Men-Oh: Bowling a perfect 10 in Little Tokyo ramen

Tokushima ramen with a richly porky broth

Men Oh Tokushima is certainly no secret - it was named Little Tokyo's best ramen by Jonathan Gold in this exhaustively helpful guide to ramen published on Super Bowl weekend. But it's still so new that on the very day the article appeared, the ramen shop wasn't even crowded after a late afternoon visit to the Geffen's art book show.
Located in the Honda Plaza across the parking lot from Sushi Gen, where a crowd was already gathering, we couldn't help but feel smug that we would soon be slurping hot porky broth on a cold winter evening while dozens of people waited an hour to eat cold fish or milled in front of Daikokuya. Several young families had the same idea, and the multiculti toddlers of Highland Park or Silver Lake slurped alongside of us. ("But Violet, you love nori!") We tried the karage fried chicken, because TheJGold had suggested it, but really the ramen was so deeply flavored no other dishes were needed.
Tokushima is a region of Japan famous for its pork, and indeed this bowl does its namesake region proud.
Berkshire Kurobata pork bones are simmered until they cry uncle, then simmered pork and stir-fried pork belly are added to Men Oh's springy yet supple homemade noodles (medium thickness, straight, if you're keeping track). A perfectly cooked pasteurized egg floats in the murky depths. That's really all you need. It's been called a medium-strength broth, but it was rich enough for me that I could barely manage a single mochi from Mikawaya afterwards.
Men Oh Tokushima
456 E. 2nd St.,
(213) 687-8485