Beni Tora

This place has some decent food and truly should always be known for their GIANT Gyoza! Located amidst the Mitsuwa Marketplace this little dining establishment has some spotty service, an average menu but some really tasty Gyoza. The unfortunate thing is that there is usually a wait and the front counter lady isn’t all that nice… Overall, I’d recommend giving the Gyoza a try and getting some ramen or other main entrée at another place in this market such as Hokkaido.
Pros–
Low cost
Broad menu
GIANT Gyoza
Freshness
Cons–
Usually about 20 mins wait if busy
Seating is rough
Average service
Main entrees are average

Beni Tora is located in the Mitsuwa Marketplace. It’s like a food court but Asian food.
I ordered the curry chicken with rice and I would say that it was average tasting. The order came with an abundance of rice and I didn’t get a chance to finish all of it. However, I did end up finishing up all the curry chicken. My order also came with soup which was all right. I didn’t finish it just because it was cold.

Original Chinese Ramen
in the famous
Mitsuwa Food court
First off, Beni Tora is not like Panda Express, but a Tokyo based Chinese style eatery. They are located by Hamada-​ya and have all of the popular Chinese dishes in Japan like Mabo-​tofu, Ramen, giant gyoza, and yes the latter two are originally from China.
Just like Kobe beef, the Japanese take something and try to perfect it, and the same with Beni-​Tora. Chinese pan-​fried dumplings do a have a thicker wrapper but a little bigger than the typical Japanese style, and Beni Tora makes them bigger and more flavorful, to the point that I do not dip them in soy sauce.
After trying their gyoza 8 months ago, I finally came to try out their «la-​mein» since the line at Santouka was 20 people deep, and let’s face it, Santouka is great but not worth waiting 40 minutes. So I ordered the special Tan-​Tan-​men which comes with a hearty pork broth and 3 kinds of pork, which are a thick piece of BBQ pork (2CM thick), roasted pork, and ground pork. The noodles are very similar to the squarish lo-​mein you would find at many Chinese places.
The broth was very rich and seasoned perfectly, but not as hot as I would like it, but the noodles were hotter than the broth. The menma was a little soft. The roasted pork was cold, but the ground pork and BBQ were both very warm. There was also a lot of kuro Goma sprinkled on the dish, which was a little much. Everything in this dish made it very complex, withe the flavors, textures, and the temperatures, which seemed the total opposite of Japanese Ramen where the Ramen master is going for more simplicity.
If the line at Santouka is long, I say ditch it and go to Beni-​Tora for some Tan-​Tan mein.

Tomato tantan men… doesn’t that sound amazing? Some type of Japanese version of some spicy tomato soup was what I was expecting. Something good for the heart and good for the soul. Packed with a load of carbs that would make any Asian tummy happy.
What did I get you ask?
At first I thought the visual presentation was quite acceptable. Some grease puddles but nothing to be overly concerned about… but my oh my was the broth thiiiiick!!! As soon as I picked up the tray to bring it to my table, the whole bowl jiggled as if it were gelatinizing right before my eyes. I couldn’t have seen that correctly right? My doubts were solidified as soon I chucked it down onto my table. The soup was constructed like a tank!!! It would serve as an excellent shield during a zombie outbreak. pardon my zombie reference, I just finished an episode of the Walking Dead. All you Walking Dead fans shoot me a holla!
The flavor was okay. It had a decent spicy kick which I always appreciate in my soups… but where was the tomato flavor at? The only tomato flavor that j got was from the peeled tomato right in the middle of the bowl encased by the meat chunks. The meat and the noodles did add a great chewy texture to the entire dish though. Anyways, lets get back to how think the
broth was. It was thiiiiiiick. It made he entire dish incredibly heavy. I was unable to finish it… Tis was a great shame.

I usually come to this Mitsuwa to get okonomiyaki, but I sometimes come to this place for the ramen. They have the best cuts of chasu pork. These chucks are huge, like 1 inch thick, seared for extra flavor. This time around, meat was a little dry though. Noodles’ texture are like the ones from shin-​sen-​gumi, but not as flavorful. And soup is not as rich (fatty) as daikokuya’s kotteri, but my palette tends to more bland food. They top it with bamboo shoots, green onions and sprouts. Pretty decent place if you’re looking for ramen without the hype of daikokuya.
Be warned though every here is like super-​sized, the bowl is huge, even the gyozas are like 5 inches long.
Oh and lastly, they now accept credit card which is a plus given that all the other shops here are cash only.

What is this… A CHICKEN CUTLET FOR ANTS!!!
How can we be expected to be full… if we don’t even get enough chicken to go with all the rice???
I don’t wanna hear your excuses!!! The chicken has to be at least… THREE TIMES BIGGER THAN THIS!!!
–Derek Foodlander

Small portion for the pork belly on rice and sauce, for $ 9.25.

I ususally go to the place next door, but I found myself wanting to try this because my friend gets the gyoza and it’s killer. Well, the cutlet with spicy sesame caught my eye behind the register, and I went for it. To put it bluntly, it was not good at all. It tasted bland, had a pretty lousy texture, was supposed to be a little spicy but had zero spice/​flavor or anything else. In addition, the breading on the chicken literally fell off and the chicken was rock hard.
I would give this one star, except I think I really got the wrong dish. I’m going to try the gyoza next time or maybe the spicy tantan men, but a piece of advice, stay away from the chicken cutlet.
Service was fine and the food came out in a timely manner. Mitsuwa’s almost all cash-​only, so keep that in mind when coming.

I came here for one reason and one reason only — HUGE ASS GYOZA. Yes, I couldn’t resist the moment I laid my eyes on them in the display case. I knew I needed it no matter what I was ordering for lunch that day… I had to get some to partake in such a beautifully ginormous gyoza.
When it was finally ready, the gyoza was massive, large, humongous, etc… you get the point. It was like my dream became a reality! It was fried perfectly and the filling was so delicious and just amazingly glorious! This actually exceeded my expectations so Bravo!
No matter what you get in the Mitsuwa food court, you must get an order of large gyoza! But if you want some, just make sure you got some cash or won’t get any!

I had such a bad experience last night. The cashier was a Hispanic guy with the black framed glasses. Some of my coworkers already ordered by the time I order 6 gyozas, but the cashier guy told me he can’t take any orders now because they were so busy and we have to wait for 10 mins. I asked him if he can take the order now and give it to their cook 10 mins later, he said he cannot do that otherwise the cook will be mad.
I waited for a while then asked him if I can order, he said no I still have to wait. And by the time he was messing with the receipts on the trays and there were like 4 trays in front of him because the rest of my coworkers ordered some gyozas and other dishes. I said I really dont want to wait anymore and asked if he can take my order and hold it himself then give to the cook 10mins later.
He said «fine!» in a really mad tone and started to ask what I want to order. I told him I want 6 gyozas and he was smiling and said «you know what? those just ran out». ARE YOU SERIOUS? If they already ran out, why can’t you say it the first time when I try to order gyozas???
One of my coworkers ordered two gyozas but he got the whole order wrong. Then when we were eating, he brought two gyozas to her and say thar hes so sorry about the wrong order. ARE YOU SERIOUS? You just told me minutes ago they ran out. By the way my coworker’s boyfriend is next to her, he’s a big and really tall guy.
This is the longest review I ever write. I just really mad at that lying and lazy cashier. Bad customer service.

OooWeee! There are some GODZILLA SIZED Gyoza here!!! Never seen ‘em this big before! There are quite a few choices for chow INSIDE The Mitsuwa Marketplace in Torrance, but what do you choose among the many eateries found in its food court?!? Kinda looks like they’re all basically servin’ the same thing, right? Beni-Tora’s claim to fame has got be their Big Gyoza, with some large signs trying ta sell ya on it. You can see it from a far, but it doesn’t do it any justice. I basically gave it a, «Yeah, sure it is,“until we walked by and peeped out the window displays. Nuthin’ normal about those things!!! They ARE BIG! No way we’re passin’ those up, so me & the light-​eater staked our claim here while the rest of the fams continued to wander… See ya!
*BIG GYOZA: It’s counter service here and we didn’t have to wait too long before our number was called to pick up our food. They’re pan-​fried golden brown and there’s a nice aroma to them when we picked up our orders, which gets the tummie churnin’ more in anticipation, gah! Each is about the size of a Asian soup spoon. Biting in to them, they’re kinda like the Chinese xiao long bao in that there’s quite a bit of «juiciness» to it, but not soupy, which was a pleasant surprise! First bite and me & the light-​eater looked at each other with a «Whoa, this is GOOOD!» face! We sure enjoyed it! My light-​eater devoured his and agreed this is THEE fave Japanese gyoza place:)
We gotta hit this spot more often! Maybe they have uncooked options so NEXT time we can order a bunch to pack in the freezer! Beni-​Tora Big Gyoza fans fo’ sure!

I’ve gotten the BEST gyoza from here. This has to be the best I’ve ever had to date! The filling is very well seasoned and the gyoza is oily but not too much. The filling is also not too moist. The gyoza was just perfect!
On my second trip I tried the Shoyu ramen and some more gyoza. The gyoza was as good as I remembered it. The ramen not so much. Since Santouka is in this plaza I would skip this place and go there for ramen.
The two times I’ve been here I’ve gotten my food very quickly. The customer service has been great both times as well, which is very important considering how the service is so iffy at Mitsuwa. I can’t wait to try more food from here, the curry looks especially good.

It was definitely a 4 stars place after eating their delicious Tomato tan tan men, but sadly when I ate their champon and some of the rice dishes, I had to take one star away…
Tomato tan tan men was very good, not heavy at all and comes with one big whole tomato. Perhaps the tomatoes in soup are out of can which is O.K. since it was yummy: P
I was disappointed with their champon. It was one of the ramens the server recommend, but it wasn’t impressive at all. The broth was bland and it did come with a lot of veggies in it, but mostly the cores of cabbage: /​
Both pork rice (with a lot of cabbage cores, again) and Mapo tofu were on little too salty side and they were both mediocre at the best.
Too bad they were out of giant dumplings which looks like their most popular dish. I definitely have to come back and try them. Hopefully they are filled with good amount of meat, not with cabbage cores… :p

Very inconsistent.
I’ve tried their seafood chanpon, special tan tan men, mabo tofu, and giant gyoza.
I’ve had the seafood chanpon several times, and it’s hit or miss each time. First time, it was super delicious. Perfect broth, lots of seafood, and well cooked noodles. Second time, it was super salty with lots of addition of spicy peppers on top that didn’t make the dish spicy, just peppery.
Special tan tan men came out lukewarm, not even hot, and all the toppings were cold. You could tell they had the meat and the egg all pre-​cooked and refrigerated, then just added in to the broth when the order was placed. I wouldn’t mind that if the broth had been boiling hot, but it was just warm at best. I like my ramen broth piping hot, where it’s necessary to blow on it to cool it down before each bite. Worse yet, when I bit into the meat and the egg, it was actually cold to the bite.
The portions are generous and the toppings are hearty. I might try this place again, but overall, not too impressed.

Pretty good, hit and miss. I’m a little sad because the last two times I went, it seemed like their soups (tantanmen) got too thick. Also their curry got sweeter (in a bad way). Ignoring that, for the moment, this place is quite good. It is def. a different style than other Japanese places in that they have more of a slap in your face flavor profile. Their giant gyoza are quite good too – not just a gimmick. I’d avoid their «normal» ramen as santouka does it way better across the food court. I haven’t tried any of their other dishes but I will be sure to later.
Also make sure you have ample napkins as the large amount of oil in their soups splatters everywhere, esp. the chili oil, making everything red and slick.

I like «you get what you see» in the windows. A lot of times, displays or pictures on the menu book can be pretty exaggerated, but here, you don’t be deceived.
I got the beef chop sui over rice, and two of those giant fried gyozas.
Gravy over the beef chop sui isn’t too salty or too greasy, it was just about complimenting the fresh veggies and thin sliced beef enough. The rice portion is a bit much, I want more protein.
Gyoza is one of the best of all other casual japanese food corners. The filling is hearty and I really enjoyed the drizzle of sesame seed oil over the dumplings.
Good place to grab a quick bite.

— Locale Destination —
It’s located on S Western Ave and W Carson St in Torrance.
It’s in the food court at «Mitsuwa market». Peak time could be hard to find the seating spot. Just go away from the seating area in front of the R restaurants. They have a little more seating area by the entrance. Parking shouldn’t be the problem. Service is pretty quick.
Cash only — it’s in «Mitsuwa» food court. What do you expect?
— Gluttony Expedition —
Gyoza: Very big, but it was just ok: p You can even buy it by the piece ($ 1.20/each or so), which is cool.
— Conqueror’s Deduction —
Well, I need to try their noodles.
Gyoza itself isn’t memorable in any means.

Beni Tora offers a variety of Japanese and Chinese flavors, including ramen and rice dishes, such as Mapo Tofu. Located inside of the Mitsuwa Marketplace food court, I’ve always passed by their display case and noticed their HUUUGE GYOZAS!
Food:
— Shoyu Ramen and Gyoza Set — A flavorful, yet not overly salty shoyu broth with a couple slices of pork, flavored egg, bamboo shoots, and lots of greens. The pork was a pretty fatty… too much for my liking, but I know that a lot of people are a fan of this type of pork. Comes with two gyozas.
— Gyozas — Probably three times the size of a typical-​sized gyoza! It comes with a shoyu dipping sauce, however, the inner meat contents are so flavorful that you really don’t even need to use the sauce! The gyozas are $ 1.20 each or $ 1.00 each if you buy 10.
If you order to-​go, they separate the noodles from the broth so that it doesn’t get soggy! I thought that this was a nice gesture. I will be back again!

I am a firm believer that the broth is the most critical component of ramen. That being said, I was blown away by some amazing pork belly topping at Beni-​Tora.
Beni-​Tora is located inside the Mitsuwa Marketplace in Torrance. I’ve always walked by on my way to Santouka ramen. I finally decided to mix it up and go for it.
My friends got Santouka and Hannosuke, but when I sat down next to them with the largest bowl of ramen they had ever seen, I was the center of attention. Basically I learned that the $ 12.95 pork belly ramen special should be split by two people. I had to take half of it home.
Toppings:
This is the first time I have been thoroughly impressed by a topping. There were two huge pieces of tender, fatty, flavorful pork belly in my bowl. I savored every bite, along with the broth and noodles in a continuous cycle.
I was impressed by the watercress as well. I’ve never seen watercress in ramen before. It was fresh, and added a nice peppery element to the dish.
Broth:
I believe it was a shoyu broth. It was not the best I’ve ever had, but it was good. A good broth hangs on the ledge between rich and subtle; this broth was more on the subtle side, but good nonetheless.
Noodles:
Firm, the way I like them.
Would I go back to Beni-​Tora? Yes. The pork belly was so good. The OCD in me wonders whether or not I can buy just the pork belly by itself. Then I can add it to the shoyu ramen from Santouka, thereby creating an all-​star, ultimate, favorite ramen bowl!

Beni Tora (or Benitora) has good service, and the food is good as is the portions, but the pricing is a tad higher than I’d anticipate for a food court lunch.
The Pork Belly Yama Ramen was good, not necessarily great. It had a bit too much fillers like bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, carrots and cabbage VERSUS having more ramen noodles, and I’d speculate it’s not because of the cost of goods for noodles versus vegetables, it’s maybe just the chef’s style and preference.
The famous Ramen place across the way in the same food court has better noodles and soup with similar pricing.
The Pork Belly (Char Siu) is better here at Beni Tora ‘tho, and they give a lean cut (not as fatty as the ones across the food court) and generous portions comparably.
The soup is savory and thick, so isn’t as brothy as others.
My lunch cost $ 12.75 (so call it $ 15 after tax and throwing the change in the tip jar) without a beverage. So, that’s a bit more than I’d be accustomed to for a casual lunch of noodles in soup. Granted it’s a large enough portion for nearly 2 meals.
They feature GIANT GYOZA (Pot Stickers) but the day I went they were SOLD OUT, which I’d say could be a testment to the quality and freshness (I’d speculate they’re fresh made, not frozen, otherwise why would they ever sell out), which looks worthy of trying the next time I visit.
Parking is easy here, it’s in the Mitsuwa Plaza with the shopping super market and all of the small boutiques. They also have underground parking if it’s raining or you want to keep your car cool if it’s hot outside.