Hakata Ikkousha Tonkotsu Ramen Torrance — Restaurant in Torrance

Do you need to cleanse your colon? Say no more. Hakata Ikkousha's new the edition "Flaming Devil" will not only cleanse your colon but also cleanse your soul. Curious what it tastes like? Let's get into it.

To give you premise, I eat Black Devil Level 6 and think "this ain't bad."

At first, looking at the poster, you may be thinking that "oh, this could be as spicy as Boiling Point's Taiwanese Spice. You can never be so wrong in your life. The moment that comes out, you can feel the dark energy carefully hidden within the smell of delicious broth, telling you to judge by its cover.

The first sip will immediately give you a slap across your face. By the time you realize what you are going up against, you will see the left face of Jesus, gently whispering "it's time to get slapped on the other cheek." Then, you take your first bite, only to realize that Jesus was in fact the flaming Mike Tyson in disguise, calmly speaking "Everyone ha[th] a plan until they get puched in the fa[th]e."

As you dig in, the server would have a guts to ask you "would you like more pork broth?" as if he/she knew the terrible decision you made. You have pride? Let it go and bow your head to ask for the bowl of broth. You can think all the curse words you can think of to swear at the server. But deep down, you know that it was you who ordered the flaming devil.

My colleague, who was also eating Flaming Devil because I asked him to, looked angry. No, not angry at me. Angry at the food. I have never seen someone look at his food with so much hatred as if the food was a person. No, I'm wrong. The Flaming Devil had its own soul, personality, identity, and even a pronoun. If you are a right-wing and hate LGBTQ+ and pronouns, you are mistaken. We are all human beings that must defeat Flaming Devil.

Remember the bowl of broth? It helps. But it's not like a protagonist superhero. It's like Chuck Norris gently petting your back to make you feel comfortable but each pet is a full force of Chuck-Norris-ness.

In the end, when you are done, you will find yourself standing outside, staring the sky right on top of Mo-Mo-Paradise building, thinking carefully on decisions that you make in life will impact you. Spiciness may have been disappeared from your mouth. But in a few hours, perhaps in the evening, or even the next day morning, who knows? There is an underlying fear of what is about to visit you when you sit on...

Hakata Ikkousha ramen is most likely the best ramen place I have eaten in the United States, having a variety of choices of soups and noodles and an abundant amount of customization. I always love getting their God fire ramen/Black Devil at level 4 spicy since it gives a delicious hot kick, if you do not like spicy though I seriously recommend their black garlic as it is a unique and slightly sweet ramen (I'll try to take a photo next time) that allows you to take a break from eating only tonkatsu. You can also choose the richness of your soup, firmness of your noodles, and how much spring onion you get (I will have a photo of the menu soon). They have a lunch combo that is really affordable ($18-$19) that offers a small side (the one I got was the curry katsu) and a ramen bowl! I also usually get their premium toppings providing a runny, savory, and creamy egg, plus four pieces of lean chashu (WHICH I LOVEEE!!!). Overall, Hakata Ikkousha ramen is a ramen place that I cannot describe it's greatness with merely some words, I will always come here when I am ever craving a undoubtedly delicious...

The South Bay is really spoiled with so many ramen choices, Ikkousha certainly being one of the better ones in my opinion. There was a time once where hakata noodles probably ran through my veins given how many times I ordered kaidama with my ramen, but long gone are the urges I had to gorge until I became sick. Instead, I've had a newfound love for just the quality of one bowl of ramen, the carefully thought out portions for the broth and noodle, and the superiority of having a soft boiled egg with my ramen. There's a pool of drool collecting near my bottom lip as I write this.

Ikkousha has a stronger soup base which is what I tend to prefer over the lighter options and they have an excellent fried rice option which is almost as good as the ramen, so if you're in a pickle and can't decide on rice or noodles just get both of them.

The only problem I have with this place is the line, it gets nuts, but I think that attests to the quality of their food. I certainly wouldn't discredit it as just another "hype" ramen shop.

Four stars because it's just as good as...