Manichi Ramen

Wife and I took the Red Line from suburbia to Little Tokyo looking for a nice ramen lunch. Knowing the place a few doors down would be too crowded, we headed straight for Manichi, and were glad we did. The restaurant was busy, not full. We were greeted promptly and friendly. In fact, the service was excellent. I enjoyed my #2 ramen with a creamy miso broth. The pork and egg were delicious. The gyoza was excellent too. They don’t have beer, but you can bring it in. So for me, this is a great lunch spot.

We were hungry and we didnt want to wait at the other more popular ramen spots, so we decided to go here. Big mistake. My main problem was with the lackluster service from our waitress. After we were seated we got drinks but she ignored us when it came to ordering. Another waitress took our order after realizing we werent helped for 10 minutes. She was much better.
The ramen was okay, nothing special. Had the red ramen, noodles were too cold and the flavors were very one note.
We also got gyozas which arrived upside down and burnt. They are advertised as #1 gyoza in the menu so we felt a bit jipped.
Im not confrontational so I didnt ask to take it off the bill…
To be honest, with amazing restaurants a few steps away, in a rush you’re better off buying ramen from the supermarket.

I have learned to avoid Little Tokyo on New Years Day because you will experience a long wait anywhere in the area. My group and I ended up waiting at Manichi since we were tired or trying to find a place that had no wait time. We were eventually seated, and ready to order. Only thing was that our waiter took awhile to get back at us. By the time she came back, my group did go a little overboard on the food… which was ok since we got to sample a little bit of everything.
I went with the #1: Tonkatsu ramen. I thought this was good, The broth wasn’t too rich and the pork was tender. The soft boil egg and noodles was my favorite. I’m a sucker for a good soft boiled egg and chewy noodles. I recommended adding in the bamboo shoots, which adds a nice tangy taste to your ramen.
I got to sample other dishes, such as the spicy cod roe bowl. This was my least favorite dish. This dish was not spicy at all and super salty. I also tried the curry fried chicken bowl and thought it was lacking in curry flavor. #1 Oryza with extra green onions was pretty good, I like how they fried the gyozas.
Overall, I thought the place serves decent ramen but I found the sides to be lacking; I’ll be sticking to just ramen the next time I dine at Manichi.

And my first review of 2016 is going to my new favorite ramen spot: Manichi !!! (It was Santouka). The black garlic oil and freshly ground sesame seed toppings are just incredibly flavorful. Service is GREAT, cool atmosphere and best hot ramen I’ve gotten in Little Tokyo. The egg is a soft boiled one with the perfect yolk consistency– ha, the perfect ooze! I am not sure why this place does not have as much of a wait as Daikokuya next door (which is a little too salty for my taste buds– but would eat there if there was no wait). In addition to the ridiculously delicious ramen, you have to try the gyoza with green onions. It was voted number 1 for a reason and you will taste it. Parking is on the street or lot across the way.

I really like this place. Please open a location in West LA!
Location: look for a red, circle light-​up sign. There is a parking structure across the street if you can’t find street parking. Beware (as of January 2016) there is a lot of construction going on around that area is its a bit crazy trying to get through everything.
Food: I really like their soup broth :) so, so yummy. Initially I was sad that the chasu pieces were so thin, but they were cooked so perfectly, it didn’t even matter. Plus, they were pretty big in size so that helped too! While the red miso ramen wasn’t spicy (none, whatsoever) the delicious broth and yummy chasu made up for it. The only thing I didn’t like we’re the cooked bean sprouts. Not a big fan of bean sprouts, but that’s more of a personal preference. I just ate around them.
The boyfriend and I tried their famous gyozas as well. The skin of the gyozas were cooked perfectly. Like, I’ve never had gyozas with their skin cooked so well. It was soft with a nice crispy! Their dipping sauce was really good too!

One of the best Noodles texture ramen restaurant in town.
Awesome decoration and friendly servers add extra points to the restaurant itself

There is nothing better than a hot bowl of ramen on a cold winter night. But, with lines averaging about 75 – 90 minutes at 2-​of-​my-​fave spots in Little Tokyo, we needed a plan B. Anyone that has ventured in to Little Tokyo for ramen knows how long the lines can be at Daikokuya as well as Shinsengumi.
Manichi Ramen is located about ½-​block west of Daikokuya on the same side of the street. There was no line. We peeked inside and there were a few tables with folks dining. I was a little concerned, but I was more hungry than concerned!
This is obviously a new spot. Beer & Wine license is still being processed. The plus is patrons can bring their own beer for a nominal corkage fee of $ 1.00 per bottle.
Ordered the Tonkotsu ramen with a side of their miso gyoza. The ramen was ok. Nothing that would set the world on fire, just ok. I prefer my noodles al-​dente. The soup base was creamy but a little too oily for my taste. Garnishing was fine — sprouts, cha-​siu, egg, green onions.
The gyoza was average. Don’t know how it was voted the «best in Japan,» and with pan fried dumplings offered at ramen shops, cafes and restaurants throughout SoCal, you better be able to back up your claim.
Service was spot on. Restaurant is clean. Parking in Little Tokyo is hit or miss. Love the corkage fee idea for now. Definitely not a replacement to my «go-​to-​spots,» but definitely worthy of a try for those in the area.
Enjoy!

On a scorcher of a summer day, one should crave a hot piping bowl of ramen, right? Strange, I know, but that’s exactly what my family and I wanted after enjoying the Nisei Week festivities in Little Tokyo.
We didn’t feel like waiting at Daikokuya so we walked a few doors down into Manichi Ramen. It wasn’t blowing cool air-​conditioned air, unfortunately, but it was still a nice respite from the heat. The restaurant is tastefully decorated and not as crowded as Daikokuya, which we appreciated.
We each ordered a bowl of ramen and they were brought out quickly. I went with the Manichi Special #1 Tonkatsu Ramen and was impressed. It had a wonderful broth and tender chashu pork, all of the flavors blended well together, and the noodles were done just right. For me to eat something this hot (temperature, not spice, wise) was a testament to how tasty it was.
It’s not at the level of Daikokuya, but if you don’t want to stand in a long line, then Manichi is a terrific alternative.

I wish I could give this place 3.5 stars.
Japan’s #1 gyoza — really was average. I liked the crisp on one side flavor wise it needed their chilli spice and gyoza sauce as a combo to give it flavor.
I felt it’s name was very misleading.
#1 — it had a nice tonkatsu flavor. I added extra garlic and the spicy sauce.
#5 — kind of a sour taste rather than spicy
Spicy sauce gave this place a higher ranking.
I read in a lot of reviews that the service here is terrible. I completely disagree. I was very satisfied with the service

I would say that this Ramen place is pretty good, but not the very best. We came here because of the Unilocal reviews just to check out a new Ramen place. The place looks really good, they had very friendly staff, and everything looked pretty clean. Here comes the food
I had the number one, which is the most common Ramen bowl with the black garlic oil. It is their most popular item. I figure why not try it. It comes with pork, two halves of an egg, and their signature black garlic oil which gives it a smoky flavor. Don’t get me wrong, it did taste very good, but it just wasn’t the most flavorful Ramen bowl I have ever had. There are other Ramen places that are pretty comparable to this restaurant within the same two block radius. I am glad we tried it though, it was pretty good, just not the best. The garlic black oil was the one that made it stand out a little more than usual places, so I give them a bonus point for that. They also had extremely friendly staff.
I had a cod roe bowl as an add-​on for the combination. That one I did not particularly like because it was extremely salty, and it had too much of a fishy taste. Not the good fishy taste either. It was almost like it has been sitting in a bowl in the refrigerator for quite some time. Their curry chicken add on bowl was pretty good though.
We originally came here noticing the well-​known dumplings that were panfried. Unfortunately, they ran out. We were there at around 8 PM.
Overall, I would return here, but not as my first choice. I am still glad we came here to try it.

Definitely a thumbs up on this one.
Manichi has four base choices of broth from which to choose: black, red, white, and the Manichi special. The special version is a red broth with all the fun additives of a proper ramen bowl: chashu, onions, egg, spicy miso paste, etc. The other choices come a la carte, so most toppings you have to add separately. I recommend getting any of them with miso to strengthen the broth and give it that rich flavor and texture that belongs so well with ramen noodles.
The black broth is also excellent — it’s floated with black garlic oil and almost black peppery in nature — less heat than real spice, and without the miso is really a different sort of ramen experience altogether.
Red and white I’ve admittedly not yet tried — I’ll be back for more, that’s for sure.
The noodles, by the way, are more angel-​hair than curly, which is a matter of regional and personal preference but are quite delicious.
The off-​ramen menu is small but good: a few rice bowls, etc. The dry curry-​rubbed fried chicken is wonderful! And the fried rice is good. But what’s really worthwhile here besides ramen are the gyoza. Dipped in the perfect crispy-​juicy ratio, these babies are plump and come with optional toppings of green onions or a unique spicy miso topping that resembles an Asian version of chile con carne. Awesome.
The staff is wonderful — one of the owners even works in the kitchen! — and I’ve only had the most uplifting interactions with each of them, no matter what day I’m there.
I also love the open-​air kitchen as well — you can sit at the bar and watch the steaming vats of ramen as you slurp, not unlike watching the chefs at a sushi bar.
This place is great — another gem in Little Tokyo and, possibly because of its «new kid on the block» status or it’s temporary lack of liquor-​sale license (they’ve applied, but haven’t yet been approved) it’s less of a wait than some other local spots for comparable noodles and broth.

This place has been on my bookmarks for a while and I finally got to try it out last night. I arrived at 6pm after looking for parking (Meters are $ 4 an hour — quarters only). This place is located on 1^st St. close to other ramen places in Little Tokyo. It is easy to find though (easier than finding parking). Maybe we went a bit early but the place was pretty empty. The place has around 10ish tables in rows on each side of the restaurant with the walkway down the middle and the restrooms to the back left side. It didn’t feel crowded so I bet they can fit more tables in there if they wanted to.
As for the food, I asked the waitress for recommendations and she suggested the most popular dish: #1 Manichi Special Tonkotsu. My friend and I ordered the #1 and I also added a bowl of the Manichi bowl for a couple $ extra. The Manichi Special Tonkotsu Ramen was a combination of two flavors: garlic and spicy miso. Unfortunately, the soup just ended up tasting like a big bowl of salt. It wasn’t unbearable but pretty pronounced. The ramen was at least al dente and the chashu was cut thin and had a great fat to meat ratio. The egg was also pretty good;a little over-​cooked because the yolk was a little more coagulated than I like but it was pretty good. The Manichi Bowl, on the other hand, was just off-​putting. It was a bowl of rice topped with minced pork in the «Manichi special sauce». This special sauce was strange being a sweet and first but then after a couple more bites, the salt was just overpowering. It is not something I would order again that’s for sure. I wish I ordered the famous gyoza instead.
So why this 4 star rating? The food itself was really 3 stars but what made this newbie add a star (though it’s more of a ½ star) is because of the chef/(manager/owner?). He saw that I had not eaten a lot of the Manichi Rice Bowl and asked me why. I told him that it was too salty and he agreed! (o_​O) He mentioned that these recipes were passed down to him and he followed the recipes but did not completely like them himself. He immediately took the rice bowl off the bill and said that he was looking to revamp the menu to make it better.
All in all, the food itself isn’t the best. According to the chef, the menu will change in the next couple of months so I will be back when that happens. For now, I suggest bookmarking this place and coming in a couple of months. This place has potential with the service for the waiters/​waitresses and the chef, I think it can come out on top and compete against the other ramen shops (after this menu change… of course)

In japan we say that one way to find a good ramen shop is to find a place with an even-​better-​than-​ramen gyoza… and this place is it! it’s too bad it’s located right next to Daikokuya and they seem to get all the hype. I would come back here specifically for their gyoza — which was once rated number one in japan. The restaurant chain is I think most popular in Hawaii (?) but it has been around since 1954.
The wait was about 5 – 10 minutes, which is again nothing compared to the ridiculous line for Daikokuya. Parking is available anywhere around Little Tokyo. This restaurant is also family-​friendly; options for table w/​kid seats or counter seats. Fast and pleasant service too — they won’t make you wait with your check, they’d keep your water cup full, etc…
Everything was appropriately priced.
I ordered for 2 people:
1 fried rice (shareable)
plate of gyoza (set of 5)
Manichi Special Tonkotsu Ramen (x2)
The Manichi Special Tonkotsu comes with Ajitama (eggs) and bean sprouts, spicy miso, and chashu, and black garlic oil. Their broth is actually drinkable because it is 1) flavorful 2) not just a day-​old oil bath.
I’d come back here for their Red ramen or shrimp ramen (sounds interesting…), both of them i have yet to try;)

Manichi offers vegan friendly ramen. It’s their «vegetarian ramen» but I asked about the broth and noodles and neither contain animals, dairy, or egg products. Owner Mayuko also confirmed that their vegetarian ramen is in fact vegan. I made a suggestion to her to change the sign to «Vegan Ramen» since vegans and vegetarians can both enjoy it.
I ordered their Vegetarian Ramen ($ 13) with mushroom broth and spinach noodles. They have 2 options for broth: miso or mushroom. The mushroom broth was very flavorful, creamy, albeit on the saltier side but still enjoyable. On my second visit, I was able to order my ramen with less salt. The spinach noodle had excellent texture.
The reason for 4 stars and not 5 is because the volume to price ratio of the ramen is a bit high. After spending $ 13+ tax, I was still hungry.
Grateful I can enjoy a bowl of delicious cruelty free ramen. Thanks Manichi!

It was a chilly night in LA so my friend and I decided to check out Manichi Ramen. We walked past the line outside Daikokuya and got seated promptly.
We got some hot water to warm ourselves up and shared the delicious original gyoza. This was pretty damn good.
We both got the #1 Manichi Special with red spicy miso and black garlic oil. I thought the flavors weren’t as bold as they could have been, but I feel biased that I love bolder flavors. Maybe next time I’ll ask for additional, but I feel it should come out just right. Anyway, it wasn’t that spicy and the black garlic oil was not that intense. The ramen itself was pretty good and the chashu was tender and fatty.
We also shared a half fried rice that you could combo with your entrée. That fried rice was so good, even if I could make my own. Get this.
It was quieter here and I could actually have a long conversation with my friend without worrying that I was taking up space. A great place to get ramen but definitely not the best.

I’ve been coming to Manichi since they were in their soft opening, and I’m sad to say that their customer service has gone downhill. As I browse through some of their reviews, many people say it’s a great alternative if you don’t want to wait for their many competitors in the area, which is true. The ramen is good, but not great.
During my most recent visits, the staff, primarily the females, have a bad attitude and have no clue about customer service. On one occasion, we were asked to move (we were a party of four, but there was an empty table next to us), which is not a problem when you ask in a professional manner. The waitress comes over after seating us and says, «Uh, sorry, there’s a larger party that just walked in, I need you to move.» The restaurant wasn’t crowded and the table she had us relocate to had a large party adjacent to us that was on their way out.
A word of advice– if you come hungry, don’t order the extra noodles. The bowl came out overflowing with noodles so we asked if we could purchase extra broth. Our waitress said, «Oh, the owner isn’t here so we can’t do that.» Really?!?
No one ever checks on us while we are there, water/​drinks are never refilled and you have to flag down the wait staff if you need something.
Customer service is not their priority and I would much rather wait next door or down the block instead of dealing with poor service.

Nothing special here, and it’s quite obvious when all the other ramen places nearby have a wait time but this place doesn’t. Unlike other ramen restaurants, this place has a wide range of choices, varying in red, black, and white tonkotsu and regular, miso, and shrimp. They also have the special ramen which is their most popular item, but personally I feel like their ramen is too oily and salty for my liking. Due to the oiliness, the soup is undrinkable which really upset me as I love drinking my soup base while eating my noodles.
Adding on top of that, their famous gyoza was just a disappointment. Apparently they were voted #1 gyoza in Japan before… no idea how this happened but the gyoza barely had any meat in it. Coming here once is enough for me, at least I can say that’s one bookmark off my list!

I came in for an early dinner, knowing that it was a cold night and needing something to keep me warm for a few more hours.
Mainichi serves three kinds of broth: red (spicy), black (savory), and white (plain) or a combination of red and black.
The server pointed out their special combination 1 and 2 were the most popular bowls they served, so I went with #1. Number 2 is the same bowl but with miso.
I’m not a fan of thin ramen noodles. I don’t feel they absorb the broth and perhaps it’s even a texture thing as well. The noodles tonight were slightly undercooked. I could taste some of the flour and starch as I was eating the noodles and had too much chewiness for my taste. I found the broth was watery flavor wise, lacking the deep fat and rich people flavor I’m accustomed to. The tonkotsu was tough and chewy as well.
It does leave me curious to try some of their other bowls and see what the differences are. I’m not done with this place yet.

Manchi ramen is another welcome addition to the growing ramen crowd in Little Tokyo — looking at the area from five years ago, it’s really hard to believe that more ramen shops could’ve existed in an area with Daikokuya and Shinsengumi around (and let’s not forget humble little Mr. Ramen).
With Meh Oh Tokushima and Manichi being really good options, noodling in Little Tokyo has made decision making harder — and that is awesome.
Like any ramen joint, Manichi has its strengths and weaknesses — although I find the noodles to be nothing special and the delicious pork slices to be perhaps too thinly sliced, I feel the strength of a signature Manichi Special Tonkotsu bowl lies in its well cooked and well portioned broth, which is accentuated with the addition of black garlic oil. The egg’s also really solid — not too gooey in the center. Even though I feel this bowl is overpriced by a buck or two at $ 11.95, it’s still a winner and the only thing I’ve had in the two times I’ve been here.
I really look forward to coming back to Manichi ramen and adding a side of their famed gyoza the next time I’m here. Although I also like how much roomier and less crowded Manichi is compared to all the rest of the ramen restaurants in Little Tokyo, I feel like that will change as more people will see red and begin to discover this more than adequate alternative.
Also a big deal to me: they take credit cards.

Decent ramen, no crazy wait (like at Daikokuya next door), and friendly service. Manichi is a pretty good ramen shop in the J-​town area.
I enjoyed the #1 special with chili paste and black garlic oil. The soup was hot and not overly fatty. Noodles were ok but nothing outstanding. And the soft boiled egg and slices of pork done just right. In my opinion, it’s a tad bit expensive ($ 12) for what you get. Next time I’ll give their gyoza a try.
In my opinion, Manichi ramen is one of the better ramen shops in J-​town. I’d much rather eat here than deal with a long wait next door. Service is super friendly!