Mr. Ramen — Restaurant in Los Angeles

The actual "Authentic" Japanese Ramen spot in LA.

When I moved into Little Tokyo about 13 years ago, this was one of the first restaurants that I tried. And while I loved the cool aesthetic sensibility of its packed next door neighbor—and still do—it was Shinobu-San's ramen that tasted like the real deal—the sort of mom n' pop shop vibe that you get in Japan, with a Ramen-ya shokunin master who also happened to be a witty, sharp and WONDERFUL human being.

This man was a great friend to me and so many others, along with being a fantastic Father and my favorite Ramen chef anywhere that I've been.

Their broth is the best in California—best I have had outside (and inside) of Japan. The fact that they don't have a 1 hour line most nights is testament to the confusion in LA about "authentic" vs the fakery we see all around us via marketing garbage.

No offense to the "artisan" or "artisanal" or "gluten-free" or whatever nonsense words / terms / slogans you want to throw at something (some of which actually have a meaning—abused and misused as they are) but THIS place was actually authentic—IF "authenticity" means the BEST of the BEST from the place that it came from. With improvements.

Culture is always shifting. There is no such thing as "authentic" if we mean never-changing. But Shinobu-san understood Ramen and Japanese hospitality. He was an artist and brought 30+ years of skill to the table.

His children now run the restaurant. Please support them and his spirit. Wishing them all the success that he and they...

This place is excellent! There is a large selection of ramen, cold ramen, and even a vegetarian menu. First off, if you walk right by it, you'd never really notice it. Most people don't because they're headed to Daikokuya. Let me just tell you, I personally think Daikokuya is a bit overrated, and the time you have to wait is absurd! Not so at Mr. Ramen, it is often at a low busy level, and there is definitely ample seating, maybe a dozen or so small tables on one side and 3 or 4 large tables on the other. When you walk in, you're greeted and offered a seat (either wherever you like, or taken to an open table, depends on traffic.) Once you've been seated, take a look at your menu and order! The food sometimes takes a while to get out to you, but it is certainly worth the wait, which is never more than 15 minutes. They recently got a new system that lets them ring you up right at your table, which I think is really cool! One of the walls is covered in drawings people have done, as well as a couple menu items. The staff are very kind and will accommodate you in whatever way they can if you have a food allergy or special request. My personal favorite is the chicken bamboo ramen on cold days, and any of the cold ramen items on a hot day. Summer for them is a relatively slow season, but business picks up A LOT in winter, so be prepared to wait a little longer in the...

I bought the chicken ramen with bamboo shoots for $18.

The Ramen had so many sesame seeds that it swamped my bowl and the taste. It's just a salty and sesame mess that makes it hard to taste any chicken or bamboo shoots( which it didn't have ). It was just a horrible experience with the food. As soon as I tasted it, I felt disgusted and didn't dare to finish my food.

What made it worse for me was when I was trying to explain to the employee why I didn't like the food. The employee proceeded to correct me and tell me that I'm wrong. He said, " This miso soup that we used here is salty, so your taste is wrong. " I was left speechless, and I paid full price for a meal I didn't enjoy or get to finish.

I left a picture of my meal and my bill in the bottom. There is a smaller bowl I used to try to fish out as many sesame seeds as I could to no avail. I tried my best to get as many details in the photo so anyone could see the mess I tried to feed me.

Do not come here. The quality of this establishment's food and its customer service has gone down in value incredibly. I will not be returning, and neither should everyone else looking to enjoy a good...