Tatsu – Ramen With A Soul
2123 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025

$$
Evan – Happily Satisfied
Tenny – Delighted

EVAN:

So, for our first installment of Just Noshing You I took Tenny to one of my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles, Tatsu – Ramen With a Soul. This was my fourth time going, and per my usual, I ordered the same exact thing. I always go to restaurants thinking I am going to try something new. I get the menu, look it over, then choose to get something I am already familiar with. Tatsu was no different.

I ordered the Naked Ramen, mild, normal garlic, normal green onions, added chicken breast and a soft boiled egg. When I get my bowl I do not add anything from the array of items on the table. Pretty basic. I love this dish, it is my favorite out of the two dishes I have actually tried. I had the Bold Ramen the first go around, been eating Naked ever since my second visit. It’s my go-to.

As an autistic person, the constant business of this popular spot can be a challenge. There aren’t a lot of seating options. You can sit at the bar looking in at the kitchen. There is a community table where you can be seated with strangers (which is a big NOPE). Or there is outside seating which is terrifying because that is where all the overflow of Tatsu and neighboring restaurants ends up walking about. I like sitting at the bar because you don’t have a view of the crowd. You focus on the kitchen. The only downside to sitting at the bar is that the kitchen has a fan going at all times. You have to pretty much eat your food straightaway or it gets cold from the fan.

We did order a Juicy Pork Bun to try, as I hadn’t tried it before. It wasn’t bad. But the menu says it is “Succulent pork belly bits on lettuce stuffed in a warm rice bun topped with green onion and sesame.” It says nothing about a sauce! There is a white sauce on it. I am not sure what it is, but I did not really like it. So I let Tenny eat the most of it, till there was just a bit, by the edge left. Yay! Less sauce. I will let him tell you his take below.

TENNY:

This being my first trip to a ramen house, I suggested that Evan order for me – and I asked her to give me what she thought would be a pleasing, yet typical ramen house experience. As it turns out, “pleasing yet typical” is more or less the whole menu at Tatsu… and Evan suggested the Bold Ramen with pork belly. With regard to my chilis, I asked for “quite a kick” – and I asked for maximum garlic, a moderate amount of green onion, and a helping of their seasoned, soft-boiled egg.

Because I’m not generally a fan of eggs, and boiled eggs least of all, I figured I’d start there and get into the rest of the dish with the worst part behind me. As it turns out, the egg was perfectly prepared with a nice vinegary tang and a runny yolk to lend some texture to the noodles and broth. I ate that egg right up, and I dove into the noodles and pork belly.

What struck me right away was how the noodles were delivered to the table while they were still al dente, before the soup had time to soften them up too much. What’s more, they tasted like fine grain flour and not overly bleached. Wonderful. As advertised, the pork belly was succulent and rich, grilled to a very pleasant crispiness. The broth was rich and flavorful, although in hindsight I could have asked for more chili. Because I’m not someone who considers myself a heatmonger, and because I did see a lot of white people working behind the counter, I’m wondering whether they might need a little extra encouragement when it comes to really pouring on the chili.

In the end, all the flavors married very well. For all the specific attention lavished on each component of the bowl, it came together as a soup without demanding that I focus my attention on this or that flavor or texture. In Los Angeles, the city that runs on ego, it was definitely refreshing to see a dish with so much work going into it “get out of its own way” to let me enjoy it on my own terms.

While Evan was a little put off by the white sauce on the pork bun, I’d gladly eat five of them in a sitting. Made from the shavings of the pork belly I enjoyed so much in my soup, and with a rice bun that feels light and floury just about disintegrates in your mouth on contact, it was a pretty nice mix of textures and flavors and it just filling enough to accompany my ramen. Having a Kirin Ichiban to drink was an especially good choice alongside the pork bun.

Bravo, Tatsu. I see why you’re one of Evan’s favorites, and I look forward to making you one of my home restaurants over the years to come. Thank you for a sensational and delightful meal!