Believe it or not, as close as I live to Los Angeles, I hardly ever go.  It may be close (2 hour drive), but you really have to plan on spending a full day there or else the drive isn’t really worth it for me.  I’ve explored small parts of Korea town, but this time around I wanted to visit somewhere I’d never been before.  This trip around the corner is about Little Tokyo.

I concentrated most of my short time within the little village they had located off of 2nd street.  The Japanese village had a lot of cute little shops and restaurants you can just browse.  There isn’t much else besides that to do or see here, but if you venture out to the surrounding areas there is a peaceful garden, musem, and a few temples to visit.

I loved the enchanting atmosphere the little village gave off.  There were beautiful trees, paper lanterns strewn all  around, and even a lady making some heavenly red bean filled pastries.

Lunch of my choice in Little Tokyo was in a tiny, but packed, ramen house called Daikokuya.  I was worried that any ramen I had outside of Japan wouldn’t live up to my expectations, but Daikokuya pleasantly surprised me!  So far it’s the closest tasting experience to what I had in Japan.  From the firm fresh noodles, the tender pork, and down to the savory broth, everything was delicious.  Still not as good as the ramen I had in Japan, but it’s close enough so I’ll defintely be returning.

I hope to explore more outside of the Japanese village next time and visit one of the temples or the museum.  What I did experience so far was fascinating, and I would recommend anyone living or visiting L.A. to stop by Little Tokyo; even if you have just a quick stop for lunch.

See you in the next post!