Ramen Yokocho Fest @ Nisei Week

Got in for free and bought 2 tickets ($ 8 each) for ramen. The portions were small and the ramen were nothing to rave about. It was over all a mediocre experience. There weren’t a lot of shades and it was so hot that weekend. They really need to put up more shaded seating area.

There’s a lot of room for improvement as far as management goes.
DETAILS:
My son was volunteering at this event for the Key Club on Sunday, August 17^th, so I drove him down to Little Tokyo. I was a little annoyed having to pay $ 7.00 for parking since I couldn’t find any street parking.
VENUE:
The Ramen Yokocho Fest is held in a big parking lot on the corner of Temple and Central. The whole place seemed overly dingy and dirty with an abundance of trash. They had plenty of volunteers, but the trash situation by the tables was really gross. They should really have some volunteers stationed over by the covered area where you eat because there weren’t enough chairs when I got there and there was so much trash by the tables. There were trash cans, but I guess some people don’t know how to pick up after themselves.
DJ:
The DJ they had on Sunday night from 5:30 p.m. on was horrible. No one and I mean no one was interested in this music and it was so loud. Please get someone better. There has to a huge pool of decent DJ’s in L.A. for crying out loud.
FOOD:
$ 8.00 for one small bowl of ramen is a rip off. I decided to try the ramen at the Men Oh Tokushima booth. It was o.k., but pretty basic.
RECOMMENDATION:
I probably won’t be wasting my money on this event next year. I rather go to a restaurant, sit down in a nice environment and be waited on.

I attended the ramen festival at Santa Anita park, so I had some expectation when I went here.
There are lots of parking spots nearby just got to find one that is not too expensive.
It is $ 5 for all entrance fee you come and go throughout the day. $ 8 per ticket for a bowl of ramen. $ 2 for drinks, you don’t need a ticket for drinks like Santa Anita park and there are plenty of drink stations around.
There are other good trucks and stalls other than ramen. There was a stall that sold takoyaki, fried squid tentacles, curry and snow come.
We got there early there was no lines, there are a lot of stall to seat and eat your food.
I was definitely happy they did ramen festival as part of Nisei week in LA.

Great concept, poor execution! There was supposed to be a Geisha and Samurai demonstration/​show 11−2pm. However there was no such thing from 11 – 12:30p. The beer garden didn’t have much shade for how hot it was. So we opted for a shave ice which was what we found to be the best part of the fest! Maybe next year will be better.

We had such a good time at the Ramen fest. We came early on Sunday morning so there was no line. We tried the Men Oh, Iroha, the Ramen burger, and the Monta Ramen. My favorite ramen is the Iroha ramen. Paired the ramens with cold Asahi that imported straight from Japan with no preservative. We also tried the fried squid leg, the Japanese balls, and the gyoza, and they were all so delicious.

After attending the Ramen Fest at Santa Anita racetrack, I was prepared for the worst, but actually I think the organizers learned something from that experience. This time things turned out much better!
Still $ 5 entry fee, but on Sunday they let you in free for FB likes and shares. They had a stage with live entertainment (the Nisei Week court was there on Saturday) and there was other food available (gyoza, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, tonkatsu, fusion tacos and burritos) for the non-​ramen foodies.
Ramen was $ 8 a bowl like last time, and the plastic bowls did get hot. Some vendors had Styrofoam – which although not environmental, was a lot easier to carry to your table. It was really nice having a big area with tables in the shade to eat (no seating at Santa Anita). And no lines for food or drink (at least none worth mentioning). But this time, no ramen booths directly from Japan. :(
They did have a separate beer garden, but we didn’t make it over there.
Best ramen (we tasted most over the course of 2 days) was Tsujita with deliciously flavored charsiu, thick chewy noodles, and rich broth. Of course there was a ramen burger booth for ramen burger enthusiasts. Shin-sen-gumi’s staff was exceptionally friendly and their Satsuma ramen (made especially for this event and not available at their restaurants) was on point with a crispy fried onion topping. Sharing is definitely the way to go if you want to try several (unless you can eat a lot – one friend ate 5 bowls by himself!).
I have to say that compared to their other event, I really enjoyed this one. Even with the heat (we didn’t come late at night – though they were open until 11 PM on Saturday). Downtown parking was a bit tight, but that is to be expected during Nisei week. Hope they come back again next year!

I wasn’t having high expectation coming here, after hearing horror story of Ramen festival in the past. Long line and overprice for the small portion they were given out. I can tell you line is not a problem this time, in fact is hardly anyone at all except the ramen burger. However the portion and price still not good value. The admission is $ 5 per person, however in the last day, they were simply free if you proint out the ad since it was low turnout the day before. I think the fact they held this at the same weekend as 626 night market is not good move. You have so many more food choice in 626 than just ramen.
I was almost brought ramen here, but choose not too after saw the portion size. You are basically ½ the portion and with no egg. The ramen broth doesn’t even look boiling hot since there’s no steaming coming out. The only selling point is that they claim the broth is unique and you don’t get on the restaurant here. Instead we settle eating appetizer like the gyoza which was only $ 1 for 5 pieces, $ 1 off during normal price. There was beer garden but there no seating ! The stage is weak, only a DJ and no performer. No one was watching, I think the Nisei festival was a distraction and most people felt no need to go here since so many good Japanese restaurant is nearby. Walking distance to some of the finest Japanese restaurant, why on earth you wanna eat a small bowl ramen.

Since my boyfriend and I were already at the Tea Festival — which is held right next to this so-​called Ramen Fest — we were pretty hesitant to try it but I saw that they had the Ramen Burger on the list of the booths that they had and I gave in — plus I was pretty hungry too. So we paid $ 10 for admission fee — $ 5 each and then $ 16 for two tickets for the Ramen booths.
But before we did that, we walked around to see what else they had — well all I could say is not much — a few other food booths — one served fried squid leg and I can’t recall the other two but it wasn’t very appealing. Then they had like two booths that sold some clothes and little stuff. Then there were three food trucks — one was a Snow cone, one was Curry and another was like Japanese tacos with Boba drinks. They also had a beer garden — but it looked pretty poorly put together too… oh and also 2 booths of like drinks and bottle water for $ 2 each.
So for $ 5 there really isn’t much — they did have like some new band playing on stage but it was pretty sad cause no one was really watching since it was burning hot outside and no body really wanted to sit there and watch — most people were sitting at the tables that had covers over it.
So now the I got the Ramen burger — it was okay — not what I expected — it wasn’t very delicious but it wasn’t bad– it was just okay — kind of lacking flavor — it was suppose to be spicy but it wasn’t at all — actually the ramen didn’t have much flavor — it didn’t actually have a sauce on it I guess. I didn’t think it’s worth $ 8 — maybe like $ 4 and I wasn’t the only one to think that — overheard some other people sitting by that made a similar comment.
My boyfriend tried one of the ramen booths — the Tonkatsu Shoyu Ramen — it was ridiculously a small bowl for $ 8 plus it was the heaviest and greasiest broth I have ever had — the fat literally solidified! there was literally a thin layer of solidified fat on top of the broth — pretty gross. There was one slice of pork and one half of an egg. Really wasn’t worth $ 8 — maybe like $ 3.
The only thing I liked was the Seaweed Fries from the Japanese Taco truck… those were $ 3.50 and very worth it cause it was actually good! the fries were crispy and thin and I just love the seasoning they used. Only thing that was good about this fest! — that and the covered seating area I guess.
Aye — all I gotta say is save yourself $ 12! I’m not gonna come around next year either — really isn’t worth the admission fee or the price of the ramen bowls.

It’s SUPER hot today, but there are no lines and the ramen is good (and there are tents with tables to enjoy your ramen out of the sun). $ 5 to get in, $ 8 per ramen and $ 2 drinks (water, ice tea and soda), along with other venders that have more food and treats for sale. Had the ramen burger, Men Oh (very good broth, thin noddles and loved the meat and veggies) and Shin-​Sen-​Gumi (veggie broth and thick noodles with lots of onions, reminded me of a Japanese version of French onion soup). Wish we had room to try one more bowl!

I was hearing all the negative reviews about their past events so I was expecting the worst but it’s actually pretty cool.
We arrived a little before 5pm and there was no line to get in. You pay $ 5 to get in and buy tickets for ramen ($ 8 each).
We have tried:
— Tsujita: their Shoyu Tonkotsu broth is excellent. Full of flavor! This broth is usually only available at their Tokyo location so try it while you can!
— Monta: a famous ramen shop from Vegas. Great Tonkotsu broth. Thin noodle goes well with their broth well.
— Ramen burger: hubs liked it, he said he could eat another one.
— Spicy Ramen: Meh. Very mediocre. Noodle was not cooked well, the broth lacks flavor. Big disappointment.
All in all, it’s a cool event, but I would not wait in line to get any of the ramen we got.

Ticket system.
–Entrance is $ 5
–Ramen $ 8
–Only two food trucks present (i forgot the names)
–Breezy freeze snowball is also there to cool you off in this SoCal heat. (Shave ice $ 3.50)
–Tonkatsu skewers booth ($ 4.50 for 3pcs)
–Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki booth
–and all other japanese stuff lol
Not too crowded when we arrived. around 12:30. No line at the entrance. Win!!!
There was a line to get a ramen burger, but it moves pretty quick. That’s the only line that I saw. Haha
Also, there is a community table for you to enjoy your ramen and all other good stuff you got.
I tried the Tsujita tonkatsu shoyu ramen, which they’ll tell you that they only serve that in their Tokyo location. Pretty rich broth, noodles were tender and really goes well with the broth. So yummm!
My date liked the ramen burger. I think it was alright. He said the sauce they used complements well the ramen and the burger patty. Whatever. I’m still not a fan. Haha
We also tried the snowball from breeze freeze, combination of mango and blue hawaii. Refreshing but I think it was too sweet.
Overall it was not a bad experience. Staff/​Volunteer were very helpful and friendly.
P. S. there is a beer garden for those 21+ ;)