Toraji Ramen

Good Ramen Variety
at the Pacific Mktplace
In Gardena
If you are driving down Redondo Beach Blvd to that other Ramen Place, keep driving all the was to Toraji Ramen.
Toraji has a pretty easy to understand menu. There are pictures and explanations on the menus and at lunch they have specials like $ 1 for extra noodles or $ 3 gyoza. There variety Ramen includes Hakata Style with Tonkostu broth, Shoyu flavored Tonkotsu, basic Shoyu Ramen, Nagasaki Champon (seafood with a white creamy broth, kotteri style (thick and rich broth), miso ramen, and spicy ramen. With all of these different styles come different noodles from the super thick tsukemein style noodles with the kotteri broth to thinner Hakata style noodles. I love that you do not have to fill out a sheet of paper and that I have to rely 100% on the chef.
In addition they have every ramen add-​on, gyoza, curry rice, and other items for your non-​ramen eating friends.
I haven’t had a decent kotteri style broth in awhile so I was like «what the heck, why not.» I also took advantage of the $ 3 gyoza special. I purposely sat at the counter in front of the kitchen to watch the chef work who was a very petit woman. My gyoza came out pretty quick and with the gyoza they brought out the traditional condiments, like shoyu, mirin, and Chinese chili oil. If they left them out the Ramen newbies would be adding them to their ramen.
The gyoza was super hot, but not crispy, which is how I usually like it. I also like the stuffing with more texture, where this was just mush, although very tasty mush. While eating my gyoza I watched the Ramen chef put together my order. She took a lot of care putting it all together with the exception of the noodles. She had sloppy noodle technique, by just plopping the noodles in the bowl instead of folding them over.
The bowl looked gorgeous with everything meticulously placed on top. Moyashi, menma, negi, and the Charsiu. I immediately picked up the spoon and took the first sip of broth. OMG! It was so rich! Perfect. I took another sip of the broth and pushed everything on top to the side of the bowl and took my first slurp of noodles. The thick noodles were perfect against the marrowy thick broth. The noodles had the fresh malty flavor too, like the way beer smells when it is brewing. The memna was very firm, the moyashi was still crisp after swimming in the broth, and the charsiu was not too thick or fatty.
Service was great as I did not have to ask for anything and the waiter seemed to be right there all of the time.
I got there at opening time and around 1145 a number of Japanese speaking diners started to file in. About a dozen in all at different tables and one at the counter. When I was leaving at noon, it was a symphony of slurps and quiet.
I can’t wait to go back and try the Chanpon.

This place was hidden in the corner of an Omni Center. Its a little hard trying to find it without walking the perimeter of the place. Great part is that you have many Asian markets, restaurants in the area.
Ramen was great! I got the Spicy Toraji Ramen. Taste was just right. Not salty, full of flavor and pork belly was perfectly cooked. Price was $ 6 – 10 for ramen and they have a kid menu!
They serve green tea ice cream which is a plus and every server and cook in there are of Japanese decent.

A small hidden gem on Redondo Boulevard. You would not know this place was here if you didn’t look for it itself. But thank goodness we found it. Try the char sui bowl it is amazing!
Great staff, awesome menu

Toraji is currently one of my top ramen spots in LA. Try their Kotteri Tonkotsu Shoyu ramen (though I substitute its thick noodle for thin noodle, my favorite there) and Spicy Tonkotsu ramen. They have a great side dish menu that includes ramen shop standards such as chashu bowl and gyoza but they also have curry rice too. I have to give a shout out to the chashu fried rice, it’s good stuff.
My caveat to my review is that I had several of their other ramen and other than the two mentioned above, the others are a bit bland. So if you like favor go for the Tonkotsu Shoyu or Spicy Shoyu. If you like less salty ramen, try the others.

Pretty happy to have found a once again, normal shoyu ramen!
Environment
This is where my star dock is. It’s cluttered. Everything from the countertop to where they have the cups and register and all that to the wires connecting the cameras and phone cord, everything looks bleh. Inside the kitchen you can see bottles of condiments kinda not neatly put away, things like that. It reminds you of visiting that one relative who can never keep a clean house.
The clutteredness gives me an impression of dustiness, which doesn’t go hand-​in-​hand with a restaurant. And I’m not the cleanest, clean-​freak in the world. The general eating areas are clean though. But it kinda makes you nod as to why they have a B rating…
Food
I got the traditional shoyu ramen. Very good. Nothing gimmicky and no tonkotsu (thank god). Egg noodles, green onion, narutomaki, egg half, chashu, and seaweed. It’s like a ramen out of a manga book lol
Get this if you’re not a fan of fatty stuff.
Fried rice was eh. Didn’t have much flavor to it. It wasn’t bad, but I wouldn’t order it again.
Service
Normal, good, fine. Nothing to complain about. They’re not what I would call friendly but they make an effort to make their customers feel welcome enough.
Overall, happy that a place nearby serves good shoyu ramen. If they cleaned up the place I’d feel better eating there lol

Bigger than I thought it’d be. Really tasty! I’ll order this again. My hubs got the fried rice and ramen set. He really likes the fried rice! Ramen is good! Price is good for lunch

Skip ramen BUT Chashu Bowl is worth a trip. Chashu bowl is possibly the best I had in LA. It’s better than all the sawtell or downtown ramen places. I’d give 5 for Chashu Bowl.
Ramen? 3 at best. Shinsengumi in the next supermarket food court is better and cheaper. The base soup of tonkotsu here is overcooked; thus the smell of gamy pork permeates the soup too much, and also makes it the soup top thick, adding extra layer of cholesterol in your vein in a very bad way. Noodles were also unmemorable.
Someone try the Chashu bowl and tell me what you think — maybe because the ramen was so disorienting bad that I had different appreciation.

+Located in Pacific Square Shopping Center. This plaza has Tokyo Central (used to be Marukai) market as well as boba shops and Book Off. Plenty of parkings available.
+Toraji Ramen took place of Mottainai Ramen. Counter has about 7 seatings and there are 5 tables that seat 4 people, 3 tables that seat 2 people, and 1 table that seat about 8 people.
+I like shoe ramen more than tonkotsu ramen because of the noodle it uses. I like the wavy, thin noodle versus thick egg noodle so I opted for their shoyu ramen. Their shoyu ramen was good, nothing spectacular but solidly good. Ramen came with half boiled egg soaked in shoyu and it was delicious!
+My coworker let me try a little of his tonkotsu ramen and it was good as well. Their noodle seems a little thicker than other ramen shop noodles but it was good! Their noodle has good chewy consistency (Japanese would describe it ‘mochi mocha’) and it absorbs their tonkotsu broth well.
+i also got to try their fried rice & gyoza. I love fried rice and this Torah’s fried rice definitely hits the spot.
–I wasn’t too crazy over their gyoza. Nothing out of the ordinary so I probably wouldn’t order it again.
Curious to try other ramen from here, Toraji I will be back!

Yep, we are one of the few crazy people to get ramen in 90+ degree weather. Our original plan was to get chirashi at one of our favorite hole-​in-​the-​wall but the place was sadly out of business. S mentioned this place had really good Champon so we stopped here instead for lunch.
I’m sure Toraji is an acceptable ramen place in most cities, but since it is located in Gardena, the standards are much higher. We both ended up getting their #1 (which I think is their basic tonkatsu ramen) since they were running a promo for their 1^st anniversary — $ 5 a bowl. S added extra noodles for $ 1.50. I wasn’t terribly impressed with their noodles or their pieces of cha siu. The soup was alright. We added a half order of fried rice (~$ 3.50) and that was the standout of the meal.
Stick with their champon and fried rice. There are better places for your ramen fix (my personal favorite in the area is Ramen Yamadaya).
Parking: huge lot shared with Tokyo Central, Sea Empress, Carrows, etc…

This is my first time ever having ramen, and it was a pretty good experience. Came in to toraji because it was close to my cousins house. I ordered the spicy shoyu ramen with the pork on the side, adding corn and bean sprouts. The service was good, super nice a friendly. Accommodated everything I asked for and more. Add on ingredients were generous! A lot of corn and bean sprout, nice noodle texture. The only thing was the «spicy» could of been more spicy. I’m Indian, I love spicy. And the broth could of been a bit more flavorful, but was still good! The place seemed clean and renovated.
I wish I lived closer so I can come back, til next time LA.

I came on a Sunday at 5:30pm when they opened. We were the first ones there but it quickly filled up. Guess it’s a popular place.
The Service —
The service was really good. Our server was very nice and attentive, quickly taking our order, bringing out our food and filling up our water whenever it was getting low. If my memory suits me correctly, she was the only server for the whole place. Sure, it’s not a very large but she did a very good job.
The Food —
We tried a bunch of different things and, honestly, everything was delicious. The Fried Rice was better than your average fried rice you get at a ramen place. I think it was the meat in it that tasted so good. We also had the Gyoza which, again, was better than average. And, again, I think it was the meat. I had the Spicy Miso Ramen which came with ground pork and some kind of shredded cabbage or leek. It had just the right amount of spice and was very flavorful. I also tried the Toraji Tonkatsu Shoyu Ramen which had a buttery flavor that I really liked. Like I said before, everything was really good.
The Prices —
The Fried Rice was $ 6 for a full order and the Gyoza was $ 5 for maybe 8 pieces or so. Ramen ranges from $ 7 to $ 10, more if you get extra toppings.
Overall, I this place was awesome. I will definitely be back.

One of my favorite ramen shops in Gardena. It offers a good balance of quality of the food, atmosphere and price.
Atmosphere: Clean and classy ramen shop. Nothing specially cool but cozy. Maybe not suitable for your first date, but once you become comfortable, this might be a good date dinner. It is also great for family and groups too!
Ramen: I like Toraji Ramen. Thick Tonkotsu ramen… one of my favorite in Torrance.
Other Food: Not only ramen they have other Izakaya food (small Japanese tapas) so it is a nice place to have drink, eat and have some ramen to finish.
Service: people here work fast and hard. They are constantly moving and serve customers. I will give them a credit!
Price: very reasonable for the quality of the food.

Toraji is hands down my favorite ramen place stateside. I close my eyes and I’m in Japan. The menu is no frills and no gimmicks. Forget curry ramen. Forget chili ramen. Gimmicks are for those that have something to hide. Just tonkotsu, shoyu, and tonkotsu shoyu. The broth here is rich and flavorful without being greasy. The charsiu melts in your mouth. A soft tuft of green onions add just the right amount of aromatics.
Have a bowl with an ice cold beer and a side a gyoza. Listen to the 90’s Jpop hits, and you too, could be in Japan.
About the author: I know my ramen. I’ve had tonkotsu ramen in Kyushu. I’ve had chanpon in Nagasaki. And I’ve had many other regional variations all over Japan from Fukushima to Kumamoto, Tokyo to Osaka. My favorite will always be the tonkotsu in a tiny place in Fukuoka that is unfortunately no longer there.

Toraji Ramen is another hole in a wall ramen house that will sure knock your socks off.
In the corner of Marukai in Redondo Street in Gardena, you will find this humble ramen house. The location can be easily overlooked, but remains to be the favorite of the locals. What I love about this place is that it is quant, comprehensible and low key. There are no long lines to get a table. No teen agers giggling, children crying and obnoxious drunk Asians running around the place. The atmosphere is relaxing, the light is dim and the menu is simple.
They serve the obvious appetizers. There are no unnecessary surprises in the menu such as; frog legs, crispy liver or brain soup. Just the pure pork, chicken or seafood broth for ramen, the noodles are smooth and silky. Broth is not too salty and the flavors compliment each other just the way ramen is intended to be. They also have spicy ramen, my favorite. By the way, when I say spicy, I mean it is flaming HOT spicy. However, if you don’t like spicy ramen, I can assure you they have other popular items that will suite your need. the food portion is also very good.
The service here is fast, the location is clean and they serve beer. This is a great place for family and lovers to spend a peaceful night together, without any hassle.

Most of these reviews are spot on. its in a tough to find location and the food was excellent!!!
I was first bummed cuz I couldn’t find it tucked away in the corner and the strip mall looked desolate (especially on a weeknight where Mistuwa was closed due to construction)…
After circling the lot, I’m glad to say that this place is now in my top 3! Gyoza was yummy, the tonkosu ramen had just the right amount of flavor and not too overwhelming (take notes Daikokuya!)… I say that because every time I go there, I come out hating myself for eating so poorly
This place is of decent size and as the reviews say, not too crowded. Hopefully they keep it going, even after Mitsuwa opens their Santoka…

Eating ramen at a restaurant is one of those things I constantly have an inner battle with:
— On one hand, you can buy and eat ramen at home for as low as $ 0.50! Noodles are noodles, so why eat ramen at a freakin’ restaurant where they charge you 9 dollars for some noodles, broth, and 3 pieces of meat?
— On the other hand, this is RAMEN. It’s an art. YOU CAN’T get that «man it tastes like an iron chef made my noodles» taste at home. YOU CAN’T get that rich broth flavor with so much depth.
So, somehow after struggling, I and the dining companion ended up at Toraji.
Toraji is inside the plaza with the Maruaki. If you’ve never been to this plaza, just know that it is on the same side as the Sea Empress, a little ways past that Sanrio store and tucked away in the corner. He ordered the champon and I ordered the «#1 bestseller», which is the regular Tonkatsu ramen.
The champon’s broth was AMAZING, it had this great smokey taste to it that we both loved. The Tonkatsu broth was very good too and I got 3 very hearty pieces of pork — not those thin slices you usually get at other places. I actually prefer their broth over Shinsengumi down the street…*cue pitchforks* it’s a lot less greasy and it honestly just tastes better to me. AND, NO LINE!

This ramen joint is fairly new as it took over a former ramen place. For a Saturday night around 7:30pm, the place was pretty quiet. I ordered #1, which is one of their most popular ramens. The broth was creamy and flavorful. There was an abundance of chopped green onions, which I also enjoyed. The pork was just the right texture, not too chewy, and sliced thin enough for not over-​working my teeth and jaw. Side note, you can order an extra order of chasu separately and eat it alone or dipped in the soup.
I also had the cold seaweed appetizer. It was fresh and refreshing as the bowl was laced with a layer of ice.
Everything tasted good, the service was fantastic. The waitress came by just enough times. I wasn’t rushed and the ambiance included just the right amount of lighting. I would be open to coming back again.

I was searching for ramen on a Tuesday night. Normally this would not be an issue. However the cold rainy weather, combined with it being the day before New Year’s Eve, made all the ramen joints super crowded. I first tried Jidaiya Ramen and it was packed with a wait. Next I tried Ramen Yamadaya which was also packed with a wait. I was starting to wonder if I should change plans to a different cuisine. I decided to try one more place.
Steve S had recently come here and I thought it looked good. This used to be Mottainai Ramen. I couldn’t find the place at first. (It’s been years since I went to Mottainai.) There’s no large neon sign. Only a flag displaying Japanese characters. When you see Marukai, head to the right. There’s lots of small business. Just look for the white flag because there’s no sign up above.
To my surprise, it was completely empty when I came in. IMO this is due to the fact that they do not have a large sign like all the other places in the plaza.
Toraji tonkotsu shoyu ramen $ 9.95:
This was the best bowl of ramen I’ve had in a long time. I am very picky when it comes to ramen. It was an exciting discovery! All three components were good, which is a rare find. Not the best, but good. I’m still searching for the perfect bowl of ramen, which contains the best of all thee components (broth, noodles, and toppings).
Broth:
This blew me away! Best part, followed by the toppings then noodles. Huge depth of flavor. This is definitely not a subtle flavor! A great ramen broth walks the tightrope between subtle and powerful. This was definitely more on the powerful side — and it was good! Very well developed depth of tonkotsu and shoyu flavor. A rich and hearty saltiness. This broth must’ve simmered for many hours. I could taste the love and care. Some of my recent ramen exploits have been disappointing to say the least (2, 3, and 3 stars). This was a refreshing, reinvigorating surprise!
This makes me regret missing LaLaLa ramen week last month. I need to pay attention next time! (You buy a ramen pass for only $ 2, then use it at a variety of ramen places to get 50% off. It pays for itself on the first use!)
Noodles:
Firm, the way I like (not too soft/​overcooked). Thick. They were good; I like any thickness or thinness.
Toppings:
The pork was excellent. It was tender, fatty, and flavorful.
The egg was better than most places. It was runny still, not overcooked/​hard boiled like other places. When they leave it runny inside they have put the proper care into your bowl of ramen.
The bamboo shoots were crunchy and full of flavor.
Trendy, cute Japanese music played throughout my time in the restaurant. Service was good.
This was a marvelous bowl of ramen. Every single ingredient served a purpose. Nothing was out of place, nothing seemed foreign. I’ve tried places lately that have thrown random ingredients inside and it did not work well. This was a beautiful collection of ingredients destined to become married in a sensational, delicious broth. I will definitely come back. The only tough question then will be, stick with what I know is good, or try something new?
Despite reading Steve S’s review twice, I still managed to get lost looking for this place! They seriously need a large neon sign. The flag displaying Japanese characters is their only sign. It’s way too small and not high up on the same eye level as the other signs in the plaza. It also happens to block the view of their entry doors. I am not a business owner and have never worked in a restaurant, but c’mon, this is just common sense. To the owner of Toraji Ramen: all those crowds of people waiting at neighboring ramen joints could have been seated immediately in your restaurant!

Lalala Ramen Pass brought me here! I arrived 5 minutes before 1pm so I was able to try the Champon Seafood Ramen. They only give out 10 bowls a day so great timing. :)
I had a hard time looking for this place since their sign for Toraji Ramen is modest, you don’t see the English words Toraji Ramen driving by. Parking wasn’t too hard to find since it’s in a plaza, but it was busy for a weekday lunch time. Wonder if it’s always like this due to the Mitsuwa market.
I was seated at the bar promptly and while waiting for the magical 1pm time to start, I pulled up my ramen pass on my smart phone and showed it to the waitress along with my ID.
The Champon ramen is a… Champion! The bowl was large size and had a variety of items, I can see why the regular price of around $ 10 was justified. Not for the pure pescetarians though, there were small chunks of pork in the soup and a meaty broth. The ingredients were plentiful though: broccoli, wood ear fungus, carrots, cabbage, bean sprouts, onions, fish cake, squid and 3 small/​medium sized shrimp. The noodles are of a larger diameter and was quite enjoyable to eat or as fellow recent Unilocaler Steve S. mentioned… Slurp-​able!
The broth was what was really outstanding though, silky smooth without a drop of oil floating around meaning everything was well emulsified. Simply a high quality broth, I showed my appreciation of how well made the broth was by downing the entire bowl. :p
I drove so didn’t get to partake, but I noticed that there was Asahi and Sapporo on tap, with a variety of Sake good note for when eating with a party. Would encourage others to try this place out, at least for the Champon ramen. Seems like it’s pretty authentic Nagasaki cuisine, not that I’ve ever been but the waitresses and chefs are all fluent in Japanese so there’s that.

To slurp or not to slurp. SLURP!
Yes, you heard me, slurp when you’re eating ramen people. hahaha.
I saw an episode of Mind of a Chef where Chef David Cheng goes to Japan, has ramen and explains why you should slurp.
It’s to cool the hot noodles as you are sucking it into your mouth.
Make sense right. Well, I put it to good use today.
And guess what, He is RIGHT!
Slurping does cool down the hot noodles.
I’m slurping from now on. hahaha.
I digress:
Lalala Ramen Pass — Visit #1
I saw this on the Unilocal event page. Ramen Pass? I checked it out and wow.
It’s worth $ 2, but you get a 50% discount for specified ramens at select ramen restaurants. In my case, instead of paying $ 10 for a bowl, I only paid $ 5. SCORE!
My first stop was Toraji Ramen.
It was hard to find. They are on the right side of the Marukai Market. They didn’t have any signs up. The only sign they had was a banner going across their door.
Once I found them, it was all good!
It’s a small restaurant. You can see the chefs preparing the ramen, Yes!
I got seated by the bar area (since I was eating solo). Good view of the chefs.
I presented my Ramen Pass and showed my ID and I was good to go.
I chose the Nagasaki Champon Ramen (for this promotion, they only allow 10 bowls a day to customers with the pass) Score again.
The description for the Nagasaki Champon Ramen is «Champon with lots of seafood, meats and vegetables» The seafood part was 3 shrimps. The meats were chunks of pork. It had a lot of vegetables. I LOVE IT! I really didn’t care for the amount of seafood (or shrimp in this case) it was good enough. What got me was the rich champon broth and the great ramen noodles. DELICIOUS! The vegetables were also a hit for me. The meats were secondary to the vegetable for sure.
The service was good and fast. I got my ramen within 5 minutes.
Slurp away my friends, this is the way to have ramen and this place is definitely worth SLURPING at.
Try this place for yourself and decide!
2014 review #323/​365