Among the multiple standout ramen shops in Little Tokyo is Men Oh, tucked away in Honda Plaza. A small shop with a handful of tables and a long bar, Men Oh hails from the Tokushima region of Japan, where the dominant industry is pig farming. Thus, the signature item, the Tokushima Ramen, is an unctuous, deeply pork-flavored bowl, with toppings that include not only lovely slices of tender chashu, but also strips of stir-fried butabara pork. Those additions, plus the pork bone and soy sauce-based broth, make this bowl one of the more complex ones in town.
In the hierarchy of LA-centric dishes—tacos, danger dogs, avocado toast—ramen is right up there near the top. And when Angelenos go searching for ramen, along with udon and other hefty bowls of noodles, they usually end up in Little Tokyo. In this neighborhood, it's not hard to find a modern version of Southeast Asian dishes, the best ramen bowls from tsukeme to tonkatsu or a plate of fusion pasta. Check out our top picks and slurp your way through the best noodles in Little Tokyo.
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