"Dish: Uni Sea Urchin Cream Udon Before the pandemic, Marugame Monzo in Little Tokyo had a perpetual line, both for the food and the performance–you’d watch noodle makers inside a glass-walled room throwing and cutting udon like they were on stage. But Marugame is just as great for takeout, even without the show. The fat, dense noodles are excellent in many forms, but for something a bit different, go for the udon in uni cream sauce, which is flecked with incredible bits of Santa Barbara urchin tongue. For a more standard noodle soup, try the Hot Dragon Udon with a light, spicy tonkotsu broth and excellent spiced ground pork." - brant cox, kat hong, nikko duren, sylvio martins