Why Is My Ramen Black?
Well, hi there stranger. It’s been a while hasn’t it? Not going to waste much time boring you with what you can probably guess: we’ve been busy. That’s all!
Hakata Ikkousha is a relatively new ramen spot that opened up on 2nd street in Little Tokyo. It’s been open for about three months now, and we recently decided to give it a try. Although our original intention was to go to Little Tokyo and review Marugame Monzo, the wait was totally absurd so we decided to try something brand new.
We had perused Hakata Ikkousha’s Yelp page a little bit before heading over and a particular bowl of ramen struck our eye. The ramen broth was black! This peaked our interest enough for both of us to order it.
The way their menu works is each individual is given a sheet of paper with all the ramen, topping, sides and drink options laid out and you just use one of the sharpies on the table to circle everything you want. Pretty efficient and ensures you’re going to get exactly what you ask for. We’re down with it.
The black ramen we had seen earlier on their Yelp page is known as the “Tonkotsu Black” and gets its deep black color from black sesame. In addition to the sesame, we ordered their “premium toppings” to go with our ramen per the menu’s suggestion. This included chashu, fungus, green onion and a medium boiled egg. In addition to the tonkatsu, we also ordered their cod roe bowl.
We didn’t go in here with the highest of expectations, so we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the ramen and especially by the cod roe bowl we decided to tack on at the last minute. The broth was very creamy and the noodles had the perfect bite. The novelty of the black broth was also enjoyable and the sesame flavor wasn’t overpowering at all. The broth was definitely on the saltier side and less on the sweet/savory side. While the broth and noodles were good, the chashu was mediocre at best. They were very thin cuts and not the soft, melt-in-your mouth texture that makes chashu so special. The pieces were rubbery and tough which forced you to eat each piece in one bite which was a little bit of a challenge because of how big the medallions of chashu were.
Moving onto the unexpected delight of the evening: the cod roe bowl. This is a really simple, yet deliciously comforting dish. It’s just a bowl of rice topped with one scoop of cod roe, seaweed strips and green onion. The cod roe is SUPER salty, so you only need a little bit of it in each bite, but it’s so delicious and flavorful. It’s kind of the same deal as really salty anchovies; a little bit goes a long way. We ended up mixing all the roe with the rice, and each bite made up off a little bit of roe, rice, some green onion and seaweed was heavenly. Would definitely recommend this as long as you’re up for the sodium intake. Oh, and did we mention this dish is only $3?
If you’re in Little Tokyo and you’re in the mood for ramen but don’t feel like waiting 2 hours for Daikokuya and want something a bit more special than Shin-Sen-Gumi, we highly recommend checking out this spot.
Hakata Ikkousha
368 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
