**** This location of Jinya Ramen Bar has closed
About the same time Nishiki Ramen opened with a great deal of hype, the first location of Jinya Ramen Bar opened in PB, to what seemed to be a lot less fanfare. Maybe it's me, but I think many were paying attention to the upcoming Hillcrest location. Jinya has several locations in LA and one in Vegas. And while Jinya has Jonathan Gold's seal of approval, the locations in LA seem kind of interesting; Studio City, Santa Monica, and now here in Pacific Beach.
My memory might be foggy, but I think a couple of businesses ago this was the location of Ed from Yuma's favorite Thai Restaurants, Karinya.
Man, this was one nice restaurant....looking very modern gastro-pubbish.......
Nice bar area....and very friendly folks...even though one of them did call it "Tonkatsu style Ramen"....
This young lady eating at the bar was really funny. After trying with chopsticks for a few minutes, she waved the white flag and asked for a fork.
I thought the menu, besides the ramen quite interesting...there were the "classics", rice bowls, chicken karaage....and other items I would never have ever thought of seeing in a ramen joint. Quinoa Salad, anyone? Well, the Missus does like Her quinoa, which She really started enjoying in Peru back in 2007.
Of course I got some ramen. I decided on the Jinya Tonkotsu Black ($10.80).
The bowls were very nice; though I did notice that the actual portion size of the ramen might be a tad smaller than it actually looks. First off, the egg was nicely flavored, but over-cooked, the yolk dry. Speaking of over-cooked, the Hakata style noodles were also not to my liking, being too soft and mushy. The chashu was nice, but could have used more flavor. The broth wasn't hot enough, which led to this really rich pork tonkotsu developing a "skin" rather quickly and also attaining a greasy texture. Too much bitter garlic messed up the flavor as well...don't get me wrong, I love garlic, but this was a bit too much for me.
I could tell the ramen had potential and all the hiccups could be remedied. After all, they had just opened.
Seeing Pig Ear Chicharron ($8.50), I just had to order it.
I really enjoyed this dish. The pig ears were fried crisp and rather light. The harissa added a nice flavor and the fried, crisp kale was nice as well. The onsen tamago threw me at first as it was ice cold. But it was beautifully runny and added a nice creamy-richness to the whole mess.....it was a lovely mess.
I was pleased enough with what I had, that I was actually able to talk the Missus (who was quite dubious of going to PB for ramen) into having an early dinner here.
The main selling point being the Tempura Brussel Sprouts ($5.80). The Missus loves Her Brussel Sprouts. At one point last year, I was making bacon fat sautéed Brussel Sprouts in a balsamic reduction 3-4 times a week!
The Missus likes Her tempura either light and feathery, or full on thick and crunchy. This was the latter. The Missus also loves truffle oil...guess what was drizzled on these? This was quite good, though I couldn't help but think how good a tentsuyu (tempura dipping sauce) would go with these as well. No complaints from the Missus.
Her Pork Chashu Bowl ($8.00) was quite large.
That egg was quite good, cooked nicely. The sauce was also decent and the rice cooked well. The pork was on the dry side, but passable. I don't think we'll have this again though.
We won't be having the Caramelized Cauliflower ($5.80) either.
I think of cauliflower as being a wonderful palette for different flavors, but this seemed uninspired....not roasted nearly enough, with too much citrus that just overwhelmed the whole dish.
This time, I got the Tonkotsu Assari ($8.80). When I think of Assari Ramen I think of a light broth. This was still a bit thicker than what I expected, but I'm not complaining.
The broth was nice and porky while perhaps on the higher end of the sodium scale, but not terribly so. The broth coated my tongue nicely and I'd say it was better than what I've had recently at Yamadaya. The thicker (it's all relative) noodles were prepared well, nice and al dente, a touch of chew to them. You can tell that the egg this time around was better as well. The chashu was the same as before. Overall, this was a much better bowl of ramen......
Of course I got the Pig Ears, but the Missus, who loved the egg, kale, and harissa, didn't care for the pig ears, which weren't quite as good as on my previous visit.
Strange. What She really wants is something crisp on the exterior, but still having that crunchy-chewiness in the exterior. She believes that doing this to pig ears defeats the purpose of using it as an ingredient. Of course conversation went to the fantastic pig ears we had in Hiroshima, but that was a totally different prep. Oh well, I'll still be ordering this.
Strangely, Jinya wasn't very crowded on either visit, but it could because they've recently opened and we usually eat fairly early. As with my previous visit, people watching is half the fun. I'm wondering if they had some kind of doll making class nearby...otherwise this photo of the young lady having ramen while her doll "watches" seems kind of weird.
It seems like Jinya is trying to please a variety of different folks...quinoa salad, craft beer, and French fries on one hand....the classic trio of ramen, gyoza, and rice bowls on the other. Who knows, they might just pull this off. I know I'll have to return....especially since I totally forgot to try the karaage!
Jinya Ramen Bar
825 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109
I've been to the (now defunct) Costa Mesa location before. I had the tonkotsu black. It was just OK so I never returned. I'll have to give the assari a try!
Posted by: Junichi | Tuesday, 20 October 2015 at 11:08 AM
Thanks, I'll have to give them a try. Looks like a worthy contender to add to the ramen rotation.
Posted by: Jason | Tuesday, 20 October 2015 at 12:40 PM
Give it a shot Junichi....though I think some of the other items are actually better than the ramen.
Check them out Jason.......better than second tier ramen.
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 20 October 2015 at 06:01 PM
Hope they can improve
Posted by: kat | Tuesday, 20 October 2015 at 08:41 PM
Pig ears fried, sold I'm there. Matter of speaking any pork goodness I am there.
Posted by: nhbilly | Wednesday, 21 October 2015 at 05:10 AM
I hope they can keep improving too Kat!
Totally Billy.....love those fried pig ears.
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 21 October 2015 at 06:34 AM
That's some good looking tempura! Was there veggies other than zucchini in there?
Posted by: Soo @ hungryones | Wednesday, 21 October 2015 at 09:41 AM
Hi Soo - It's actually Brussel Sprouts....not much except that...and truffle oil. Add some salt and what more do you really need....
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 21 October 2015 at 07:19 PM