Overall Rating (+++++)
food (+++++) | ambiance (+++++) | service (+++++) | price ($$$$$)
ADDRESS: (MAP)
327 E 1st St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
PHONE: (213) 626-1680
URL: DAIKOKUYA
PARKING: Street parking would be the best after 5pm if you can find one.
RELATED LINKS: Japanese Restaurant Info | City Search | LA Food Crazy
I've been obsessed trying to find some GOOD RAMEN places in LA where I can satisfy my crazy cravings until my next visit to Japan. Believe it or not, it has been very difficult to find a decent one for me (being that I am from Japan)!! I'm really, really picky when it comes down to food, but especially the pickiest with RAMEN. Probably because most places that seem to be rated with 5 stars usually end up as being 3 stars in my opinion.
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DAIKOKUYA is located right in the heart of Little Tokyo on 1st street. It's hard not to miss because they have a bright yellow roof sign (which almost makes it look like a hardware store) with classic Japanese red lanterns that say "大黒屋" (their logo) in Japanese. Nothing fancy and very much a hole-in-the-wall type of place. As we went in, I felt like I was back in "SHOWA era" Japan. It's very retro and old school inside with many vintage movie posters and advertisements all over the walls. We sat at the counter on the red stools and ordered their signature dish "DAIKOKU RAUMEN" and gyoza. BTW, I don't know why they spell "RAUMEN" this way.
First we got their gyoza (pic: right). Awesome!!
It was not a traditionally prepared style gyoza and definitely had it's own style of preparation. The gyoza was crunchy outside and had very nice juicy flavor inside served with a lot of green onion topping and a special dipping sauce. Thinking about it now makes me so hungry!! Now, I was ready for my noodles! I was getting anxious while waiting!! :P
I tasted the broth. Hmmm... something was lacking. So, we decided to add a small portion of minced garlic from the counter, and that made a huge difference! I started reading about how they prepare their broth and they only use KUROBUTA (black pork) for there CHASHU. They really put a lot of effort into making the ramen, and I could taste the difference compared to other ramen places I've tried in LA. There "あじ玉" egg (one of the most important elements in Japanese style RAMEN) also had excellent flavor and texture inside, and it was awesome too.
It was not a 5 star ramen place for me, but I really enjoyed it here :)
If I were to compare DAIKOKUYA to all the ramen places in Japan, they would still be a 3 star rank, but being that they are in LA, this is the best I've found so far.
Here are some pictures of vintage movie posters at DAIKOKUYA I was talking about.
COMMENTS (1)
Mmmmm... I WANT GYOZA!!!! Ramen sounds tempting too! Sally, I'm going to have to stop reading your postings because there is too much food on it... and it's ALL TOO FAR AWAY!!!!
Posted by KodaPup | August 7, 2006 10:14 PM