Cochinoman tech, sushi, poker
As you may have read previously, I’ve tried getting the ramen at the main Tsujita Artisan Noodle located on Sawtelle. Unfortunately, they only serve ramen for lunch and I cannot seem to wake up early enough to get there for lunch. Once again, I missed the deadline but noticed the “Annex” across the street.
As you can see above, it’s a tiny location right next to a garden supply store. What’s strange is, apparently George doesn’t like people from the Noodle place parking in his micro 3 car lot. So much so that Tsujita has cones with signs reminding people not to park there.
So then, the Annex decides to put chairs in it’s single parking space they have, since apparently there are tons of people waiting to get inside. I guess Tsujita couldn’t make some kind of deal with George to allow their customers to park on his lot.
But I digress.
Let me start by saying that this place is tiny. It has bar seating and one table with 4 seats, and one table with 2 seats. That’s it. Next, let me warn people that they only take cash payments. No credit cards accepted. Lastly, as of this writing, they are sold out of miso flavored soup, and only original flavor is available.
First, the good news.
The original flavored soup is amazing. I assume it’s the same as the soup they use at the regular Tsujita across the street. If so, I’m already in love with it. The chashu pork and egg are also excellent.
Now the bad news.
The Annex is serving a “new” type of ramen which is apparently very popular in Tokyo. It’s much thicker, about 3/4 the thickness of Udon noodles, and is cooked “al dente” and is very firm. Personally, I love Udon so normally, I would not have any problems with thick noodles. But what they serve cannot be described as ramen noodles at all. It’s just not ramen when they are this thick. It’s Udon. Frankly, I don’t like al dente Udon, and I didn’t like this new thick al dente “ramen” at all.
What a buzz kill. Here I’m thinking that I finally get to eat their famed ramen, and instead end up with some newfangled Udon-ramen that I don’t care for.
This was supposed to be a quickie review, where I say something like “This is the best ramen ever!” and instead it turns into a parking situation review where I have to say, if you like ramen, stay away.
Tsujita LA Artisan Noodle Annex
2050 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-231-0222
tsujita-la.com/annex.html
