Orochon Ramen, Little Tokyo

I first heard about Orochon Ramen through a friend, who completed the Special 2 challenge over a year ago. After an appearance on the show Man vs. Food, everyone I knew started talking about this place. As someone who can handle spicy food, I decided I had to check this place out and see what all the buzz was about. I stopped in for a quick lunch a few days ago and even at 1:30 p.m., the place was packed with a short wait. After I was seated, I noticed that many diners were chugging water and sweating profusely. Not wanting to dive into the deep end, I played it safe and ordered in the middle of the road.

Food

Miso Ramen 3 Impact Orochon
7.45


The bowl of ramen is huge. The miso broth ramen came with sliced pork, wood ear mushrooms, an overwhelming amount of bean sprouts and bamboo shoots topped with green onions. The miso broth is ordinary with an strong salt flavor. The soup did not taste spicy to me, but others who have ordered a 3 have told me they it is the most they can handle. The pork is tough and dry and the noodles do not have the smooth consistency I enjoy. It was a disappoint bowl of ramen, especially after the butter miso ramen at the Umaimono Fair and the Daikokuya Ramen with kotteri.

I think this place gets a lot of hype because of the special 2 challenge and the wall of bravery for those who finish. For good ramen, I would go to Daikokuya.

Orochon Ramen
123 Astronaut E S Onizuka St Unit 303
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Parking
Very limited street parking and the underground parking lot can fill up quickly. The restaurant will validate up to an hour.