Sopita Ramen brings Korean-Latin ramen to L.A.

Name of restaurant: Sopita Ramen, which opened four months ago on the edge of Koreatown. “Sopita” means “a little bit of soup” in Spanish.

Owner: Roberto Chun, a Korean guy who grew up in Uruguay and spent a little time in Brazil. He slips easily from greeting his customers in Korean and English to speaking in Spanish.

Concept: Korean-style dishes with a bit of Latin American flavor.

What dish represents the restaurant, and why: The boolkogi (sic) ramen would be a standard-issue bowl, except it’s topped with some chopped green onions and slices of jalapeno. The chopped onions and cilantro, plus the juice from the slice of lime, makes an unexpectedly good combination of Korean and Latin, almost like Koreatown itself.

Crack the raw egg into the simmering bowl. Add generous spoonfuls of the fermented chile sauce to add that extra fire to the dish. The ramen, made from packaged noodles, is almost forgivable because of all that nice beef stock it’s swimming in.

Who’s at the next table: Table? What table? There are wrap-around counter seats with a Korean dude conducting business transactions over the phone, as well as a friendly neighborhood couple who seem to have accidentally wandered in.

Appropriate for: A casual meal alone or with a couple of buddies. Eat, listen to some rock ‘n’ roll, then get back to work.

Problematic: Best to stick with the ramen dishes on the menu.

Service: It’s almost too attentive for a formica-topped counter joint. Eating here is like visiting your super friendly Korean cousin’s house. That is, if your cousin grew up in Latin America and was really into the band Dream Theater (rock posters and all). You can imagine someone handing you a mix tape on the way out.

What you’re drinking: Though almost incongruous, a green tea boba smoothie, a lychee slush or a Korean aloe drink.

Info: 3087 W. Pico Blvd., #9, Los Angeles, 323-356-9224.