KOCHI

"About 10 minutes into your hour-long wait at Tatsu Ramen, you realize you don’t have this level of patience for a bowl of noodles. Turn around and scream-run until you’re out of sight from your friends. This is Melrose, so literally no one will be alarmed. Plus, now you can go to Kochi by yourself. The tiny udon shop on La Cienega never has a wait, service is quick, and the mentai cream udon with red caviar is one of our favorite bowls of noodles in West Hollywood." - brant cox

"This small, low-key cafe not only serves some of our favorite udon outside of Little Tokyo, but it’s one of the few restaurants on La Cienega where showing up in gym shorts is completely acceptable. Kochi’s menu is pretty big with everything from spicy tuna bowls to chicken katsu to premium bento boxes, but we recommend sticking mostly to the signature udon section. That’s where you’ll find earthy Japanese-style curry udon, uni cream with sea urchin and salmon egg, and our favorite, the mentai cream udon. This red caviar-topped bowl of noodles is a salty, buttery masterpiece and the perfect thing to eat alone while decompressing during a bad week." - brant cox

"At this point, you can walk about two blocks in any direction in LA and find a solid ramen joint. But udon? Not so much. So rejoice, West Hollywood - a brand new little udon shop opened right under our noses on La Cienega, and it’s serving some fantastic thick-noodled soup. The mentai cream with red caviar is our early favorite, but don’t pass up on the traditional broth-based bowls like the niku udon with beef and onions either. The service is quick, the space is quiet and casual, and you just got your new rainy day lunch spot." - Brant Cox

"Kochi is a small udon spot on La Cienega, and one of the few restaurants along that street that’s actually affordable and where showing up in pajama pants is entirely acceptable. Kochi’s menu is fairly big, but we recommend sticking to the signature udon section. If you’re in the mood for sea urchin, their uni cream udon is great - and at $18, pretty reasonably priced. That said, the mentai cream udon with red caviar is our usual go-to." - brant cox

"Just north of the Beverly Center, Kochi isn’t technically in Beverly Hills, but it’s close enough. The tiny udon shop has good food across the board, including a mentai cream udon with caviar for $14 which will feel good after you accidentally flip off an 80-year-old woman in traffic on the way back from Century City." - brant cox