By Charly SHELTON

Hailed by food critics as L.A.’s best ramen, Tsujita opened its new location at the Americana at Brand to much anticipation this week. The Tokyo staple ramen restaurant opened its first Los Angeles location in 2011 at Sawtelle Boulevard just north of Olympic Boulevard and one block west of the 405 Freeway. Since then, it has received much critical acclaim over its ramen and tsukemen. And now with a location closer to home, it’s more convenient than ever to see what all the hype is about.

For the uninitiated, ramen has come a long way from the cheap packets of stiff noodles many remember from their college days. Ramen, when done right, is delicate noodles swimming in a warm, rich broth with meat, usually pork belly, and vegetables with a tea-soaked egg floating in the heavenly soup. Tsukemen is the dressed-up cousin of ramen, with thicker noodles served plain and in a separate bowl, which the diner dips in a thicker and heartier broth before being slurped loudly down.

Over the last several years, ramen has taken off as a major foodie food group in L.A. and everyone claims to know where the best ramen is. It’s always somewhere no one has heard of, is very exclusive and usually has a long wait. Personally my favorite place is Daikokuya in Little Tokyo, a little hole in the wall that you’ve probably never heard of that is frequented by an exclusive group of locals in-the-know, and I have never waited less than an hour for a table. See? It checks out. So to say that “a big, nice, new place in the Americana where seating is ample and a friendly staff welcomes any passers-by to a table” has the best ramen seems a bit lacking in mystery and enchantment. Be that as it may, it has been called “possibly the best ramen in L.A.” by LA Weekly, LAist, Vogue and a slew of social media posts. But of course in the midst of all those other publications is the one that really matters – CV Weekly. And we politely disagree.

I was invited to try the ramen and tsukemen at Tsujita this week and the ramen left me wanting. Anything else. The smell was off-putting and the flavor matched. Just when I was ready to jump ship, the tsukemen arrived. That made up for the terrible ramen. Whereas the ramen smelled like someone with bad breath licked a sock he found on the floor of a bus station and made soup out of it, the tsukemen was hearty and smelled like pork belly that was simmered over several hours. The thicker noodles of the tsukemen were great on their own or with the accompanying lime juice and only got better with the decadent broth. The ramen noodles were like the Easter grass that gets stuck to that last jelly bean you forgot about since Easter 2003. The pork belly in the tsukemen had soaked up all the oils and flavor of the broth, which complemented the stewed vegetables and bright acidity of the lime dressed noodles. So while Tsujita is assuredly not the best ramen place in L.A., it may well be the best tsukemen place I’ve ever been to.

The entire staff was very friendly and welcoming and our server, Joshua, was able to explain the process of tsukemen step-by-step so as to have the best dining experience. And although I will avoid the ramen like an angry ex-girlfriend, I will return to Tsujita and its delicious dipping noodles, hungry for more.

  Charly Shelton