Mitsuwa Market

These West LA supermarket shelves are stocked with enough pork, panko and Pocky for shoppers to stage their own Japanese blowouts. But the loudest buzz sounds from the food court, wedged between an anime toy store and the grocery's own cash registers. Crowded with counters slinging udon (slippery, fat wheat noodles), tonkatsu (breaded, fried pork cutlet), yakisoba (fried noodle) and donburi (rice bowls), the numerous options are realistically cast in plastic for your perusal. The best sellers—packing in crowds here every day of the week—include Santouka Ramen's outstanding $6.99-$9.49 bowls of pickled plum-topped shio (salt) ramen and Hannosuke's $8.95-$12.95 tendon (tempura on rice), piled high with golden-battered vegetables, oozing egg, and battered and fried, crunchy crustaceans.