JINYA RAMEN BAR
SERVING SIZZLING & SENSATIONAL COMFORT FOOD

What is comfort food?  Think of it as hearty eats that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value—often characterized by a high caloric and high carb count. And it’s often followed by food coma.

There’s something just so satisfying about hearty comfort food.  Classic comfort food dishes include spaghetti and meatballs, and mac & cheese.  And included in that mix is ramen.  It may not be immediately what you think as comfort food but a hot bowl of ramen (with noodles—very important) is just so comforting.  Such as my casual experience at JINYA Ramen Bar.

Known for its slow-cooked approach to ramen made from broths simmered for 20 hours in-house, JINYA Ramen Bar, founded in 2010, offers a contemporary Japanese dining experience with its thick, rich broth in perfect balance with handmade noodles.  Toppings range from tender pork chasu to a perfectly cooked and seasoned poached egg to fresh garlic that will take your ramen bowl to the next level.

Recent additions to the beloved menu include Tonkotsu Curry Tsukemen, and Lettuce Wraps.

The Tonkotsu Curry Tsukemen is dipping noodles in a pork curry broth with chopped onion, served with think noodles, pork chashu, seasoned egg, green onion and bok choy. It is as comforting as it is delicious.

And the new Lettuce Wraps are Soboro (sautéed ground pork) with umami miso sauce, served with iceberg lettuce and cilantro.

“At JINYA, we are always looking to create new menu items to elevate guests’ authentic ramen experience,” says JINYA Ramen Bar founder Tomonori Takahashi.  “These items add more variety while also offering guests new unique flavors that they can explore.”

During our recent visit to the Studio City location, we started with a dazzling array of small plate items, including the JINYA Bun (steamed bun stuffed with slow-braised pork chashu, cucumber and baby mixed greens served with JINYA’s original bun sauce and Kewpie mayonnaise); Spicy Tuna and Salmon Cones (a dynamite blend of spicy tuna and salmon in three crunchy cones); Brussels Sprouts Tempura; Takoyaki (battered octopus over egg tartar topped with Kewpie mayonnaise, okonomiyaki sauce, fresh cut green onion and smoked bonito flakes); Mini Tacos; and the always popular Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna.

The new sautéed pork lettuce wrap is very satisfying, as is the new pork curry dipping noodles. You can’t go wrong with the curry dipping noodles or any of the other ramen options.  We enjoyed the Flying Vegan Harvest with vegan miso broth, soy meat, tofu, bean sprouts, broccolini, green onion, corn, red onion, crispy garlic and chili seasoning served with thick noodles. This is comfort food defined.

Whether you’re looking for a quick bowl of ramen or you want to make it slow, lazy and hearty experience, you will find your time at JINYA Ramen Bar comforting and so very satisfying.

Local JINYA Ramen Bar locations include Burbank, Downtown LA, Santa Monica, Studio City, and Tustin. Click here for more info.

Story By: Jose Martinez

Photography Courtesy Of: JINYA Ramen Bar