Since opening last August, Little Osaka's Tsujita L.A. has quickly become the most serious purveyor of Hakata tonkotsu in town, a fact validated by the noodle-loving crowds waiting outside the building around opening time. Though it serves its ramen only during an abbreviated lunch hour — out of concern that the dish's popularity would overshadow the dinnertime kaiseki menu — the lengthy wait list for a table can rival something out of the UCLA admissions department. The hard-cooked noodles float in broth made from long-simmered chicken, fish and marrow-laden Kurobuta-pork bones, which combine for the ideal balance of porcine funk and buttery intensity. There are thick slices of char siu, too, in case things weren't already porky enough; a sauce-saturated, soft-boiled egg that bursts its orange yolk when pierced with a chopstick; and little containers of red pickled ginger and spicy mustard leaf condiment, which provide sharp and acidic counterbalances to the rich-as-crushed-velvet soup. 2057 Sawtelle Blvd., W.L.A. (310) 231-7373, tsujita-la.com.

—Garrett Snyder

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.