I used to love this place! But recently I am really disappointed in the quality of food here. The workers are nice and everything but the food quality has really gone down since they first opened. I got the kotsu pork bowl. The quality of their pork has drastically changed. It just wasn't great pork. And one time the tea egg had bits of shell still on it. We also got a chicken teriyaki bowl and the veggies were all frozen veggies so it tasted really plasticky. The chicken was also very dry. Another thing we ordered was the OG, and the broth seems different, watered down or something. However, I did get the gyoza and the tofu. Those were really good. When I first came here I loved everything we ordered but the second, third, fourth, and even fifth time we ordered from them were all duds. I really wanted this place to be good and I feel like I gave them more than enough chances to redeem themselves but they fell very short.
John E.
We were driving thru the area and were looking for some place to eat. Stopped in for some ramen at about 8:20. The ambiance was nice, a small restaurant with a patio and some good vibes with the music. I ordered a Shoyu bowl. Unfortunately the kitchen said they were out of the chicken broth after I ordered and they weren't going to make more. Kinda a bummer being they don't close for another 40 minutes. Another order we had didn't have mushrooms in it when we actually ordered extra. Still charged us the same when the menu availability was lacking. On the fun side.... They have a little robot waiter which brings your bowl to your table. It has a happy face screen and says hello. So the experience for me was mixed.
Jaime ..
Great place to enjoy some delicious ramen. Good ambience and quick and friendly service. Love the view of the mountains. :)
Sabrina C.
Ordered via uber eats. The presentation if the food was easy to arrange and efficient. Portions were great. The noodles were just right and the egg was so flavorful. Definitely include an extra egg when you order.
Laura Adair
It starts with a very difficult non-detailed kiosk menu (no way to read the menu any other way). No nutrition, dietary info or allergy warnings at all. If you’re vegetarian be careful about ordering tofu - it’s soaked in soy and too salty to eat enough to actually fill you up. I literally walked away hungry from a place I just paid $25 to feed me. When asked about allergens the manager told me “I was told not to give our ingredient list”. That being said he did everything he could to help me figure it out. The ambiance is ok. It’s basically a patio very modernly empty. I’ve driven by many many times and it’s always empty. That should say something. I’ve heard the ramen is good at other locations- I don’t know cuz I’m not going back to try it. I wouldn’t recommend based on my experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 4
Adesh R.
Worst service and absolutely rude and unprofessional, impolite manager. We ordered curry up vegan via Uber eats and when we received it there was pork inside..Being completely vegetarian this was very disturbing and after the Uber eats person dropped it .. we called the store and Anthony said that he would make another one. I had to then drive there as it was very late to order again via Uber eats and decided to pick it up myself as my son was hungry and was waiting for his ramen and was getting late on a regular school night. Upon reaching there I asked Anthony the manager that this was not the first time there has been an error like this and it's very inconvenient for me to pick up food that late at night . In the meantime my wife had spoken to him and he was supposed to issue us a credit for 40$ for the mistakes that were done in the past more than 2times .. So I asked him is the credit on my account there and to this he says this is free soup that he is giving you from his pocket and that's it . He was not at all apologetic about giving us pork instead of vegan .. and then started raising his voice and asked me to step outside .. here he had the audacity to tell me that I am making him look stupid in front of his employees and started using cuss words .. and told me never to ever f***ing come again. I got so upset at him and I asked for the manager and he says I am the manager and kept on going on with cuss words . I got so angry that I told him to back off and that I will make sure people know what kind of a disgusting person he really is . I now think that he must have made so many errors being there as a cook in other peoples orders. The replacement that he gave us was also wrong .. a very poor choice of chef by the owners of this place and I would advice them to get rid of people like Anthony who give a bad reputation to the kotsu ramen chain of restaurants. On questioning him why was there pork in the ramen .. he says I don't know ask Uber guys !!! Really does Uber eats cook the food or you do I asked him ? A completely disrespectful , rude, unprofessional, and arrogant person. I will never step foot in this place as long as this person works there ..
Rosé L.
Very small interior with little to no interactions with staff members when making an order since you order through a kiosk. The menu was pretty straightforward so I didn't mind. There is only outdoor seating which may not be convenient during colder seasons but it's tolerable. There was also a little robot that brought our order to us which I found to be adorable. However, I ordered the tonkatsu ramen in which was very bland. I had to order a side of spice and it slightly helped. What weirded me out though was this one staff member was staring at my friend and I as if she's never seen people before. Was very soft spoken and sorta ignored us when we asked a question. I would try this place out again as I feel there's some decent stuff on their menu but my first experience overall was just okay.
Chiang B.
How is this not busy when the ramen is perfectly cooked and chashu is so tender and tasty? This is a must go place after a Descanso walk! I will bring my family here next time. Thank you for warm bowl of delicious noodle.
Jenn J
Used to eat here often and I think this is the last time unfortunately.We got OG ramen and Kick ramen, which both had zero broth flavor and were super bland. The gyoza seemed to be frozen and heated up, it was so rubbery and barely seared, mediocre pork.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 5
Lauren Wendlberger
Been to a lot of amazing ramen places in Gardena, and this place used to be as good as any of them! This last visit just had minimal broth flavor. For the price, it's just not worth it. I think some of the other reviewers are right and it's just not as good as it used to be.
Food is excellent. It's a bit pricey, but I am OK paying up for quality ingredients. The meat portions are about 4oz, so it's OK for lunch but not quite a dinner portion.The eating situation is unfortunate as it's very cold and basically just outdoor eating with no heaters. The food is a bit slow so order ahead unless you don't mind waiting 20 minutes.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 3
Cassidy B.
This place is horrible. I saw the recent negative reviews and wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt but this was truly a let down. I got the OG ramen and it definitely was a skip. The broth (and everything else) had 0 flavor to it and it was priced far too high for the quality. To make matters worse, there was a hair in my friend's ramen. Service was slow and impersonal. I will not be returning.
Lombard
Had a great time at this place, excellent service and the food was delicious. Their chicken is bomb, and the portion you get is a big amount. Staff was friendly, she was very helpful and always asked how we were doing, prices are, well you know... definitely would come back and would recommend to anyone.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ramen, Chicken Karaage
Michael Fortson
Best chicken ramen ever. It’s easy to find good pork ramen, but chicken is usually an afterthought — dry & tasteless. Not here! The chicken is amazing, so very, very good. I’m getting hungry just writing this.Come to Kotsu. Order Kick in pork, chicken, or vegan. Get beer or wine from next door (or bring it from home). Yum!!!!Vegetarian options: Tofu is a first class citizen here.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: The Kick
Michael F.
Unbelievable chicken ramen. SO GOOD! Kick is my favorite (Flame is what you might expect it to be -- hot!). Lots of ramen places get pork dishes right, but this one... this one nails chicken like no other. Love it.
I used to love this place! But recently I am really disappointed in the quality of food here. The workers are nice and everything but the food quality has really gone down since they first opened. I got the kotsu pork bowl. The quality of their pork has drastically changed. It just wasn't great pork. And one time the tea egg had bits of shell still on it. We also got a chicken teriyaki bowl and the veggies were all frozen veggies so it tasted really plasticky. The chicken was also very dry. Another thing we ordered was the OG, and the broth seems different, watered down or something. However, I did get the gyoza and the tofu. Those were really good. When I first came here I loved everything we ordered but the second, third, fourth, and even fifth time we ordered from them were all duds. I really wanted this place to be good and I feel like I gave them more than enough chances to redeem themselves but they fell very short.
We were driving thru the area and were looking for some place to eat. Stopped in for some ramen at about 8:20. The ambiance was nice, a small restaurant with a patio and some good vibes with the music. I ordered a Shoyu bowl. Unfortunately the kitchen said they were out of the chicken broth after I ordered and they weren't going to make more. Kinda a bummer being they don't close for another 40 minutes. Another order we had didn't have mushrooms in it when we actually ordered extra. Still charged us the same when the menu availability was lacking. On the fun side.... They have a little robot waiter which brings your bowl to your table. It has a happy face screen and says hello. So the experience for me was mixed.
Great place to enjoy some delicious ramen. Good ambience and quick and friendly service. Love the view of the mountains. :)
Ordered via uber eats. The presentation if the food was easy to arrange and efficient. Portions were great. The noodles were just right and the egg was so flavorful. Definitely include an extra egg when you order.
It starts with a very difficult non-detailed kiosk menu (no way to read the menu any other way). No nutrition, dietary info or allergy warnings at all. If you’re vegetarian be careful about ordering tofu - it’s soaked in soy and too salty to eat enough to actually fill you up. I literally walked away hungry from a place I just paid $25 to feed me. When asked about allergens the manager told me “I was told not to give our ingredient list”. That being said he did everything he could to help me figure it out. The ambiance is ok. It’s basically a patio very modernly empty. I’ve driven by many many times and it’s always empty. That should say something. I’ve heard the ramen is good at other locations- I don’t know cuz I’m not going back to try it. I wouldn’t recommend based on my experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 4
Worst service and absolutely rude and unprofessional, impolite manager. We ordered curry up vegan via Uber eats and when we received it there was pork inside..Being completely vegetarian this was very disturbing and after the Uber eats person dropped it .. we called the store and Anthony said that he would make another one. I had to then drive there as it was very late to order again via Uber eats and decided to pick it up myself as my son was hungry and was waiting for his ramen and was getting late on a regular school night. Upon reaching there I asked Anthony the manager that this was not the first time there has been an error like this and it's very inconvenient for me to pick up food that late at night . In the meantime my wife had spoken to him and he was supposed to issue us a credit for 40$ for the mistakes that were done in the past more than 2times .. So I asked him is the credit on my account there and to this he says this is free soup that he is giving you from his pocket and that's it . He was not at all apologetic about giving us pork instead of vegan .. and then started raising his voice and asked me to step outside .. here he had the audacity to tell me that I am making him look stupid in front of his employees and started using cuss words .. and told me never to ever f***ing come again. I got so upset at him and I asked for the manager and he says I am the manager and kept on going on with cuss words . I got so angry that I told him to back off and that I will make sure people know what kind of a disgusting person he really is . I now think that he must have made so many errors being there as a cook in other peoples orders. The replacement that he gave us was also wrong .. a very poor choice of chef by the owners of this place and I would advice them to get rid of people like Anthony who give a bad reputation to the kotsu ramen chain of restaurants. On questioning him why was there pork in the ramen .. he says I don't know ask Uber guys !!! Really does Uber eats cook the food or you do I asked him ? A completely disrespectful , rude, unprofessional, and arrogant person. I will never step foot in this place as long as this person works there ..
Very small interior with little to no interactions with staff members when making an order since you order through a kiosk. The menu was pretty straightforward so I didn't mind. There is only outdoor seating which may not be convenient during colder seasons but it's tolerable. There was also a little robot that brought our order to us which I found to be adorable. However, I ordered the tonkatsu ramen in which was very bland. I had to order a side of spice and it slightly helped. What weirded me out though was this one staff member was staring at my friend and I as if she's never seen people before. Was very soft spoken and sorta ignored us when we asked a question. I would try this place out again as I feel there's some decent stuff on their menu but my first experience overall was just okay.
How is this not busy when the ramen is perfectly cooked and chashu is so tender and tasty? This is a must go place after a Descanso walk! I will bring my family here next time. Thank you for warm bowl of delicious noodle.
Used to eat here often and I think this is the last time unfortunately.We got OG ramen and Kick ramen, which both had zero broth flavor and were super bland. The gyoza seemed to be frozen and heated up, it was so rubbery and barely seared, mediocre pork.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 5
Been to a lot of amazing ramen places in Gardena, and this place used to be as good as any of them! This last visit just had minimal broth flavor. For the price, it's just not worth it. I think some of the other reviewers are right and it's just not as good as it used to be.
Food: 2
Restaurantji Recommends
Food is excellent. It's a bit pricey, but I am OK paying up for quality ingredients. The meat portions are about 4oz, so it's OK for lunch but not quite a dinner portion.The eating situation is unfortunate as it's very cold and basically just outdoor eating with no heaters. The food is a bit slow so order ahead unless you don't mind waiting 20 minutes.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 3
This place is horrible. I saw the recent negative reviews and wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt but this was truly a let down. I got the OG ramen and it definitely was a skip. The broth (and everything else) had 0 flavor to it and it was priced far too high for the quality. To make matters worse, there was a hair in my friend's ramen. Service was slow and impersonal. I will not be returning.
Had a great time at this place, excellent service and the food was delicious. Their chicken is bomb, and the portion you get is a big amount. Staff was friendly, she was very helpful and always asked how we were doing, prices are, well you know... definitely would come back and would recommend to anyone.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Ramen, Chicken Karaage
Best chicken ramen ever. It’s easy to find good pork ramen, but chicken is usually an afterthought — dry & tasteless. Not here! The chicken is amazing, so very, very good. I’m getting hungry just writing this.Come to Kotsu. Order Kick in pork, chicken, or vegan. Get beer or wine from next door (or bring it from home). Yum!!!!Vegetarian options: Tofu is a first class citizen here.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: The Kick
Unbelievable chicken ramen. SO GOOD! Kick is my favorite (Flame is what you might expect it to be -- hot!). Lots of ramen places get pork dishes right, but this one... this one nails chicken like no other. Love it.