Kouraku

Busy location but for a good reason. Good food, reasonable wait, good and polite service.

Officially recognized as the oldest ramen shop in America! Kouraku was established in 1976 at 240 E 2nd Street before relocating to its current location in 1986.I tried the takoyaki and yakisoba. Both very delicious! Must haves! Finished dinner with pudding, so good! The service was great! Part of the service was by human and part by robot who brought all my dishes :)Ambiance has a Japanese style diner! Please visit and support local business in Little Tokyo! This is a gem!

Dining at Kouraku feels like dining in Little Tokyo back in the 70s. The staff are primarily, if not all, Japanese, which is very unlike the majority of businesses in Little Tokyo nowadays. They're super friendly, professional and on top of their job. The only thing that throws off the old school ambiance is the robotic servers, but they're so darn cute with the music the play when they make their entrance and they even say goodbye after you've picked up your order. Overall, I think the experience alone is worth the visit. It's the oldest ramen shop in America, afterall.As for the food, I think it depends really on what you get. I got their tonkatsu ramen on my first visit, and the best way I can put it is that it's ramen before ramen got super trendy and overhyped. If you've mainly had expensive ramen, then this ain't it. There's no fancy ingredients - just the standard tonkatsu broth and modest toppings. I thought the chashu pork was a bit dry, so for that I give the tonkatsu ramen a 3.5 out of 5 stars.I also tried their gyoza and takoyaki appetizers, and thought these were really disappointing. The takoyaki had a negligible amount of squid inside, to a point I thought all I was eating was flour, and the gyoza was not crispy at all despite being pan fried. I definitely want to come back and try their curry and other rice dishes because I saw a lot of people ordering them.

Love this old school spot in Little Tokyo! Popped in just before the rush for dinner and we ordered the curry pork mix, the potstickers, and some meatballs; everything was just the same as a decade ago. Service is friendly and the delivery robot is so cute.

Visited on a Monday afternoon & we were sat right away. Food was okay, but unfortunately nothing special maybe it's because we both got curries? Price-wise was decent, about $20 per dish.

Just learned about the historic status of this ramen spot. I work in the area and have a couple favorites, but never considered Kouraku because it doesn't look enticing from the outside. The inside is nice, with a more vintage vibe. It's refreshing since so many restaurants have modern feel these days. The service was friendly and quick. I decided to order the standard/classic tonkotsu ramen. It was reasonably priced and included the egg. Another nice bonus since so many places seem to charge extra for the egg. The broth had a nice umami but wasn't overly rich. I finished the entire bowl and didn't feel like taking a nap immediately. The chashu was tender and cut thick. Overall, I enjoyed the meal, the vibe, and the price point. However, it wasn't necessarily spectacular. A solid meal with a solid price and chill vibe.

Open late, which was helpful but I was underwhelmed. Even though they say Ramen on the menu cover, it's more of a Japanese American dennys with an extensive set of offerings. Most troubling: the chashu in my noodles tasted bad. Old/on the edge of spoilage? Whole bowl lacked vigor. My companion enjoyed the texture of noodles but agreed chashu was bad. Divey ambiance, ok service, cool robot to do some table deliveries. Meh.

The last time I was here I didn't have a great experience. Somehow this time was different. Maybe it's the remodel that they did on the restaurant with the back booths and bathrooms. In any case, the service was much better and he actually took care of us and was on top of everything. The food is still good, but we really come here for the ambiance.Ambiance 9/10Bathrooms 10/10Cleanliness 9/10Service 9/10Food 8.5/10Value 8/10Will I Return? Yes, but not anytime soon

The Tenshin Chahan Annkake was delicious and my second time getting it. It's definitely a comfort food on a chilly day, filled with yummy warm chicken broth on the side and a thick broth sauce on the side of the dish as well. The egg paired well with the fried rice and had a good amount of shrimp. It's the star of the show for me, and I would definitely recommend it. The service was fast and had a robot serving the dishes, but the sound the robot makes goes from endearing to annoying pretty quickly. It's a busy restaurant but still a good place to chat since it's not too loud. Parking on the street or paid lot parking.

Best ramen so far I had to compare from Japan the Shoyu ramen I had here in LA. The soup was just right I loved the bamboo sticks that's the best part. The food was ready maybe like within 10 minutes the wait for it was worth it. The restaurant inside is super cute and I loved the pictures they had of Japan. Will I came back yes. Next time I want to try a miso ramen.