If this does not make you hungry, well, then there's not much we can do for you. The ramen — they also have rice bowls and gyoza and tsukemen — at Yamadaya is of the kind that won't leave you needing more food for some time. It is a study in pork more than noodles, although the noodles are excellent too. Rivulets of garlic oil, dark as crude oil, move around the surface of the bowl. The usual accouterments, plus lovely halved eggs that are cooked properly, their interiors dark orange and supple like mollets. Pork and more pork. If there was any doubt that the primary focus here is pig, the menu above, regenerated in word-cloud form, should put an end to that.

There are four Yamadaya iterations to date (Torrance, Culver City, Westwood, Costa Mesa), with a fifth one scheduled to open Sunday, April 1 (we do not joke about ramen), in Sherman Oaks at the corner of Ventura and Sepulveda. Go get a bowl of tsukemen (prounounced “ske-men”) on your way back from Mammoth this weekend. Exactly.

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