Mark M.
Yelp
Torrance Food Crawl #414
Ramen Josui (or "clear water") started in the Nagoya area of Japan. (Trivia: Nagoya is the fourth largest city in Japan). I read a story in The Japan Times that the original Ramen Josui restaurant in Nagoya is a destination for 'ramen crawls' mainly because of the popularity of their salt ramen. The owner wanted to expand to the U.S. market and this location was planned as the first location in the U.S.
Ramens are made up of five components: tare (the rich sauce that flavors your soup), broth, noodles, toppings, and oil/fat. I can't fault the ramen here at Ramen Josui in any of those five categories.
The first ramen I tried here was their signature Josui Ramen, which I was told is the closest to the original salt ramen at the Nagoya location. When I first tasted the broth, I knew this was something special. The stock is made from pork, chicken, and fish, and they come together in the best possible way, a richness and blending that was almost perfect. The noodles were excellent, the tonkatsu (pork) tender, and toppings such as the midori negi (green onion), menma (bamboo shoots), nori (seaweed), and daikon slices (radish) added to a more full ramen eating experience. I've tried this ramen probably half a dozen times and loved it each time - in fact, I like the broth so much I've thought it would make an excellent soup all on its own.
Another favorite has been the Miso Ramen. Similar to the Josui Ramen, the miso broth is excellent. It's broths like this that remind me that first tasting the broth is always the right thing to do when eating ramen. The wheat noodles, similarly to all the other ramens, were nicely prepared and cooked. I've never felt the need to order any extra noodles, the quantity of noodles is plenty enough by my standards.
The Kosoba Josui ramen is similar but has a pork-based broth. The broth is not as complex as that in the Josui Ramen, but still very good. The Shoyu Ramen is the same except that it uses a soy broth, and while it was excellent, I prefer the Kosoba Josui with the pork broth.
The Mazesoba was a ramen without broth, distinguished by its use of garlic chili oil, stir-fried minced beef, and a soft-boiled egg. This dish was labeled on the menu as spicy & hot (an orange flame icon), however, it didn't seem that spicy to my taste buds. (I believe I was told that it was a level one spice.) This dish was interesting because I don't usually have ramen without the broth, and while perhaps a little out of my comfort zone for ramen, I could see myself ordering it again.
All the other ramens are fine, just depends on what you like. The Tantan Men Ramen had a sweet ground pork topping, the Spicy Ramen was exactly as advertised, and even the Vegan ramens didn't disappoint.
If you would like some spice added to your ramen, it's available in four different levels, one through four. Personally, if I was in the mood for something spicy I would just go for the level two or three - level one is mildly spicy, and the level four is very spicy and probably at my transition point from an enjoyable spiciness to a 'challenge' level.
There are several appetizers to choose from. My favorites include the Fried Chicken Wings and the Takoyaki (octopus balls). I didn't care so much for the Takowasa (raw octopus) and cold sliced duck, but I guess those are more of an acquired taste so I can't be too negative about them.
This location can get quite busy. There are perhaps a dozen tables and a counter which is usually open except during very busy periods. If the place is full, just enter your name on the iPad at the entrance. Service has always been excellent.