Restaurant: Yamadaya Ramen
Location: 11172 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232. (310) 815-8776
Date: December 15 & 21, 2016
Cuisine: Ramen
Rating: Solid traditional ramen
As one of the only other well-reviewed Ramen joints in Culver City I pretty much had to try Yamadaya.
It’s located near the 405 and Washington, which while only a mile or two from Downtown Culver feels like a totally different place.
The interior is “minimalist.”
They do have a big hood. I have hood envy.
Soy sauce, vinegar and the usual on the table.
Gyoza. I like gyoza. These were fine, but not great. They could have used more porky punch.
Tonkotsu Ramen. I sorta wanted to try the shio style, but the server recommended the 20 hours Tonkotsu broth. Most LA Ramen shops focus on tonkotsu which is a Kyushu style. Kyushu is the third largest Japanese Island, in the south, and is host to Fukuoka a fun city (I’ve been 3 times) that is renowned for its food.
Shio Ramen. The mixed chicken and fish stock broth. This version is very light. Pleasant and tasty, but not particularly rich or interesting.
In any case, back to Yamadaya’s Tonkotsu, which was solid but not exceptional. Very traditional with the egg, chashu, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, green onions and the thin white noodles. I like thicker noodles with more texture myself. Certainly this was a “real” ramen, and as such very enjoyable, it just wasn’t particularly novel or anything.
Yamadaya has quite a number of other ramens, including shio, so I will have to come try them, and they have curry and a number of other traditional items. So I’ll be back to fill out the report.
