Daikokuya

Absolutely horrible customer service. I decided to stop in after seeing the positive reviews. There is no host/​hostess there to greet you or answer any questions. So I stood in the entrance, waiting for an employee to come by so I can get seated. A waiter comes by and I try to make eye contact to get his attention. He actively avoided eye contact and almost ran right into me as if I were invisible, leans out the door to tell someone their table is ready then turns around and speed walks away before I can say anything. So I continue to stand there in the entrance, a waittress comes by and I try to get her attention, she also completely ignores me (I guess they are trained to ignore customers?). Eventually the first waiter comes by and starts using the computer next to where I am standing (I am still invisible to him at this point), so I say excuse me can I sit at the bar? he just says «bar’s full» and starts to walk away again. So then I point to an empty seat at the bar and say what about there? Then he says can you just put your name on the list? in an annoyed way and starts to walk away again.
So rude, how can service people completely lack any sense of common courtesy? Instead these people just seem annoyed that customers even exist. I just walked out the door. I’m not going to give my money to a business that acts like they are too important to give customers the time of day

This place was on point. Service came out super fast. Noodles, friendliness and all the above. This place isn’t great for large parties just try to roll 2 – 4 max. Even four people is a large party for a room of 30 people. I’ll come out here again if I’m in the area.

I found out about this place through Unilocal.
I read that the wait time sometimes could be long here but surprisingly at 11:30pm on a Friday night, the wait time moved pretty fast.
Feeling sick, I just really wanted some comfort food; hot soup and ramen!
I walked in and immediately I felt like I was in a little village somewhere in Asia. The décor is really neat. Makes you feel like you’ve stepped into another world.
The menu can be kind of tricky to read but luckily the waitress was more than happy to assist me.
I ordered the spicy miso ramen with their shrimp tempura and rice. I really wanted hot tea too and luckily there was no charge for tea!
The spicy miso ramen was pretty spicy for me, and although I love spicy food, my tongue doesn’t. I ordered a soda to calm my burning tongue. For those who are sensitive to spice, you’ll want to skip this dish. It was still delicious non the less!
I wish I would have gotten more pieces of shrimp in my bowl but regardless it was good as well.
Everything was delicious and tasteful!
Service is great, the waitress will make sure you’re taken care even if it’s super busy.
If you admire the culinary world like myself, there’s seating in front of a window which you can look into the kitchen and see everyone working hard. Otherwise it’s a rather small place but the food speaks for itself. I can deal with a small space if it means I’m going to indulge in amazing food.
I was brought up as a kid to think that if restaurants are empty, it must not be that great. Luckily for this spot, it’s always busy and sure enough, the food was very tasty indeed.
I’ll definitely keep this place in mind next time I’m craving ramen from a place in the Westside.
Thanks again team! The food was delicious!

I’m still a newbie to ramen but this is by far one of the best ramen places I’ve been too. I ordered the Daikoku Spicy Miso Ramen and it was delicious! The soft-​boiled egg was my favorite part. I also ordered the Sliced Pork Belly and the meat literally melts in your mouth.
Everything about this place is awesome, from the food to the atmosphere. My friends and I (party of 4) had to wait about an hour before we were seated but we just walked around Sawtelle while we waited. I left with a feeling happy, full, and ready for a nap.
I would definitely reccommend coming here and would come back.

This was an unexpected surprise. Came here with some friends who where raving about the ramen AND, they were right. Got one of the ramen combos which get you salad, rice bowl and a ramen bowl. Everything was wonderfully flavorful and delicious.
Definitely a repeat.

This was my first time coming to Daikokuia and I really enjoyed it. If you’ll be attending with more than two people, definitely expect a lengthy wait. This is a super small cramped space but very fast paced. Had about a 45 – 60 min wait but the food took about 5 – 10 minutes to arrive.
I went with a group of four and ordered four spicy miso ramen soups, fried rice and California rolls.
The soups were good. Nicely seasoned and not too spicy. The fried rice was yummy and the California rolls were a typical safe choice. More than enough food.
I would definitely come back! But… Maybe just with one other person so we get seated quicker :)!!

Over the years, Daikokuya has become my ramen standard, against which I measure all other ramen joints. So yes, better ramen exists, but you can definitely do much, much worse. I typically come here to satisfy my cravings with a big bowl of spicy miso ramen (not actually that spicy). It is SOLID — $ 11 for a fresh bowl of amazing noodles & broth, fatty pork, and a perfectly soft boiled egg that makes my heart melt.
Daikokuya is slightly removed from the rest of the Little Osaka businesses, so it has an attached parking garage for your convenience (way easier than hunting for parking in the residential streets a few blocks north). The space only seats about 30 people, so you will often have to wait a bit. But no worries, there are plenty of nearby places to grab a coffee or boba while you wait. :)

I don’t really visit Daikokuya these days since there are many better options.
We had a late night at the bar celebrating a birthday and we were all craving late-​night noodles.
We used the trusty Unilocal app to find which noodle spots are open at 1:30 am.
On a normal day, I would not choose to eat at Daikokuya, but after a late night at the bar, I was thrilled to find out that Daikokuya in the Westside is open until 2 am!
This place is tiny and I was told that during the day there’s often a line outside.
Highly recommended for late night grub post bar or club night.

I usually try to find an excuse not to come here because I don’t like to wait very long for food! But we were on vacation and I wanted to take my boyfriend to a good ramen place to show him what SoCal ramen is all about.
We decided to go to this location in the hopes that the wait would not be as long. Luckily we came around 1:30−2 pm and we only had to wait for about 5 minutes. I was so shocked at how detailed and decorated the place was. It literally looks like a street in Japan! There is a sign that says maximum 30 seats, so I don’t recommend coming here if you have a big party.
Food came out very quickly and was piping hot! We ordered the Daikoku ramen and added corn and it was perfection. Service was excellent as well.
Credit cards are allowed if over $ 10. Metered Parking can be found on the street or in the garage for free for 2 hours.

Thrice I’ve been here. Thrice I’ve had my fancy tickled. But jeeze was the wait unbearable.
So I’ve tried two of their more popular choices, the Daikokuya ramen, and their spicy miso ramen.
How would I rate them?
BOMB AF.
So here’s how I rate this place. It literally feels like you’re in Japan. You literally feel as if you’re walking down the streets of Japan and eating at a local mom & pop shop. It feels truly authentic and rustic. Their ramen is one of the best that I’ve ever had. It’s understandable why the wait is so godforsaken shitty. If I’m ever in LA, I know exactly which ramen shop I’d most likely visit. And I say most likely because there are probably a slew of amazing ramen shops in LA, I just haven’t been to one better than Daikokuya.
I highly recommend anyone who love ramen go here. It’s absolutely fantastic, and it’s very good.

I don’t know what all the hype is about. This place is so small, cramped, and honestly, very smelly. The options are very limited and doesn’t seem clean. I tried the ramen and was completely unsatisfied.
The staff was very inattentive and forgot about us several times. I decently will not be back.

Delicious, classic ramen.
This is definitely the place to take someone for their first ramen experience. Simple ordering, good ambiance, classic flavors.
While these qualities are great for a first timer, they don’t really make for a unique or varied experience for someone who has already been. Personally, I love the ramen here, but I mean, I get it. After you go once, there’s no real need to come back. I wish they had more options! or at least some variety.
On the plus side, the wait time is really not bad at all. We typically get in after only about 10 – 15 minutes, sometimes less!
Definitely recommended to try Daikokuya at least once, especially for ramen newbs.

Daikokuya doesn’t disappoint. I’m finally seated after waiting 20 minutes in a place that purposely looks like a small back alley in a Japanese village. It’s kinda cool!
The ramen — delicious and satisfying. This is what you expect tonkotsu to taste like. The quality of the noodles and the broth is superb. Order the Daikokuya Ramen and yes, get it with the extra kotteri (pork back fat). Super savory and the portions are generous. I love it.
Save yourself from having to drive to their original location in Little Tokyo. There’s plenty of free parking here in the structure adjacent to the restaurant. You can never go wrong at Daikokuya. Aside from the occasional wait, this place is perfect.

Decent ramen.
I came during lunch time and there was a 20 minute wait at least. The inside is pretty small and had a Japanese alley dinning feel to it. It’s pretty crammed with everyone constantly hitting my chop stick while I ate.
I had the regular ramen and it was satisfying. The noodles were cooked good and the ramen both was rich enough to my standards. I also got the combo that came with fried rice which was good.
The service is whatever. It’s hard to flag them down when they are running around everywhere. They also messed up my combo and giving me a fish bowl.
Worth the try if you never been.

Not your typical ramen joint — Daikokuya started it all and recently expanded to the West-​side on Sawtelle. I feel that this location isn’t as good as the one in Little Tokyo, but it’s still quite good + the lines aren’t as bad. I haven’t waited beyond 25 minutes, although I would never wait longer than that. The noodles are always great, broth is good and egg is awesome.
There’s a parking structure next door. Seating is a little tight as the restaurant is quite small. I sometimes wonder why they didn’t go for a larger location.

Great place for ramen on Sawtelle. Taste is similar to the location in DTLA. I came in Saturday at 11AM and the place was already crowded but of course not as crowded as the one in Little Tokyo. The restaurant is TINY inside. They have few tables (extremely small as well) and bar seating. I love the interior of this Daikokuya though. It reminds me of the streets of Japan. Very unique and worth checking out.
Best of all, they have a parking garage right next to the restaurant. Although it does get packed too, it requires little walking to the restaurant! LOL
FOOD:
I highly recommend their Daikoku ramen — a rich and delicious pork broth, al dente noodles, char siu pork, perfectly cooked egg, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, and green onions. I mean, what is there not to love? I also suggest that you ask for their spicy oil on the side where you can control the level of spice you want in your broth. I basically poured out the entire oil into the bowl which gave it a whole dimension of flavor to the bowl. SO good!
The broth isn’t very oily or salty, which I always prefer. Portion is just the right amount of noodles/​broth and I leave perfectly satisfied and not gluttonous. However, I do wish that they put more char siu in the bowl. I was only given one and I was thoroughly disappointed.
We also got an order of takoyaki to share. Not the best takoyaki I’ve had but it was a solid option. It didn’t have as much as octopus as I would like in the middle but it was warm and fluffy on the inside. The sauce on the side was extremely yummy and it was a nice dish to share with the table.
SERVICE:
I like how quickly they serve the ramen here. This place does get busy so it is in their best interest to turn the tables around as quickly as possible. This is a good choice in regards to ramen in the West side.

I can remember Daikokuya like it was yesterday. I can remember how much I wanted to swim in a giant pool of ramen like that scene in Patch Adams. I can even remember the rookie mistake I made of ordering double noodles. Not my best moment.
After reading several reviews, I knew what I wanted going in, so we got there early and waited patiently to be ushered inside. Don B. describes the space perfectly, so I’ll pause here to let you read his review.
I went with the Daikokuya special ramen (no egg for me) with the kotteri broth. It showed up and my eyes widened to the size of the bowl before me. So much goodness in this large bowl. One point I do have to disagree with Don B. on, however, is the noodles. While I haven’t tried Tsujita yet, I appreciated the al dente nature of the noodle. If you like a rich, thick broth then kotteri is the way to go. While I struggled to get through the bowl (and the extra plate of noodles) it was well worth the trip up to Little Osaka to find it.
Ramen has definitely become something we regularly seek out when traveling to Southern California as Jacksonville has yet to catch on to the scene.