes before getting the notification that I was ready to go in so I went in a lo and behold, the restaurant was filled up with customers seated that definitely weren't on the wait on a waitlist. I felt pretty betrayed because how did they not check the waitlist to notify those waiting when they started welcoming customers in? It definitely hampered my mood but the food was so good that I forgot about it as I was eating (i later realized they added a bench for those waiting but i guess i came too early and left before they placed it).

Parking is close by, there is a free parking lot just around the corner. There are also bathrooms inside the restaurant.

All in all, the Tonkotsu ramen was phenomenal and if I ever get the chance to come...