3 stars given on Yelp
Having worked a few buildings over for two and a half years, I saw the lines outside of Tsujita, a ramen eatery on Sawtelle. I knew it was heavily hyped because of its presence on Gold’s 101 List multiple times. I think he even claimed it was the best ramen in LA. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case the only time I visited.
I walked right in a few minutes after they opened during my lunch break. I hadn’t waited more than a minute before I was seated at the bar and being served. I was in a great mood and my expectations were high, ramen is my Death Row last meal after all. While I’m picky about ramen and love my spots, I also keep ramen at home so I’m open to all kinds as long as they have flavor and texture.
And therein lies the problem. My ramen lacked flavor. The service was fine, the price was reasonable, there was no wait, the atmosphere was relaxing, there were intriguing textural notes throughout the dish, but the flavor was far from exciting or engaging. It was some of the least potent broth that I’ve ever had. I was sitting there with a bowl of broth that I would normally either sip or chug, but I did neither. I asked for more noodles and paid for them in order to make it easier to finish the dish. Broth lacking flavor is one of the worst signs for me, when it comes to well… any soup.
Now, as I mentioned, I walked straight in, left with a full tummy, didn’t burn a hole in my wallet, and had an extremely enthusiastic server who did a tremendous job, so even though the ramen was deserving of less than three stars, the smooth experience made it enjoyable. As always, stay hungry and fit!
