Tsujita vs Tsujita
It’s not often that you find a restaurant you are willing to frequently drive 40 minutes each way to. Tsujita is one of the few that makes the cut. If you aren’t familiar, Tsujita is a ramen shop specializing in tsukemen (dipping style) ramen in Sawtelle. They own two ramen shops, Tsujita LA Artisan and Tsujita Annex, that are right across the street from each other on Sawtelle Blvd. What we found was that they serve two completely different styles of tsukemen.
*From here on out, we will refer to Tsujita LA Artisan as Tsujita #1 and Tsujita Annex as Tsujita #2*
Our go-to tsukemen spot (not that there’s too many to chose from in the LA area..) is Tsujita #1. You can expect to wait at least 15-20 minutes before getting seated, but the wait is always worth it. When ordering, the wise move is their tsukemen with chashu. The noodles are thick and springy with a perfect texture to compliment the thick, creamy tonkatsu tsukemen broth. You can add some lime for a nice acidic layer of flavor (only one of us ever does that). When you’ve finished your noodles you can either a) order more noodles in classic boss fashion or b) ask for some soup wari which is dashi that gets added to your tsukemen broth that you can drink as soup. Personally, we find the tsukemen broth without the wari a little bit too creamy and salty to drink on its own. But, if you’re down with that, more power to you.
Onto our experience at Tsujita #2. So, we’ve really been putting off coming here just because it’s such a far drive to Sawtelle and the allure of Tsujita #1 is way too hard to resist; however, we finally broke free from our routine and did it. Much to our surprise, the tsukemen was a completely different experience. The noodles are thicker and shorter with a much fattier broth that is topped with a mound of bean sprouts and onikasu (chili powder) that varies depending on how spicy you want it. It’s a less minimal experience and the broth borders on a more sweet & sour experience versus the rich, salty broth of Tsujita #1. The size of the broth here is double that at Tsujita #1, which is interesting considering you don’t need much broth for tsukemen. The tsukemen was very heavy with more intense flavors. So heavy that we drove back home and napped for 4 hours.
When it comes to tsukemen, we for sure prefer that more traditional savory and refined good good at Tsujita #1. But, ya never know until you try, right?
Tsujita LA Artisan
2057 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Tsujita LA Artisan Noodle Annex
2050 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
