Haute Top 5: The Best Ramen Spots in Los Angeles

There's lines around the block for this Pasadena-based ramen house, where you'll find soup made off 100% pork bone. A must try is the tonkotsu bowl, which you can adjust to your taste by adding extra spices or a second helping of chashu pork.

It's a wonder that Tatsu isn't located in Silicon Beach, given that its ordering system has a tech touch thanks to a customized, easy-to-use iPad. At Tatsu, corn, fresh garlic and seaweed toppings are always free, the Tonkotsu broth is made fresh everyday right in front of you and it is VERY L.A.-friendly with an option to order gluten-free. What could be better?

Downtown L.A.'s Anzutei is as authentic as they come: it is the first eatery of its kind to serve the ramen Nagoya-style (Nagoya being an industrial Japanese city), which can be characterized by its ground pork, corn silk, Chinese chives, hot peppers and soy-enhanced broth. This is the real deal, and it's delicious.

If you're looking for high-end ramen, Ramen By Omae is the place. Takeshi Omae has a pedigree that won't quit: he's a Cordon Bleu-trained chef who trained under Masaharu Morimoto—he was an executive chef for Morimoto XEX in Tokyo and Morimoto's sous chef on Iron Chef America—and has also twice been awarded a Michelin star. His signature item—one you really shouldn't miss—is the burnt miso ramen. It's as interesting as it sounds: fermented bean paste is torched before tonkotsu broth, that's been cooking for nearly 40 hours, is added. It's flavor is smoky, sweet and unique.

After the success of its first restaurant on Sawtelle, Tsujita opened in a big way at Rick Caruso's Americana at Brand, serving its tonkotsu (pork broth) soup and Japanese cuisine in a glossy, stylized setting where a la carte items are also offered. Here, the ramen slowly simmers for 60 hours, giving it both a sweet and savory taste. It's a great spot to go for a taste of true ramen (it was created with the help of the owner of Tanaka-Shoten, a famous ramen shop in Adachi, Tokyo) that also has a sense of stylized Los Angeles modernity.