Little Tokyo: Ramen at Hakata Ikkousha

I was on the instagram food hunt again. Recently I started seeing bowls of ramen from Hakata Ikkousha which opened recently in Little Tokyo in Downtown Los Angeles. Hakata is where tonkotsu ramen originates from. The rich, creamy pork broth is probably the most favorite ramen style in Los Angeles.

At Ikkousha, they serve the traditional tonkotsu and a couple signatures; the tonkotsu black with black garlic and Godfire, a tonkotsu broth with housemade chili sauce. And if those aren’t your thing, there’s a veggie broth, shoyu hybrid that combines fish and pork broths as well as the tonkotsu topped with mentaiko. Once you’ve settled on a style, you can go down a checklist listing your toppings, spice level, noodle firmness, etc.

I decided to get a special that was available at the time, the Black Tonkotsu mixed with Godfire called the Black Devil. I really was starting to think I was reading anime titles.

Instead of messing around picking out my toppings, I just went full tilt and ordered the “everything” option. This  meant I got an extremely generous portion of wood ear mushrooms, bamboo, lots of pork, a wonderful egg and a ton of seaweed. I eventually also tinkered with the stuff on the table adding fresh garlic, chili oil and crushed sesame seeds.

 

 

My friend got a double order of gyoza. These were good and I like noshing on something in between bites of ramen.

 

 

My friend chose the traditional tonkotsu with minimal toppings. She liked her bowl though I suspect she may like her hipster ramen spot in Tampa more.

Welcome to Little Tokyo, Hakata Ikkousha. I want to try the mixed fish and pork broth ramen next.

 

Hakata Ikkousha

368 E 2nd St., Los Angeles, CA 90012  —  (213) 221-7920

© The Minty 2017