Vacation and food are almost synonymous in our family. It isn’t truly a vacation unless we’re in local areas trying specialize dishes and unique cuisines of that location. On our most recent trip as we were looking for a place to eat we ran in to a couple different Jinya restaurants! They reminded me of our visit to their newest location in Calgary. We were told that they had locations all over the world but who would have thought that we would run in to them on our trip! We were lucky enough to try out their ramen bowls amongst other goodies before we left and here’s some of our highlights.
Atmosphere: Contemporary interior and a hip vibe makes this place unique amongst current ramen restaurants in town.
Price Range: mid $10s+
Food & Drinks: We were advised that we could try two appetizers, two ramen bowls and a dessert. So after looking at the menu we decided on the Jinya Bun which is a steam bun stuffed with slow braised pork chashu, cucumber, baby greens, kewpie mayo and jinya sauce and the Brussels Sprouts Tempura, crispy tempura with truffle oil. I really liked the Jinya Bun. There are many different version of this, some with only the pork and a bit of sauce and some with all the fixings. I particularly enjoyed this because it was a good ratio of bun to pork to sauce along with some greens. It was a great start to the meal. The Brussels Sprouts Tempura were crunchy but they needed a sauce or a dip. A spicy mayo would have elevated the dish or even better, a truffle oil mayo since I couldn’t really taste the truffle oil on the brussels sprouts themselves.
I ordered the Jinya Tonkotsu Black made with pork broth and served with chashu, garlic oil and chips, thin noodles and topped with a spicy sauce and this amazing egg which is cooked to perfection. When I go back I am definitely going to order an extra egg. It’s cooked just so that the yolk inside is still gloriously runny! Overall I enjoyed the bowl, the noodles were well cooked and the broth wasn’t overly salty which I find happens with tonkotsu. I would order it again, but next time I have my eye on the Cha Cha Cha for Garlic Lover’s!
The hubby tried the Premium Tonkotsu White (funny how the name was exactly opposite of the “Black”). This bowl was made with pork and chicken broth served with chashu, a half egg, kikurage (mushrooms) and thin noodles. My husband prefers thin noodles and thought they were well cooked. The broth wasn’t as heavy since it was a nice combination of both chicken and pork. As part of his meal he also ordered the set, which comes with Gyozas. The dumplings had a nice char to them and the filling was quite flavourful. We both enjoyed them and would order them again.
For dessert we ordered the Mochi Ice Cream, one green tea and and one chocolate. For those who haven’t had mochis before, they are soft rice balls made from glutinous rice flour and these ones in particular are stuffed with ice cream where traditionally they would be stuffed with red bean or sesame paste. I liked the green tea one and my husband liked the chocolate so one of each was perfect for sharing. Although I probably could have eaten more of just green tea myself. =)
My Picks: Jinya Bun, Mochi Ice Cream
Overall: It is definitely nice to see more ramen options in Calgary. Especially global establishments such as Jinya recognizing that Calgary is a city that has a food scene that they would like to be a part of. After speaking to the manager, I was informed that Jinya has very specific requirements for their stores and I’m glad they were able to find something that suited them here in the city. Here’s looking forward to seeing new items being introduced on their menu and opening up our palates to new global cuisine!
Jinya Ramen Bar
Unit 180, 1800 4 St SW
Calgary, AB
(587) 356-0721
Website: http://jinya-ramenbar.com/locations/detail/calgary
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