Last week, we went to
Ramenya in West Los Angeles for lunch. All four of us ordered the Ajo (garlic) ramen (two with wontons), with two orders of gyoza and one order of fried rice. I always order the ajo ramen at Ramenya; it's comparing apples and oranges, but it's tied with
Santouka ramen for my favorite ramen at Los Angeles. I find myself at Ramenya more often as the Santouka ramen is extremely rich and porky. Only
Ippudo in NYC has better ramen than these two shops, mostly due to the springy-ness of its noodles. I love the ajo ramen; despite having at least 20 cloves of garlic; it doesn't taste overtly garlicky (in fact garlic, particularly raw garlic, gives me heartburn, and chopping garlic with the lingering smell is one my least favorite kitchen tasks). The garlic just adds a great fragrance and texture, I love the combination of the fried garlic slices and the whole garlic, which is actually quite sweet and edible in its entirety. The chives add nice flavor and a little texture and the broth is flavorful without being overly rich. Occasionally it is too salty, but you can ask for more plain broth to dilute it. The gyoza are perfectly fried with a very thin skins, although the pork and vegetable filling could be just a bit more flavorful. The curry fried rice was a little dry, but I've had other good fried rice dishes from them. Ramenya is a solid lunch spot and probably one of the places I go to most often on a regular basis.
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