One of the best things about Los Angeles and the food here is the abundence of Asian food. From Thai Town and Korea Town to Little Tokyo and multiple China Towns, there are plenty of options for getting homestyle and authentic Asian foods of all kinds in and just outside the city. One of my guilty pleasures in life is a big bowl of ramen noodles. Now, we're not talking instant ramen like we all lived off of in college…we're talking real ramen like they make in Japan. So I was excited to try a {new to me} ramen spot, Tsujita Artisan Noodle in West Los Angeles.

Tsujita specializes in Tsukemen-style ramen in which the noodles come separate from the broth. It's a 3-step process in which you dip the noodles into the accompanied soup broth, mix the black shichimi {black seven flavor chili pepper} into the noodles, and finally squeeze lime juice into the noodles enjoying the last of the noodles and soup. It reminded me of my trip to Japan a couple years ago when we had ramen almost every day.

They also have Tonkotsu Ramen {1st photo} in which the soup is made of pork broth and slowly simmered for 60 hours for richness. It's so savory and full of umami. We added seafood and an egg to ours for some extra oomph. Now that's comfort food in a big ole' bowl if you ask me! — Joy

Tsujita Artisan Noodle / 2057 Sawtelle Blvd / Los Angeles, CA 90025 / 310.231.7373

{photos by Bonnie Tsang for Oh Joy. My outfit: top from A-Thread, tank from StyleMint, nail polish is Essie's Cute as a Button.}