Mogumogu - West LA: Discover Authentic Ramen and Mazemen in a Trendy Atmosphere

Ordered the Kyoto mazemen (non spicy) 11/10 flavor and texture. The diced pork was delicious, not too fatty, and paired perfectly with the rice at the end. I will be back to try the rest of the menu!

This place is authentic Japanese noodle and super tasty. The noodles are perfectly chewy and bouncy, and the traditional Japanese mixing sauce is amazing. After you finish, they even give you a small bowl of rice so you can mix it with the leftover sauce and not waste any of that goodness. Also, if you spend over $50, the owner lets you do a gacha pull. Collect four pieces to redeem a free noodle dish. My friend got so lucky and won a free deluxe bowl right away!

Note: This review is part of a Yelp elite experience. Shoutout to Sarah and the yelp intern for organizing a fabulous event. The westside elites were a wonderful bunch, and its immensely gratifying when everyone shares the love of food. Wadaya is one of the top places to eat and you can see why. It was my first time experiencing the mazemen, which I had ignorantly ignored for the brothy ramen. However the manager mentioned that there was a dearth of good mazemen places, and the chef from Japan decided to fill that niche. Lucky for us, this is a great option for the noodle lovers amongst us (who isn't?). I was one of only 2 elites to opt for the vegan experience that included Vegan Tokyo Mazemen, Shishito peppers appetizer and a Yuzu-forward Lemonade. As with any good ramen, you need to mix in all the ingredients to coat the mazemen noodles with the sauce and all the accouterments. The vinegar table-side was a great addition to add in the umami, as if the brothless noodle experience needed any more umami. The yuzu lemonade was full of yuzu, light on the sugar (compared to so many other lemonades that are more sugarades) and had plenty of lemon (acid) to cut through the richness of the noodleicious dish. I liked the ratio of veggies to the noodles, although when I order takeout (which the manager said is a great idea since the dish holds well) I'd love a more veggies please option. Tip: This dish is garlic forward, so if you love garlic, you'll be in heaven. Just carry some mints :) Service was impeccable. The only feedback for the crew would be to jazz up the shisito peppers as they lacked a little flavor, but this may be because of the sequencing of dishes, when your flavor buds are saturated with the mazemen. However adding the vinegar gave it the right pep and it was a great complement to the main dish. Thank you to the yelp team for shining a light on a neighborhood gem that many of us passed by but had not noticed. Wadaya know, it's now a solid addition to all of our radars. Cheesy pun unintended, or was it? Tip: Plenty of 2 hour free parking in the neighborhood, since the lot is small and has only 3 spots for Wadaya.

Ordered the Deluxe and the Kyoto mazemen. While I’m not a fan of the kale in the Kyoto style, it was still delicious. The Deluxe is pretty close to a Taiwan mazesoba and has quite the spicy kick. Just like other mazemen places, they give you rice at the end to soak everything up, though I wish it was a bit larger portion. Overall it was pretty authentic and I highly recommend!

I think the best way to summarize WADAYA is via other similar restaurants in California: Mogu Mogu’s rebrand is Menya Hanabi’s saltier brother and Kajiken’s more casual cousin. While WADAYA is also known for their soup ramens, what makes it worth the trek to Sawtelle is their mazemen (otherwise known as mazesoba or aburasoba elsewhere, but it’s all the same in the end). For this kind of noodle, the actual chew of the noodle was appropriate. However, the dish was a little too saucy ratio-wise and quite salty. I wish there was more meat to balance out the sauce or simply less of it. The small cup of rice (emphasis on small) they give at the end helped finish it off, and the vinegar they recommend you add in the middle of the meal helps add some acidity to round out the heaviness. I’d probably say this is the best mazemen in LA proper!

Thursday after working OT, my coworker and myself were planning to have dinner before heading back home, while driving down the street on Olympic I saw this ramen shop and I noticed few fellas outside waiting to be seated , and I realized that maybe the place was good. Once we were there we have to write the name. Anyway after waiting for about 15-20 minutes it was our turn. The restaurant is not huge, but is clean. We have to scan the QR and Start from there. My coworker got spicy miso and I ordered the veggie ramen, short time after, we got our food and mine looked amazing, came with cherry tomatoes, fried eggplant, lotus, mizuna, and broccoli. Broth was perfect and very delicious. I believe shiitake would make a good match to the veggies, ear mushroom and nori and some corn, just my personal opinion. However every place is different and have their own ingredients, and I was very surprised when I saw mizuna in the ramen, never had ramen with mizuna. Highly recommend this shop for ramen lovers or anyone interested in trying it. It's worth the shot.

Tried Mazemen for the first time. No broth, but full of flavor. I started with Mogu Buns, which came in two kind. Both were excellent. Then came the Deluxe Mazemen. The waiter suggested adding their homemade vinegar halfway through for extra umami. When the noodles were finished, I added rice to soak up the remaining umami at the bottom…so freakin’ good. Service was great. Expect a wait. I went on a Thursday night and waited about 15 minutes.

This is genuinely the best food I've had in LA after 5+ years living here. Incredible noodles in a nice casual atmosphere with great service. Great vegan options too, the vegan mazemen and the vegan ramen are both amazing.