Mottainai Ramen

For lunch today, my husband and I went to this ramen restaurant in Gardena. MY ex coworker had recommended it and the reviews on Unilocal were reasonable but questionable too. We came in a bit skeptical… since it was only rated 3.5 stars on Unilocal,on aggregate.
We sat at the bar, there was plenty of seating. No A/​C at all, super hot in there, so we sat closer to the door, haha.
We ordered the following:
(1) Original Kogashi (pan fried) Miso Ramen (green onion, sliced pork, bamboo shoot, bean sprouts) with soft boiled egg, $ 9.00
This miso ramen was on their «special» menu so I’m not sure how long it’ll last or if it’s only offered for a limited time. It was very flavorful (but super salty), and I loved everything in it. They also gave us 1 whole soft boiled egg, and it’s $ 0.50 for each side of the soft boiled egg. If you want an entire egg it’s $ 1.00 Make sense?
— I also got Extra noodle FREE with student ID! There’s a sign posted above the kitchen that says if you have a student ID — they’ll give you extra ramen noodles with your meal. Score! My husband actually saw that, he has a good eye.
(2)Tonkotsu Ramen (green onion, chasu, bamboo shoot, nori)
My husband ordered this ramen, it was very light — slightly salted, and the ramen is thin (the noodles used in my broth were different than that used in my husband’s broth). I think mine was better since it was chewy! :) He still liked his ramen though because he doesn’t like super salty dishes.
I’d recommend getting the Original Kogashi Miso Ramen if you’re going to try this place next time! :)

This place has B grade. Waitress got mad at me for using the bathroom. She thought I wasnt going to eat there. I should have went somewhere else. Service is the worse. Food all very bland. Skimpy on everything.
I hope this place closes down. If the service represents the quality of the food. Then I hope no one makes the mistake of coming here ever again.

Sorely disappointed. Generally when JA people drive in from OC & pick any random restaurant in this heavily Japanese ‘hood, I expect no less than a home run. But Mottanai, translated in J as «a waste», was exactly that.
I ordered the spicy miso ramen. I can handle the spiciness, but the broth lacked any other flavor notes. The noodles were overcooked & seemed to be of the instant boil in the bag variety.
My wife ordered the shio ramen. The noodles were better quality in hers, but were seriously undercooked, so much so that you can tell they still had the flour on them that keeps them from sticking in storage/​transit. The broth was again better in hers, but was luke warm.
My time spent here was mottainai. I should’ve gone elsewhere.

This place is located next to the Marukai market in Pacific Square. We came around 7:30 and waited quite a bit to get a table. For 6 people, we ordered 2 orders of chicken karaage, 2 orders of the dumplings to start. We ordered various ramen bowls, but I ordered the tonkotsu ramen. I thought it was a bit salty but I loved the chewy texture of the noodles. I tasted my husband’s miso based ramen and enjoyed it more than the tonkotsu.
Overall, due to the other ramen competition in the area, I would give this 3 stars.

Three and one half, rounding up to four.
Ever since I have begun explored the South Bay area, I did noticed this ramen shop. Problem was, when I got hungry, it wasn’t opened. I made it an effort to go here after my adventure from the Del Amo Mall one night.
Upon entering, I only noticed a party of two at tables and a lone person at the bar. I was hesitate about staying; however, decided I was doing this for ramen and for Unilocal.Was greeted by a server to sit at the bar, facing the kitchen and had already decided on the Mottainai Ramen. Might as well try something that’s named after the store, you know?
The technique of how they made my ramen is similar to the commotion at any Daikyouya; a timer gauging when the ramen is done, broth being spooned out from a bigger pot into a smaller pot, and lots of toppings being thrown into the bowl. At least it looks like they know what they are doing, and they take the art form of ramen very serious.
In the case of taste, I would want to stay it’s a bit on the salter side, granted I did order the ramen which was a shoyu base. Love the fact that I didn’t have ask for toppings because the ones that came with the ramen was more than enough. And there was just enough chasu in the bowl to fill me up. The ramen itself reminded me of the egg noodles you would find at a random Chinese takeout place, except it wasn’t cover in sweet and sour sauce; instead it was swimming around in a pool of shoyu broth.
After seeing a few reviews about Mottainai, it looks like the place kind of downgraded a lot. (I could tell based on the proportion of the kitchen size to the menu: small menu, big kitchen, something’s not right.) And it looks like my ramen should have came with a soft-​boiled egg. And the reviews about the broth being lukewarm? I actually got my tongue scolded for two days because of the broth, so it’s not lukewarm.
The one thing that I did notice was the flyer hanging above the register, an extra bowl of noodles if you show your student ID. A good deal to point out, if you are hungry and around the El Camino College area.

YUCKY YUCK YUCK.
please do yourself a favor and skip this ramen joint. i ordered the mottainai and i can’t even consider this ramen. first of all, the broth was EXTREMELY THICK! the noodles, chasu, and the nori were all so thick. i couldn’t appreciate any taste or flavor in this ramen. i felt sick to my stomach after taking a few bites. to be honest the only thing i enjoyed was my egg. i wanted to ask for an exchange or a refund but i didn’t want to feel bad.
when the bowls arrived to our table, everything looked so murky and unappetizing. when i first took a sip of the broth, it had an odd taste to it. soup is supposed to be soothing and i did not get that at all.
the chasu was extremely hard. no fat whatsoever. i got the order of EXTRA meat and i regret that 100%. it almost makes me want to cry because i never had such a bad bowl of ramen.
service was slow because there was only one server working the dinner shift. the cool thing about this place is the fact that they give you additional noodles for free if you show your student ID. but it’s pretty wasteful because they give you such a huge portion for free.
i never been so disappointed with ramen. i can say that i enjoy eating 25 cents top ramen even more. i went home feeling so nauseas. it was pretty bad.

Menu changed several times, and with the latest change… I’m sad.
Generally I can only come here around lunch, and when they first changed the menu, they added a ton of items. They had curry, yakiniku don, and additional ramen, as well as the originals. With the latest change, the lunch menu now is essentially either tonkotsu or shoyu, with a few options.
You can get either type of ramen with a soft boiled egg (ajitama), additional chasu (chasu), or regular. I was really hoping for a combo on the menu, but the only rice related item that I could get was plain white rice –_​_​-​. I went for the Ajitama Tonkotsu Ramen and while the broth is still great, chasu still tasty, and the soft boiled egg amazing, it was just not what I originally wanted. Not really digging the bean sprout appetizer they had either. No gyozas or any other dishes either since it is only dinner. At $ 9, I was full off that seemingly small bowl of ramen, but dammit, I wanted to give them more of my money and order gyoza or something else!
Service is still very enthusiastic and friendly. While my coworker loved the simplicity of it all, sadly, I’ll probably hit up the other ramen spots now since I usually crave more than just ramen.

I was recommended here by a friend whose brother said this was the beSt pLaCE eVAR but it didn’t turn out quite as good as I had hoped. It’s located in the same square as one of the Marukai markets in Gardena, and is adjacent to the amazing sweet shop Mikawaya.
They have an interesting concept of flavor bombs where you can try to change the flavor of the soup by adding a «bomb» to it but I didn’t get around to trying that so can’t comment too much on it.

I wanted to try Mottainai after spotting it on Jonathan Gold’s LA ramen list and was sorely disappointed
/​/​LOCATION /​/​Tucked away in a corner in Pacific Square Plaza
/​/​SERVICE /​/​Our server was serving all the patrons in the restaurant so it took a while to flag him down for anything at all
/​/​FOOD /​/​They were sold out of the Mottainai special ramen although it was only lunch time
+ Chicken based ramen: The flavor was decent, but the cha shu pieces were very tough. In addition, the egg I ordered was obviously refrigerated and sliced in half when they threw it into my bowl. It was still very cold and not soft-​boiled at all. Absolutely no effort.
+ Tonkotsu ramen: The broth was for lack of a better word, murky. The bowl was very unimpressive in flavor

My mom has lived in L.A. for 51 years & has been on a quest for the perfect ramen noodle in L.A. for probably just as long. We headed to Gardena tonight at her request because she saw a segment on Japanese T.V. about Mottainai Ramen.
Here’s what we ordered:
Seasoned Octopus W/​Wasabi-​Good flavor.
Asparagus W/​Garlic Mayo-​My least favorite.
Eringi Butter (Mushroom)-My favorite. A nice firm mushroom lightly seasoned & sautéed in butter. Yum!
My husband, dad & I ordered the Mottainai Ramen Yokohama Style Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen w/​Red Bomb.-The broth, although tasty, was better with a kick of the Red Bomb. The noodles are a little too thick for my liking.
Mom ordered Kogashi Miso Sapporo Style Ramen. This broth was delicious! A nice smokey miso with a sweet finish. I would have added the Red Bomb to it. Her comment was that she still hasn’t found the perfect noodle that she remembers from her youth in Japan.: (
I ordered the Spicy Miso Gardena Style w/​chicken broth, ground pork, pork belly, & Green onion to go for my son. He said that it was O.K.
Too long of a trek from MPK for us.

2.5 to 3 stars
So sad! This used to be one of my top 3 ramen places, and I told so many people about it. Returned over the weekend after a long hiatus (due to trying all of the new ones that have come up), and I was surprised and sad to see that they changed their menu. No more Sapporo Lover. Everything was so serious and plain now. It used to be unique and exciting. I asked about which one was the Sapporo Lover (if it was still available). The waitress told me that the Sapporo Miso was the exact same. Well nope. It wasn’t. What made the old dish so good was the flavor bomb and smokiness from the charred black bits of toasted miso. The new version just tasted like basic miso ramen. They (now) use chicken broth instead of tonkotsu pork broth. Maybe that’s why it is plain and boring now? They may have used chicken broth before and if that was the case, then the toasted/​charred miso was what made it different. The noodles are still good, but they pack the bowl with so many of them and shrank the bowl size. It’s now so hard to eat anything without spilling overboard. Ratio of noodles/​bean sprouts/​green onions to broth is about 5:1. Too little broth/​too many solids. The chashu was dry and brittle with little flavor. The menma was ice cold, so my first bite was unpleasant. The overall taste was good, but it was definitely not nearly as good as it used to be. Plus the overflow made it annoying to eat.
Gyoza still good and very meaty.
My mom ordered the spicy miso, and the broth was too sweet. So odd. It was also packed with cabbage which was random.
I’m sad to say that Mottainai has been demoted, and I’m doubtful that I will return. Sad face.

Because I was here on a craving and they came through for me, 5 star top notch rating goes to them.
Service A+
Food=delicious hot and yummy
Free extra noodles with student ID= HELL YES
I’ve been dreaming of Mottainai since having it about a month ago. Ramen is probably my most favorite thing to eat… I miss them already.

I absolutely love the spicy miso ramen here! It has quite a bit of heat and great flavor. I also really like the gyoza which are nice and crispy on the outside with a tasty filling. It seems like they are frequently making changes and updates to the menu and I really hope they keep the spice miso just the way it is…
The sho-​yu ramen with the smoky flavored broth (now called «The Mottainai Ramen») was also one of my favorites but when my friend ordered it recently he said it wasn’t as good as it used to be. We talked to the server and she mentioned they did make a change to the preparation of the dish, so if you were a fan of the original smoky flavored sho-​yu be prepared for slightly changed dish.
If you are a regular here like I am, be sure to ask for a punch card so you can earn a free ramen!

They changed their menu and their food since the last time we’ve been here, and I don’t like it as much now. Hubby actually REALLY didn’t like it.
He had the spicy miso and I had the shoyu with bamboo and egg. Hubby’s spicy miso came with a pile of minced meat on top, plus swimming throughout, and a bunch of cabbage. The broth wasn’t bad, but he didn’t care for the extraneous crap throughout. I didn’t like the broth in my ramen as much as before, and I don’t like how they give you an egg whole without cutting it in half. It’s very difficult to get your chopsticks around a whole saucy egg, much less bite into it! Noodles had a good chewyness to them, but I couldn’t get past the oily, greasy broth.
We also ordered gyoza and a chashu bowl. The gyoza weren’t as tasty as I remember them being, and the chashu bowl was very boring– slabs of meat on top of plain rice. No flavor.
Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed after we dined here and both pretty much resolved not to come back.

Although my dad said that the serving portion is small, my family and I (including him) came here for dinner regardless. The décor was dark, with dim lighting and black tables and chairs. Maybe it looked darker than usual since it was at night.
We ordered the shoyu, tonkotsu shoyu, and spicy tonkotsu shoyu ramen, as well as gyoza, chicken karaage, and takoyaki. At about 6:30p on a Saturday, the place only had about 2 other parties, so we got our food in a timely fashion (important when you’ve got hungry kids). The gyoza was good — juicy inside with a crispy bottom. They also had gyoza sauce and homemade fruit based vinegar on the table that complimented the piping hot gyoza. The chicken karaage and takoyaki were good too, but they skimped on the octopus in the takoyaki (what’s takoyaki without the tako/​octopus?).
As for the ramen, my favorite was the shoyu. I actually ordered the tonkotsu shoyu, but the broth was thicker and oilier than I’m used to. The spicy tonkotsu shoyu was good too, but too spicy for my taste (I’m sensitive to spicy food so it may not even be spicy for others). I was a little disappointed that the ramen only came with seaweed, lactate-​fermented bamboo shoots (which I don’t care for), a thin slice of pork, and scallions (there was also a small slice of kamaboko/​fish cake in the shoyu ramen). Anything else was extra.
I can see why my dad said the portions were small, because everything we had was smaller in comparison to other ramen joints I’ve been to yet they cost just as much (gyoza — 5pc per dish, chicken karaage — 6pc per dish, takoyaki — small half circles instead of round and hardly any octopus, ramen — smaller portion…). I still gave them 4 stars because overall everything did taste good, and if I’m willing to come back to try some more, then it deserves just that.

I first found about Mottainai Ramen through an LA Times article about ramen which listed quite a few restaurants. Mottainai sits in the far right corner of the Marukai & Sea Empress lot. There’s a ton of parking when other patrons aren’t shopping.
I ordered a large «Sapporo Miso Lover», which I found to be quite good. The noodles had good chew to it. My partner in crime ordered the spicy Yokohama Pork Freaker with egg. The egg was an additional $ 1, but proved to be too salty that day.
Both broths were pretty good though I preferred the miso one. The other wasn’t terribly spicy which is good unless you are looking for a very spicy broth. Each comes topped with traditional things like veg, bamboo and some meat.
We also ordered some asparagus which came out quickly + pork belly kimchi. I’d probably pass on the latter as it was mostly kimchi.
I thought the service was also good and speedy.
Overall, the restaurant was clean and pretty quiet for a Saturday night.
It’s not the best, but nowhere near the worst ramen. A-​OK and middle of the pack for me.

They revised the interior seating as well as the menu. The latter is now more straightforward when ordering.
Not my favorite ramen spot, but it’s satisfying.
They took forever to get my gyoza order, and as a result gave it to me free! I think it was $ 3 but little things like that make a standout dining experience. 4 stars!

Wow! I’d been looking forward to this meal and then, major disappointment on my end.
I ordered Yokoyama Freaker Pork. Seeing just a slice of meat inside my bowl was a major red flag. No wonder people order extra chashu for toppings, that’s just absurd. Then I saw how thick the broth was and how the noodle was really chewy, boy, another 2 major red flags. But then, I ordered an extra flavored egg as topping, and I loved their eggs because the yolk wasn’t cooked well-​done, just perfect for the soup. My friend ordered the white bomb and I took a bit from him just to add it to my soup. Talk about fatty! This thing was the sh*t! However, overall this ramen didn’t satisfy my palette.
After having a conversation with Daniel L, I found out that I shouldda ordered the Sapporo, so I’m giving this joint a second chance to prove themselves. I might come back next weekend and see how the Sapporo would wow me and update this review.

Being a Japanese Ramen lover since spending a couple years in Ibaraki and seeing my trusted Unilocal pals raving about Mottainai Ramen had me planning a visit for a couple months. We had driven down once on a day the place was closed, so, the anticipation only built until this past Saturday. Sadly, like the Obama Presidency or the last season of Entourage, the real thing didn’t come close to my expectations.
I know some of my favorite buds on Unilocal will be disappointed with this review, so, I’m going to be very specific and clear. The problem wasn’t with the service or price. The 2-​star rating of «Meh, I’ve experienced better» comes from one thing and one thing only: the sub-​par ramen.
We tried two of the most recommended items: Sapporo Miso Lover with Egg and Yokohama Pork Freaker with thick broth and Wontons. We also got a Red Bomb (spicy chili paste) for the miso broth.
Ramen noodles come in many shapes and sizes from thin to fat and straight to wrinkled, however, the noodles at Mottainai are too thick (very very similar to spaghetti) and served slightly al dente. Both orders had the same uneasy crunch to the noodles.
The broth is absolutely critical to good ramen. The Yokohama Pork broth had a burnt taste to it. It was detectable in both soups by the pair of us, but especially in the Shoyu-​based soup. The usual joy of slurping down an entire bowl of ramen broth wasn’t possible with the strong charcoal after taste.
Unfortunately, the extras didn’t help cover for the noodles or broth. The Pork slices were extremely thin and lean. They might be healthier, but they didn’t taste soft or juicy. The Wontons were ridiculously salty … seriously salty. The bamboo in both orders was bitter. The Egg was the right texture, but ice cold inside and who wants something cold in their ramen? All-​in-​all, the bowls were a serious let down.
For a side, we ordered the traditional ramen sidekick Gyoza, but Mottainai didn’t have any. Really? I asked the waitress again and she said they only make 20 a day. Really? Anyways, we switched to Kara-​age (Deep Fried Chicken). It came served on a bed of greens without any dipping sauce or flavor. The dark breading hinted at being cooked in old oil. Chicken meat was also below average as one piece had some stringy ligament that I couldn’t chew. Can’t recommend the Kara-​age.
Parking was easy in the huge lot for the supermarket. Service was fast since there was only one other table when we arrived at about 9:00 p.m. on Saturday. Prices were standard.
So, with apologies, Mottainai Ramen earns a 2-​star rating. I heard the phrase «mottainai» often while living in Japan in reference to not wasting something (e.g. even a grain of rice during a meal). My advice? Don’t waste your time with Mottainai Ramen when other places nearby are better.

3.5 stars rounding up because of the friendly service and the PURSE HOOK.
Yep, that’s right. A purse hook! As soon as my bf and I sat, our server put a cute little floral hook that hung off the edge of our table and placed my purse on it so it was dangling off the table. Hard to describe in words so just see the photo I uploaded. :) The only other time I had something separate holding my purse at a restaurant was at Alex in Las Vegas and that was like a Michelin star fancy dining experience!
This place is definitely more spacious and less crowded than Hakata Ramen across the street. We were seated right away and it was actually pretty empty… but I’m not too surprised because this place is SO hard to find! There’s no big sign for it, and it’s located at the corner of the Pacific Square plaza. They have a little easel outside with specials listed, as well as their menu. That’s the only way you’ll really know you’re at the right place.
You can choose from 3 different broths: shoyu, pork, and miso. My bf and I both got the pork broth which was actually called Yokohama Freaker. hahaha unique name! Here, you don’t get to customize your ramen as much as in how hard you want your noodles, how oily and thick you want your broth, etc. I was also a little disappointed by my ramen noodles. It was a little too thick for my liking. The broth was pretty good though, especially with the WHITE BOMB added which is pork fat & garlic! Sounds kinda gross because it’s almost like a little white ball of lard, but I thought it made the broth taste much better! :)
We also tried the japanese fried chicken which was actually boneless! But the seasoning on it was reallyyy tasty! But I kinda almost wished they were wings or drumsticks instead.
Overall, I’d probably be willing to come back but Hakata Ramen still has #1 in my heart & tummy!