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GuideUpdated July 15, 2026

15 Best Japanese Restaurants in Los Angeles

The 15 best japanese restaurants in Los Angeles, sorted by rating and curated by TastyPals editors.

The best japanese restaurants in Los Angeles are JINYA Ramen Bar - Topanga Westfield, Azai Hand Roll Sushi, REDWHITE BONELESS RAMEN, and more. Start with JINYA Ramen Bar - Topanga Westfield if you want the strongest overall first pick.

By Yuki Tanaka•15 ranked picks•Published July 15, 2026•Updated July 15, 2026
Methodology•Editorial team
JINYA Ramen Bar - Topanga WestfieldAzai Hand Roll SushiREDWHITE BONELESS RAMEN
15 Best Japanese Restaurants in Los Angeles
Google

Top picks at a glance

#1JINYA Ramen Bar - Topanga WestfieldJapanese • Los Angeles • value#2Azai Hand Roll SushiJapanese • Los Angeles • moderate#3REDWHITE BONELESS RAMENJapanese • Los Angeles • value

Who this guide is for

This guide covers the highest-rated japanese restaurants in Los Angeles. The picks are sorted by Google rating and review volume to give you a reliable shortlist. Picks span Los Angeles, Torrance and Little Tokyo.

Quick picks

JINYA Ramen Bar - Topanga Westfield
Japanese • Los Angeles
Mall ramen is an easy target, and JINYA Ramen Bar at Westfield Topanga invites the skepticism.
Azai Hand Roll Sushi
Japanese • Los Angeles
On 3rd Street, where the temptation is always to go big, Azai makes its case by going small.
REDWHITE BONELESS RAMEN
Japanese • Los Angeles
Most DTLA ramen draws a line out the door at lunch, then goes dark by nine.
Browse all Los Angeles restaurantsBack to Los Angeles hub
Editorial details
Author: Yuki Tanaka
Published: July 15, 2026
Last updated: July 15, 2026

On this page

  1. 1. JINYA Ramen Bar - Topanga WestfieldView →
  2. 2. Azai Hand Roll SushiView →
  3. 3. REDWHITE BONELESS RAMENView →
  4. 4. Din Tai FungView →
  5. 5. Local KitchenView →
  6. 6. Black Bear Diner TorranceView →
  7. 7. Lazy Dog Restaurant & BarView →
  8. 8. Chubby Cattle BBQ | Little TokyoView →
  9. 9. Sushi GenView →
  10. 10. KazuNori: The Original Hand Roll BarView →
  11. 11. NIKU X | Premium Seafood & A5 Wagyu Steak BuffetView →
  12. 12. Tsujita LA Artisan NoodlesView →
  13. 13. Marugame UdonView →
  14. 14. Marugame MonzoView →
  15. 15. Kouraku Japanese Ramen & GrillView →

How the restaurants compare

Editorial restaurant image stand-in for JINYA Ramen Bar - Topanga Westfield
Google
JINYA Ramen Bar - Topanga Westfield
Los Angeles • Japanese
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
value
Best for
noodles
Mood
Casual
Editorial restaurant image stand-in for Azai Hand Roll Sushi
Google
Azai Hand Roll Sushi
Los Angeles • Japanese
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
moderate
Best for
sushi
Mood
Casual
Editorial restaurant image stand-in for REDWHITE BONELESS RAMEN
Google
REDWHITE BONELESS RAMEN
Los Angeles • Japanese
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
value
Best for
noodles
Mood
Casual
Editorial restaurant image stand-in for Din Tai Fung
Google
Din Tai Fung
Torrance • Japanese
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
value
Best for
dinner
Mood
Torrance

How we chose

We looked for restaurants that feel like a strong fit for the guide topic, not just the most obvious names in the city. The shortlist favors rooms with clear mood, dependable pacing, and enough distinction to help someone decide faster. Read our full methodology →

Room tone

Lighting, pace, and general energy all need to support the reason someone clicked this guide.

Food fit

We favored restaurants that feel best suited for the moment, not just restaurants with broad reputation.

Useful range

The final list tries to give readers enough variation in neighborhood, price, and style to compare real options.

15 ranked picks

JINYA Ramen Bar - Topanga Westfield — Mall ramen is an easy target, and JINYA Ramen Bar at Westfield Topanga invites the skepticism. What pushes back against it is the chain's documented process: founder Tomo Takahashi built the brand around broths that run for twenty hours — pork bones, chicken, bonito, kombu — a production commitment that a shopping-center address does nothing to alter. The Topanga location also carries more physical presence than the setting might suggest, with 131 seats and a proper outdoor patio that separates it meaningfully from its food-court neighbors. The menu's reputation leans on a few dishes worth understanding before you go. The Creamy Tonkotsu Ramen is the standard entry point and, based on consistent customer feedback, is known for a broth that reads as layered rather than flatly rich — the long simmer is the stated reason. Tan Tan Men takes a sesame-and-chile direction, and diners regularly describe it as focused and warming rather than diffuse. The Birria Ramen is the more deliberate swing: a Mexican-inflected bowl that leans into crossover flavors and reportedly draws a crowd precisely because it doesn't try to hide what it is. Whether that fits your evening is a mood question, not a quality one. The Miso Glazed Eggplant rounds out the options as a vegetable dish that, unlike many in its category, appears on the menu with enough frequency and positive mention to suggest it functions as a genuine choice rather than a concession. For a price-one restaurant operating inside one of the San Fernando Valley's busier malls, JINYA is doing more considered work than the location typically signals. Lunch hours fill quickly by most accounts; a weekday arrival before the midday rush is the practical move if you want both a seat and reasonable pacing from the kitchen. View restaurant →
Azai Hand Roll Sushi — On 3rd Street, where the temptation is always to go big, Azai makes its case by going small. This is a hand roll bar in the truest sense—a polished, intimate room where the work happens a few pieces at a time, and the kitchen wants you ordering in rounds rather than burying the table all at once. The seaweed hand rolls and yellowtail sashimi reward that patience, and there's real pleasure in the textural plays: the Albacore Crispy Onions Sashimi and the Lobster Crispy Rice both lean on contrast without showing off. The Azai Special Spicy Tuna ($31) is the splurge; the Shrimp Tempura Roll and the mochi are the comfort. Co-owner Adam runs the floor with genuine attentiveness—notably accommodating for gluten allergies, which not every sushi room handles gracefully. Most items land between roll boxes of $25–$30, with smaller plates from $7, so the bill stays sane if you pace yourself. It's the kind of quiet, well-built neighborhood spot that asks you to slow down. Go with one or two people, sit at the bar, and order as you go. View restaurant →
REDWHITE BONELESS RAMEN — Most DTLA ramen draws a line out the door at lunch, then goes dark by nine. REDWHITE Boneless Ramen plays a longer game, holding court until midnight (1 a.m. on weekends) in a dim, bar-leaning room a few blocks from The Broad and Grand Central Market. The "boneless" in the name isn't a gimmick: this is a plant-forward kitchen, and Chef Kei, who's been at this fifteen-plus years, builds broth the slow way, simmering vegetables and aromatics into something with real umami backbone rather than leaning on tonkotsu's easy fat. The Spicy Miso has earned a genuine following, and rightly so. The Smoky Truffle and Yuzu Sesame round out a lineup that takes vegetarian ramen seriously instead of treating it as an afterthought. There's a Miso Avocado roll for the table, too. I couldn't confirm pricing ahead of time, so check before you go. But for a late-night, meat-optional bowl in a neighborhood that empties out after the concert crowd leaves, this is a quietly useful room. View restaurant →

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NIKU X | Premium Seafood & A5 Wagyu Steak Buffet — The premise at NIKU X sounds like a contradiction in terms: an all-you-can-eat buffet on the second floor of the Wilshire Grand Center, helmed by Michelin-starred Shin Thompson, with A5 Wagyu and king crab at the centre. The Michelin Guide lists it as $$$$ for yakiniku and beef, and the room — soaring ceilings, robatayaki grills, that sleek hotel-tower polish — has clearly been built to dignify the format rather than apologise for it. The question is whether unlimited justifies the occasion, and here the tiers matter. The $109 weekday entry covers seafood, sushi and beef; the $149 "premium" unlocks the unlimited A5 Wagyu that is the entire reason to climb the stairs. Settle for less and you've missed the point. The 40oz Wagyu Tomahawk ($290–$330), with its tableside flame, is the splurge within the splurge. A buffet asks you to pace yourself; A5 punishes greed. Order with restraint and the $149 earns its keep. Treat it as a feeding trough and the marbling defeats you. Choose deliberately. View restaurant →

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