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In comparison to the number of Japanese places serving Udon around town, the options for Ramen are relatively slim. Fortunately, there are two great Ramen joints not too far from my house. Asahi Ramen was the first place I tried, years ago on a friend’s recommendation. Located on Sawtelle, Asahi stays fairly busy, be prepared to wait, especially for parties larger than two. The wait isn’t too long though, I think the longest I have sat in their outdoor plastic chairs is about 15 minutes. When you do sit down you are served a small sample of spiced pickles and water while you decide what to order.

All of the Ramen options are served in generous bowls, with salty broth which can be ordered with or without MSG. I usually opt for the MSG free broth, because I can’t taste the difference, so why not skip a little sodium. My normal order is the curry ramen, which has a nice spice to it and potatoes floating in the broth along with the noodles. When I have a cold or it is chilly, it can’t be beat. The Wakame Ramen is tasty as well, served with seaweed and other veggies. My fiancee sticks with the Wonton Ramen which, as the name implies, comes with both wontons and noodles in the soup.

A few things to note about Asahi though, they only take cash and they aren’t open on Thursdays. With most dishes priced under five dollars though, you can usually find enough cash in your pocket to cover the bill.

Wakame Ramen

Wonton Ramen

ASAHI RAMEN
2027 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025
Tel: (310)479-2231

By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.