It doesn't surprise me at all that the owners of one of my favorite restaurants in the LA area,Torihei, has opened a noodle shop called Ramen Jidaija and are making what has to be some of the best tonkotsu ramen in LA.

Making viscous, nuclear-powered tonkotsu bombs has apparently become the rage here over the last few years, along with ramen burgers and tsukemen (dipping noodle ramen). Tonkotsu is intended to be potent stuff. But the ramenyas these days have taken it to a whole new level and for the better ramen places I’ve tried recently like Ramen Tsujita and Ramen Jidaija, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

I was initially disappointed when I walked in around noon and saw the sign saying that their tsukemen service started at 2pm. But, fortunately, my disappointed was completely unwarranted. Upon the bowl's arrival, Jidaija’s beautifully fragrant miso tonkotsu threw off pleasant hints of fresh veggies such as snow peas, sprouts, bamboo (manma), corn, along with subtle wafts of pork funk. I actually took a few moments simply to take in the enticing aromas. The round nama noodles were perfectly toothsome while the broth had tremendous depth. Although the Chashu was ever so slightly dry, the quality of this subtly marinated pork coupled with its delicious outer layer of fat probably made it the highlight of the entire bowl.

This is an outstanding bowl of ramen and is, overall, an equal if not better effort than Tsujita.



Ramen Jidaija
18537 S Western Ave
Gardena, CA 90248
(310) 532-0999

NOTE: Rumor has it that Mottainai Ramen in Gardena, one of my old LA ramen favorites, has changed ownership and is now a shell of its former glory.