West LA: Dan Dan Noodles at Beni Tora
red dan dan noodles
After failing to try the new dan dan noodle shop just down the street, we headed up Sawtelle to Beni Tora. I am always going to be a noodles fiend and I love the spicy Chinese dan dan noodles as well as the Japanese tan tan men. You might also include Korean zha jian mian in this group. It’s basically ground pork noodles. The Chinese version tends to be fairly dry while I’m used to the ramen soup version of the Japanese. Then you get the thickly sauced sweet Korean dish.
Beni Tora offers three versions of its dan dan noodles. You can try it as white, red or black. The red has extra chili sauce.
magical black gyoza
Beni Tora also has several gyoza versions. We went with the black ones which were called magical because they were pork based. I might try the chicken next time. They also had giant ones that intrigued me. Those were in the more traditional gyoza shape while these looked more like rosettes.
black dan dan noodles
After tasting the broth of my friend’s red noodles, I was admittedly having food envy. We joke about my sometimes lack of spice tolerance compared to her awesome powers so we mutually agreed I should take the more mild broth. Eh, next time I’ll order my bowl like hers though I may still add an egg. The egg was deceptive– it didn’t look like it would be that tasty as it looks very lightly marinated. But it was quite perfect. Also, I realize dan dan noodles really don’t need extra chasu. I did like the veggie additions though including the bamboo shoots, pea and bean sprouts. Plus the seaweed. Fine, fine, maybe I will supersize the red bowl too.
Beni Tora
2002 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025 — (310) 473-9834 © The Minty 2017