There are a few well known ramen restaurants in Downtown Vancouver such as Kintaro for their fatty soup bases, large portions and tender chashu; Santouka for their creamy and velvety rich broths; Motomachi for their innovative twist on ramen; and Taishoken which serves above average ramen. However, apparently Ramen Jinya joins the list as well because there is always a line up! I have never lined up for more than twenty minutes at Kintaro or Santouka, but I waited thirty five minutes to see what the fuss is about with Ramen Jinya.
There is a self service wait list outside of the restaurant which is based on an honorary system and I highly doubt anyone would cross the names of other people on the list. As for the interior, the seating arrangements are fairly comfortable when compared to other ramen restaurants because there are more individual tables than communal, which is great for those who like to have a larger personal space. With regards the service, the staff were friendly and non-rushed despite having a line up.
CURRY BOWL, "Japanese curry on rice" ($6.25).
Rating: 1/5.
The curry has a rich and thick consistency, but there is no flavour at all except for a heavy hit of sweetness. There is not even the slightest hint of a curry flavour and there are sort of, but not really, bits of ground pork. The rice is also fairly sticky and wet.
GYOZA (6 pieces/$4.95).
Rating: 3/5.
The gyoza at Ramen Jinya is fairly good, consisting of a thin wrapper and pan fried to a crisp bottom. The meat is also well seasoned and tastes fairly juicy. Moreover, the gyoza are not too oily one bit.
JINYA TONKOTSU BLACK, "Original pork broth, pork belly char-siu, kikurage, bamboo shoots, green onion, flavoured boiled egg, seaweed, black garlic oil and garlic chips ($12.25).
Rating: 2.5/5.
Having tried Ramen Koika's black garlic ramen, Ramen Jinya's interested me. The soup base consists of a creamy and mild pork broth, but the flavour is very one dimensional and lacks depth. Not only are there no layers of flavour, but the ramen lacks both fatty bits and a velvety consistency.
There is also no impact from the addition of the black garlic oil, unlike Ramen Koika's. The fried garlic chips even provided more flavour than the black garlic. The chashu on the other hand, tastes very tender (including the lean portion) and comparable to Kintaro's. Actually, the chashu tastes more tender than Kintaro's because the meat is sliced thinner. Another saving grace would be the cooked al dente long and straight noodles, which exhibit a nice bounce and bite. As for the ajitsuke, the egg does not taste as salty as Marutama's but I would have preferred a gooier yolk.Rating: 1/5.
The miso ramen tastes a lot worse than the Tonkotsu Black and the consistency of the broth is very gooey. But not only is the broth gooey, the miso flavour is extremely overwhelming and the flavours from the pork bones are lost. To top it off, the thick and wavy ramen noodles are undercooked and taste crunchy.
I felt bad for my friend because of her poorly executed ramen and on top of that, even her egg was overcooked. We thought the overcooked egg was our karma though because we were initially delivered the wrong bowls of ramen and the eggs were sliced, exposing overcooked eggs as well and we were complaining amongst each other. Then we laughed and said, "good thing it was neither of ours" when we realized it was the wrong order.
TOTAL: $37.00 + TIP $5.00 = $42.00.
POSITIVES
- Above average gyoza
- Friendly and non rushing staff
- There are more individual tables than communal
NEGATIVES
- There is always a line up
- Poorly executed curry
- Gooey miso ramen
- Food is inconsistent
Food: 2.5/5
Service: 3/5
270 Robson Street Vancouver, BC V6B 0E7
Telephone (604) 568-9711
www.jinya-ramenbar.com
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