Gardena Ramen

I heard about this place years ago when I first became interested in ramen, but I didn't get a chance to try it until today. The ramen is perhaps the most soothing bowl I've had in a while. It's not as fancy as something like Santouka or Daikokuya, two places which definitely turned up the notch in ramen dining in SoCal and laid the foundations for newer establishments with richer broth like Yamadaya, Mottainai, and so on. The broth is lighter, barely touched by the fragrant oil on the surface. The noodles are on the thicker and chewier side and the pile in the bowl is generous. There is almost a homemade quality to this bowl with the cold half of a boiled egg and thick strips of bamboo (canned?), but better. It makes those other places seem incredibly trendy and commercial (yes, even though Santouka appears in the Mitsuwa food court). It's like a fight for whoever has the most kotteri broth. That's not the only kind of ramen out there. Gardena Ramen? It's all old-school SoCal.