Ramen is Japanese comfort food and has taken LA by storm. While I enjoy ramen, I don’t care for consuming hot broth when the temperatures soar into the 90’s. The answer for ramen lovers in hot weather? Tsukemen. A restaurant named Okiboru recently opened and specializes in this version of Japanese ramen.
Located on Broadway in Chintatown
LA’s Chinatown is quickly transforming to an area filled with eclectic eateries. Okiboru is located in a new mixed-use residential commercial building on Broadway. The interior is modern Asian with Japanese hiragana characters on the wall. Black lacquered slats nicely detract from the ceiling air conditioning ducting.
Okiboru is set up as a fast casual restaurant. Orders are placed at the counter. Seating varies from bar height tables and chairs, conventional tables and a communal table. The kitchen is open and you can watch the entire process. Okiboru obviously produces a lot of noodles as they had 6 large 50 lb sacks of wheat flour in their kitchen.
Unlike ramen, tsukemen noodles are served in a separate dish. The noodles are either served cold or at room temperature and are slightly thicker than ramen noodles. The tsukemen broth is not meant to be consumed like ramen broth; it is actually a dipping sauce for the noodles and is served lukewarm.
Okiboru is co-owned by Sean Park and Justin Lim. Park held positions at WP24 by Wolfgang Puck and numerous LA area sushi restaurants. He spent the last two years studying how to prepare Japanese ramen noodles and during that time he learned how to make tsukemen noodles from scratch.
The tsukemen dipping sauce simmers for three days. It is a blend of pork bones and bonito that yields a meaty and hearty sauce. Because it is significantly reduced, it is better as a dipping sauce for the noodles instead of a broth that you would enjoy in a ramen.
The “Big Bowl” is their signature tsukemen topped with pork ribs, a marinated soft-boiled egg, and house-pickled radish. The pork ribs are brined and grilled to order. I wasn’t hungry enough to order the Big Bowl and selected the Grilled Pork Belly Chashu.
How Tsukemen is served
Dipping the tsukemen noodles into the dipping sauce
After tasting the noodles, I have to say that they are extremely fresh. When you grab them with your chopsticks and let them slip away, they bounce. This is a great sign of the freshness of the noodle. The taste is quite remarkable and difficult to describe in words. The chashu had a nice smoked flavor and it was definitely something that I would look forward to eating again. The dipping sauce was thick and wasn’t overly salty like some other ramen shops.
I like that everything in the restaurant is natural and any of the dishes they serve can be made gluten free using rice noodles ($4 extra). Even the chili paste for the noodles is made from natural ingredients and made fresh in-house. Okiboru serves Stubborn craft soda in their tap handled fountain. They have unique flavors like orange hibiscus and black cherry tarragon. Instead of a soda, I had an iced green tea for my beverage.
First-time tsukemen customers need not worry – tips on how to eat tsukemen are posted on the wall
The handmade noodles is definitely a reason you would want to try Okiboru. I like the fact that they don’t rest on their laurels. My dish had a thick dipping sauce that nicely clung to the noodles making for a great tasting experience. The smoke flavor from the chashu made this dish extra special.
Okiboru, 635 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012
okiboru.com