Good Soup

Sep 12

TL;DR —

Very tasty, clean ramen that won’t leave you feeling bloated after downing a bowl of tsukemen. The experience is a very LA version of what eating at a traditional ramen shop in Japan is like.

Buta Gyoza

For apps, we kept it simple and ordered the buta gyoza: gyoza fried together to form a thin skin that binds them all together in one thin pancake-like crisp. Served with a side of gyoza sauce, our only regret was not eating it right away! We got too caught up in taking photos, so by the time we got to taking our first bite, the crisp had softened a bit. Def don’t wait to take your first bite on this one!

Yuzu Shio

Very light and clean broth, but certainly not lacking in flavor. The noodles were a perfect springiness and overall, the dish was much more refreshing, light, and fresh than your average bowl of shio ramen. The yuzu along with the curly endive, though untraditional, really worked well to add a refreshing element to the dish.

Kara Tsuyu Tskuemen

The dipping broth for this tsukemen was on the sweeter side as far as tsukemen goes; however, it was balanced well with salt and spice. The broth was very rich and deep in flavor without being overbearing. The thing that stuck out most was again, how clean all of the ingredients and broth tasted. We felt way better walking out of here than we do leaving Tsujita.

Like the regular tsukemen, the yuzu version was also on the sweeter side as far as dipping broth goes. This version was also perfectly balanced with acidity and salt, and though rich and deep in flavor, it was not heavy. The yuzu added a brightness to the dish and was a new flavor that we quite enjoyed with Afuri’s version of tsukemen.