From Spaetzle to Saimintosoda

ChineseBeijing Islamic, 3160 Pacific Coast Hwy., Torrance; (310) 784-0846. Chu’s Mandarin Cuisine, 140 W. Valley Blvd., No. 206-7, San Gabriel; (626) 572-6574. Dumpling House, 5612 Rosemead Blvd., Temple City; (626) 309-9918. Dumpling Master, 423 N. Atlantic Blvd., No. 106, Monterey Park; (626) 458-8689. Heavy Noodling (formerly Dow Shaw Noodles), 153 E. Garvey Ave., Monterey Park; (626) 307-9583. Luk Yue, 123 N. Garfield Ave., Monterey Park, (626) 280-2888; and 735 W. Garvey Ave., Monterey Park, (626) 284-6638. Sam Woo Barbecue and Noodles, 634 W. Garvey Ave., Monterey Park; (626) 289-4858; also 514 W. Valley Blvd., Alhambra, (626) 281-0038; 803 N. Broadway, Chinatown, (213) 687-7238; 6450 Sepulveda Blvd., Van Nuys, (818) 988-6813. San Tong, 18155 S. Pioneer Blvd., Artesia; (562) 865-3003.

Thai, Burmese Chandarette, 13490 Maxella Ave. (Villa Marina Marketplace), Marina del Rey; (310) 301-1004. Golden Triangle, 7011 S. Greenleaf Ave., Whittier; (562) 945-6778. Rodded, 5623 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; (323) 464-9689. Sanamluang Café, 5176 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 660-8006; also 12980 Sherman Way, North Hollywood, (818) 764-1180. Sompun, 4156 Santa Monica Blvd., Silver Lake (323) 669-9906; and 12053 Ventura Place, Studio City, (818) 762-7861.

JapaneseAkane Chaya, 1610 W. Redondo Beach Blvd., Gardena; (310) 768-3939. Spoon House, 1601 W. Redondo Beach Blvd., Gardena; (310) 538-0376. Ramen Asahi Ramen, 2027 Sawtelle Blvd., West L.A.; (310) 479-2231. Atch-Kotch, 1253 N. Vine St., No. 5, Hollywood; (323) 467-5537. Eboshi, 2383 Lomita Blvd., Lomita; (310) 325-6674. Kyushu Ramen, 15355 Sherman Way (in Village Plaza), Van Nuys; (818) 778-6712. Ramen Nippon, 6900 Reseda Blvd., No. D, Reseda; (818) 345-5946. Ramen Ya, 11555 W. Olympic Blvd.; (310) 575-9337. Tampopo, 15462 S. Western (in Tozai Plaza), Gardena, (310) 323-7882; also 21515 S. Western Ave., Torrance, (310) 787-8122; and 3760 Centinela Ave., Mar Vista, (310) 915-0442.

Soba and Udon Kagetsu-an, 318 E. Second St., downtown; (213) 613-1479. Kotohira, 1747 W. Redondo Beach Blvd., Gardena; (310) 323-3966. Mishima, 8474 W. Third St., (323) 782-0181; also 21605 Western Ave., Torrance, (310) 320-2089; 11301 Olympic Blvd., No. 210, (310) 473-5297; and 12265 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, (818) 506-8861. Nishiki, 11651 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles; (310) 477-1551. Otafuku, 16525 S. Western Ave., Gardena; (310) 532-9348. Sanuki No Sato, 18206 Western Ave., Gardena; (310) 324-9185. Taiko, 11677 San Vicente Blvd. (Brentwood Gardens), Brent wood; (310) 207-7782. Ubon, 8530 Beverly Blvd. (Beverly Center); (310) 854-1115. Yabu, 11820 W. Pico Blvd., West L.A., (310) 473-9757; and 521 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 854-0400.

VietnameseMy Trang, 209 W. Valley Blvd., San Gabriel; (626) 280-8698. Noodle City, 628 W. Valley Blvd., Alhambra; (626) 308-3567. Pho Nguyen Hoang, 401 W. Valley Blvd., San Gabriel; (626) 281-0017. Pho 79, 11 E. Main St., Alhambra; (626) 289-0239. Pho So 1, 7231 Reseda Blvd., Reseda; (818) 996-6515. Pho Vietnam, 18625 Sherman Way, Reseda; (818) 758-9898. Thanh Vi, 9609 Bolsa Ave., Westminister; (714) 531-0285.

Korean Kang Seo Myun Oak, 534 S. Westmoreland Ave., No. 105 (at the corner of Sixth); (213) 382-1717. Kum Da Rae Noodle House, 3831 W. Sixth St.; (213) 386-6554. Olympic Noodle, 4008 W. Olympic Blvd.; (323) 931-0007.

Southeast AsianHainan Chicken Restaurant, 18406 Colima Road, No. B (Hong Kong Plaza), Rowland Heights; (626) 854-0385. Little Malaysia, 3944 N. Peck Road, No. 8, El Monte; (626) 401-3188. Mami King, 22222 S. Main St., No. 106, Carson, (310) 830-3828; also 4321 Sunset Blvd., (323) 668-9288; 14650 Roscoe Blvd., Nos. 1 & 2, Panorama, (818) 891-8581.

HawaiianBruddah’s Hawaiian Foods, 1033 W. Gardena Blvd., Gardena; (310) 323-9112. King’s Hawaiian Bakery and Restaraunt, 2808 W. Sepulveda Blvd., Torrance; (310) 530-0050.

Pan AsianAsia Noodle Café, Glendale Galleria, No. 3233; (818) 240-9401. Menjin International Noodle House, 8393 Beverly Blvd.; (323) 782-0039. Noodle Planet, 1118 Westwood Blvd., Westwood, (310) 208-0777; and 700 W. Valley Blvd., Alhambra, (626) 282-8855. Typhoon, 3221 Donald Douglas Loop S. (Santa Monica Airport); (310) 390-6565. Zen Grill, 8432 W. Third Street, (323) 655-9991; and 14543 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 461-8444.Early on in history, some say about 100 A.D., humanity concluded that it positively would not live on bread alone. The baguette-addicted French might say “C’est ridicule” to this notion, but noodles became the world’s favorite comfort food probably the moment folks discovered a cheap, easy way to mill large quantities of grain. Noodles captured the fancy of cooks everywhere, for unlike breads, they required no rising or long baking time, nor did they need lengthy cooking like whole grains. A batch could stretch more expensive ingredients to feed a house full of hungry children for a mere pittance.

Like many others who grew up in America, for the longest time I thought of noodles only as a plate filled with spaghetti and meatballs smothered in tomato sauce, or elbow macaroni floating in pools of very yellowy cheese. The noodle world changed for me, however, in ’85, while researching an L.A. food-shopping guide. As I struck up conversations with good cooks about where they got their spices or their specialty ingredients, they’d eagerly ply me with tips on other good things to eat. More often than not, their leads involved some sort of noodle — perhaps a wonderful bowl of ramen from a hole-in-the-wall in Little Tokyo, or a German restaurant that made fine spaetzle.

Those were the days when fresh pastas were thought to be the ne plus ultra of noodledom. But as I poked around various food stores, I came across Hungarian tarhonya, Korean dang-myun, Hawaiian saimin, Vietnamese banh canh, even Persian toasted noodles called reshteh. I began to think of L.A. as the most wildly diverse noodle city anywhere. Fifteen years later, the single most obvious thing I notice is how much more refined our noodle choices have become. Hand-pressed chitarra, hand-swung Chinese mein and handmade soba, among other artisanal noodles, have raised every noodle lover’s standards. What follows is a sampling of some of the best noodling around.

New Comfort Foods

Many new hip semiretro coffee shops like Axe, the Standard and Fred 62 are redefining comfort food just as seared ã ahi redefined what was once acceptable on a French menu. Soba in dashi broth, or Korean glass noodles in cold spicy sesame dressing, appear on their menus as nonchalantly as if they were a BLT or a tuna melt. Yet for me, and a lot of others who ate in school cafeterias here, a bowl of unadulterated Americana means macaroni and cheese. I went everywhere hunting for the best, from home-cooking places to supermarkets, delis and coffee shops, and sadly found the dish defiled with mushy noodles and insipid cheese sauce. I did, however, come upon one great version, the MacDaddy and Cheese, at Fred 62. It’s a soup bowl full of perfectly cooked elbows in a creamy, soupy, cheese-intensive sauce, spiked with bits of fresh green chile. Topped with a thin brûlée-like crust of buttery crumbs, a spoonful brings up wonderful stretchy strings of well-ag ed sharp Cheddar. A slightly more elegant mac and cheese comes from Greenblatt’s Deli. It stands on its own, like cold lasagna, with a sauce that’s almost pure cheese, wedged between perfectly cooked noodles. A thick layer of Cheddar forms its crumbless topping. It’s easy to wreck this dish while warming it up later, so cover it, use a 300-degree oven, and pull it out exactly when the cheese becomes molten.