This diminutive ramen shop is the best place for Japanese noodles on the Westside. With a composed, well-balanced broth that's not too rich, and sporting firm, high-quality noodles, it's a very good Tsujita competitor for Hakata-style tonkotsu. For something a little less heavy, opt for the chuka soba, a Tokyo-style bowl with a lighter broth.

When does mazemen (dry ramen) start to just resemble pasta? Maybe it doesn’t matter, especially at West LA’s Mogumogu which specializes in well-sauced, fully-loaded mazemen with toppings like chashu and poached eggs.

This tantanmen specialist on Sawtelle comes from the prolific Tsujita group, which already has two standout noodle restaurants on the block. What’s different about Killer Noodle is its homage to the spicy, Chinese-inflected tantanmen. With sesame- and pepper-laden noodles, the ramen is served as a noodle soup or “dry” on a platter. The waits can be very long during prime dining hours.

This all-ramen restaurant features a signature bowl with thick noodles and a dense broth that’s chock-full of garlic and pork back fat. The tsukemen’s broth is tinged with a vinegary kick and served with flat noodles that work well for dipping and slurping. Add a spoonful of chile powder for a dose of heat.

This Northern California transplant serves spectacular tonkotsu ramen with a deeply flavored broth and a fully customizable bowl where diners can choose from different noodles, tare, and toppings. The waits are at least 20 minutes and upwards of an hour during prime meal hours.

Originally from Tokyo, Tonchin LA takes over a prime Melrose Avenue location with sleek vibes, a cocktail bar, and upscale ramen bowls. Everyone orders the smoked dashi with whole clams or the tonkatsu broth. The shop’s thick, wavy noodles are made on the premises.

This focused ramen shop in Torrance serves polished bowls with a garlicky broth. Chashu pork melts in one’s mouth, while the noodles are of the thin, wheat variety common at Hakata-style shops. The tantanmen is mild, while the gyoza are terrific.

This ramen offering from the folks behind Torihei izakaya feels very much like a neighborhood ramenya in Japan, featuring an excellent tsukemen that's full of fish funk to go along with intense porkiness. The lighter Tokyo-style ramen has a terrific burst of bonito to round out the flavors without an overly rich tonkotsu broth.

This Orange County ramen shop recently expanded to Gardena, with a stall inside the Tokyo Central Market serving tsukemen and ramen. While the disposable bowls are an unfortunate aspect of this casual outlet, the specialty of miso-based broth — either tamer white miso or more aggressive red miso — brings a rounded sweetness and deep umami flavor.

One of LA’s most creative ramen shops comes from Top Chef winner Ilan Hall. To make the Grand Central Market stall’s signature vegan broth, Hall takes umami-rich ingredients like konbu and shiitake mushrooms and combines it with roasted sunflower seeds and white miso. The result is a rich broth that’s as good as a traditional porky one; a vegan “egg” tops every bowl.

This tsukemen specialist took over sister restaurant Aizen Udon, which moved to the Little Tokyo Marketplace a few blocks over. Tsukemen Aizen’s deluxe offering serves thinly shaved pork in a flower-like formation, along with a mound of thick noodles, spinach, lotus root, and boiled eggs. The star — a side bowl of fishy, umami-riddled dipping broth — coats every dipped noodle with an explosion of salty, fatty flavor. It’s pretty awesome to behold.