Ramenya

Today I drove down a stretch of Sawtelle in west LA that I'd never been down before. It was almost like driving down Little Tokyo. Numerous Asian restaurants (and sushi restaurants in particular) pop up along Sawtelle between Santa Monica and Olympic. I went with my coworkers to Ramenya on Olympic for lunch. My mostly Asian associates have tried to get me to try real ramen before at Mitsuwa, but I was skeptical. Today I let my fear go and ordered a giant bowl of ramen. Most at the table got a spicy ramen with noodles and seasoned ground pork in a spicy egg drop soup. I opted for a lighter, meat free ramen that was full of tofu, noodles, and onions. Despite that there was no meat, it strangely tasted like chicken and dumplings (which to me is a good thing!). All of the ramen was huge and most was $7.50. No one was able to finish the whole thing and I don't think I even got half-way through. It'd probably be best to share, but I'm not 100% sure the restaurant would allow you to do so. Ramenya also has a few dumpling appetizers and several fried rice dishes. When you sit down at the table, you are brought a really strange tea instead of water. The group of us determined that the tea tasted like the drinking an ashtry, so no one drank too much. The space is really small, being able to only accommodate 30 people. Decor is nothing special, but I guess you get what you pay for in that arena. One con of the Asian spot is that it is cash only with no ATM on the premises. If you find yourself here with no cash, not to fear, there is a Cal-North Bank across the street. Second con is the parking. If you are feeling adventurous try parking in the lot next door. It's really for the surrounding frame store and copy center, but it's at the risk of being towed. We all tried it today, and when we came out one car had a pink sign that said "TOW" stuck to the back windshield. I suppose we were lucky to get there before being towed. I think Ramenya has another restaurant too called Asianya, but I'm not too clear on the deets of that location.

http://www.ramenya-usa.com/ramenenglish.htm