JINYA Ramen Bar

As a ramen connoisseur, and after spending four years in Japan eating excellent ramen almost every week, I am going to give this place a 4 star rating. It’s only getting this because their Yuzu Chicken Ramen gave them extra bonus points.
It’s actually quite a hard place to find since there aren’t signs on the street that draw you to it. I’d driven by it so many times on my way to Daikokuya in Costa Mesa (when it was still around) that I didn’t even know it existed. I always saw the sushi place across from it, but this place never caught my attention. It was only through a friend that took me there that I found the place.

I went to Jinya after all my bitching to my fellow Unilocaler– Cathy S.- fellow ramen head about the lack of good noodle houses behind the Orange Curtain.
She assured me that there was some good noodles to be had a little further south than my normal Anaheim travels would normally go. Anaheim = ZERO ramen! So I followed my noodle sensi Cathy and a few other Unilocalers to Jinya in Costa Mesa. What none of us knew was that this Jinya was soon to be shutting her doors.
I arrived fashionably late (as always to keep up appearances) to meet a group of other Unilocalers for a noodle fest. I was the last one to order so (having studied the reviews and menu) the order rolled flawlessly off my lips. «I’d like a order of gyoza to get me started», «sorry we have no gyoza» OK how a bout some edamame then” «sorry we have no edamame». My poser ramen plan came crashing down as they said they had no gyoza or edamame! WTF this is staple noodle house food. «We are limiting the menu before the closure» our server told me.
OK so I stuck with my plan of Black & Red. Black (garlic) broth with the straight wheat (?) noodles and add red pepper as needed to attain the proper heat level. Thank god they still had ramen. I mean really. No gyozas or edamame?
Luckily the others had ordered chicken (karaage) and takoyiki to fill the gap.
I love the way the bonito flakes come alive on the hot takoyiki. And the karaage was no slouch either, crispy skin and not oily at all.
Then came the ramen. It was not as garlicky as I expected but when I added a ton of fresh garlic & chili it became an awesome bowl of noodles. I only wish I had gotten extra noodles and extra tamago. But it did fill the noodle void for me until my trip to Japan a week or so later where I was spoiled rotten at some amazing ramen houses.
Service was pretty quick and the waitress was nice too. Even though I was bummed out over the appetizers the company and the noodles made up for it. Too bad I didn’t get to catch Jinya in full swing I might have had a better experience.
Too bad Jinya is leaving, or I’d go back. Maybe have to try another location,

I wanted to like this place… I wanted to…
Here’s the rundown:
1. Came here for lunch and it wasn’t crowded at all. Yay for us, no wait!
2. There was only one server working which meant there was a lag in everything. From placing our order, getting our food, getting water refills, and to getting the check, you get the picture. Terrible!
3. Tried the JINYA TONKOTSU BLACK ramen and it was missing the flavor of a rich pork broth and that kick from the garlic chips and oil. The chashu in my bowl was almost all fat with only a small strip of lean meat. However, I liked the chewiness of the noodles and the fact that the egg in my bowl is whole and well-​seasoned. I was hoping that each slurp of that soup gets better but unfortunately, it didn’t. Sad… $ 8.95

4. The RED TONKOTSU is a spicy version of the Tonkotsu Black. Spicy level was 6, 10 being the highest. Broth was really red! One slurp and I was done with it. It was too spicy you can’t even taste the broth anymore. All I could taste was Siracha hot sauce. Yes, Siracha! Horrible. $ 9.95
5. I was expecting free cotton candy from the reviews and even saw the candy machine by the door as we left but either it’s not available for lunch or our server was too overwhelmed with all the other patrons to bother giving it out.
As Unilocal would say…“Meh. I’ve experienced better.”

Think I found my Ramen spot in OC!
We came here and tried the Spicy tonkatsu Ramen and Black tonkatsu Ramen. Both Ramen’s’ broth were rich in flavor, didn’t taste like shit compared to Aijisen or similar spots. The Spicy Tonkatsu Ramen wasn’t really that spicy. You need to add a bit of that chili powder to really give it the kick you expect it to. The Black Tonkatsu Ramen was my favorite. It had that creamy, hearty broth taste that Foo Foo Thei (City of Industry) has in their Nanchate Tonkatsu Ramen.
The other two things that surprised me from this place is how fresh and good the noodles were. They did not taste like noodles they half ass ed to cook or from a instant noodle pack (surprisingly some places taste like that… Aijisen!). The other one is when you order garlic, they don’t bring you a cup of diced garlic, oh no, they bring you fresh garlic and a tool to crush it yourself. Big plus in my book!
The service was really good, the prices are really fair for the quality of the food. I think the only upset here is their time schedule. If I’m not mistaken, they close early.

Cozy little restaurant tucked away in a busy Target shopping center chock full of chain restaurants.
Strangely enough, the juxtaposition of traditional Japanese décor with gritty American rock music was a bit alarming when i first stepped inside. But after awhile, the distracting music took a backseat to the tasty appetizers adorning our table.
Namely the pork belly bao. Wow, this fluffy bao sandwiching a thick, juicy and succulent pork belly was awesomely good. I could easily scarf down a dozen of these babies. Yes, they’re that good and yes, you should try it!
The crispy takoyaki was delicious, as well. Beautifully fried bite sized doughy balls filled with chewy octopus were generously drizzled with creamy Japanese mayo. Each bite was splendid and there was seriously no need for any obligatory dipping sauce, because these irresistible little morsels were good all on their own.
The ramen IMO out shined the rest of its supporting cast. The broth was perfect with a rich, spicy permeating flavor. What I especially enjoyed was how substantial it was. The flavor was bold and there were generous chunks of Chasiu and chicken in every bite. The noodles were nice & chewy and exhibited an excellent mouthfeel to boot. I especially enjoyed the soft boiled soy egg (extra cost, but definitely worth it). The soft runny yolk inside the firm boiled egg was eggporn at it’s best and honestly elevated my ramen experience to another level.
After washing everything down with a frosty glass of Sapporo, I was one happy camper!
But wait, it doesn’t end there! Once you’ve sated your appetite with their savory selections, you can indulge on free cotton candy at their complimentary cotton candy station. Sweet!
So there you have it, i came, I grubbed and i left completely satisfied. Would i come back?
You can bet on it!
Happy Eats!

Mmm… definitely some of the better ramen that I’ve had in the OC. I knew this place has a few locations out in LA, and was excited to try some without having to drive so far! I also really like how despite it being a ‘chain’, apparently every restaurant has a unique menu and design to it — this place even has a small self-​serve cotton candy machine, must try out next time!
Based on the raving reviews, my friend and I both went with the #1 Tonkotsu Black ramen bowl, in a rich, garlic-​y pork broth, with thick, chewy noodles, bamboo, a perfectly soft-​boiled egg, nori, fried onions, and a few (tragically, not many) slices of fatty chasu. One bowl is more than filling, and it’s a delight to eat.
I’m definitely going to frequent this place when I want some quality ramen.

No talking, lots of slurping. That’s how you know you’re enjoying good ramen. Unilocal friend, Kathy H. and I met our ramen guru, Cathy S. at her favorite OC ramen spot, JINYA, in Costa Mesa. Cathy has sampled the ramen at all the local places in Southern CA and I trust her expertise. This place did not disappoint.
Since I love gyoza and ramen, I decided to go for one of the combos that included ramen, salad and gyoza. I chose the JINYA Tonkotsu Black ramen which is with Pork Broth: Pork chashu, Kikurage, Green onion, Cabbage, Dried seaweed, Seasoned egg, Garlic chips, Garlic oil. The ramen was rich and flavorful. The pork broth was so savory with the garlic chips and garlic oil. Loved the seasoned soft boiled egg, too.
Looking at my picture, you can see the rich, dense goodness of the thick broth. The salad that came with the combo had baby leaf lettuce and a nice garlicky Japanese dressing. Great way to start my combo.
The pork gyoza was perfectly cooked and a nice accompaniment to the ramen.
I scarfed those down quickly :)
The place is small but quickly filled up for lunch. Service was friendly and very attentive. Kathy and I learned a lot that day from Cathy and our server about ramen. Definitely a place I will be back at in the future when I want a yummy bowl of ramen!

*Thumbs up*
Tonkatsu Black ramen was good — deep, rich broth flavor with a strong garlic flavor from the garlic oil and garlic chips. The egg had a nice, runny yolk inside. The chashu was tender and fatty. Yes, it was a bit oily and salty, but that’s just the style of this particular bowl of ramen.
*Thumbs down*
Don’t get the Tonkatsu Black ramen if you’re on a first date and you plan on doing some frickin’ seriously smooching. On the plus side, the broth’s thin film of oil that may coat your lips may act as a lubricant. Good or bad, depending on how you look at it.

Went here with Jessica H. and Tavis W. before a goth show, which is inconsequential, I just wanted to mention it. For vegetarians/​vegans, there’s veggie ramen, and I had a rice dish I’m not remembering the name of; although the menu lists it as a tofu dish, be advised that there’s pork in it, which you’ll have to ask them to leave out.
I’m not sure if that’s the problem that led to my entrée being served 10 minutes after my four friends’, but the waitstaff made no acknowledgment of why my dinner wasn’t present until we asked. Maybe the kitchen had made it wrong and had to redo it, which is ok, but it would have been appropriate to let me know what was going on instead of letting me sit there. My buddy who’d gotten the vegan ramen (looks like there’s a salad on top of it!) let me try some; the broth and noodles were both good.
When I finally got my dinner, it was good: an enormous bowl with loads of tofu and rice, in a spicy sauce. I wasn’t able to finish it. Everyone else at the table seemed to dig their meals, and most of the table had sake; Jinya doesn’t give you glasses, but small square wooden boxes to drink out of, which is novel but more so somewhat strange.
Would I go back? Maybe. Having a choice of only two entrees is a bit of a drag, but for carnivores, Jinya is probably great.

Van D introduced me to this place only a week after she discovered it. She thought it was so amazing, she just had to rush to bring me here since I do have a ramen addiction. We, along with another friend, got here just as they opened for dinner at 5:30pm. Apparently it’s happy hour from 5:30 — 7:30pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday and from 3 – 7:30pm during the weekend. However, their happy hour selection is kinda small so I wouldn’t consider this place a good happy hour spot but if you want a cup of cheap sapporo with your ramen then happy hour isn’t so bad. :) Van D ordered the lycheetini which is their only other drink besides sapporo on happy hour so I got to try that and it tasted like delicious lychee juice.
They have a few appetizers in their happy hour selections and Van D and I tried to order the creamy shrimp tempura. However, the waiter informed us that they had run out of shrimp tempura but he offered to give us the brussel sprouts tempura for happy hour price and the three of us ended up all ordering our own side of brussel sprouts tempura. I was actually really happy that we ended up trying this instead. You could probably share the portion but the brussel sprouts tempura was SOO good that I’m glad we all got our own! Really delicious and I tried to tell myself that it was somewhat healthy since it was my serving of vegetables in this meal. You absolutely must try! Our friend also ordered the pork gyozas and the small curry and salad to go along with his ramen. The gyoza was tasty, but I probably wouldn’t get the curry and salad option with the ramen because well the curry was just curry sauce and rice… Save room for that ramen!
Now when choosing their ramen, I would only really rave about the Jinya Tonkotsu Black (Number 1 on the menu). That ramen was so delicious. I drank up that broth, it was AMAZING and so flavorful without being too salty or overpowering! Van D can testify that my bowl was COMPLETELY DRY at the end of our meal with only leftover extra noodles that I couldn’t fit in my stomach that was stuffed. The chashu pork was so so soft and the egg was just how I like it, soft boiled with the yolk a little runny. :) You have to order this!!! A week after I first tried this place, I had to bring my boyfriend and he ordered the #1 and I decided to try something different and got the Tokyo Tonkotsu and trust, I was disappointed I hadn’t ordered the Jinya Tonkotsu Black. Not that the Tokyo Tonkotsu was bad but it was just alright compared to the ramen I had here the week prior.
I’ll definitely be back. I love the atmosphere and the service is quick! I even think this would be a great place to eat alone or with a date because of the bar and the tiny booths. But I’ll be sticking to ordering the number 1 on their menu with that side of delicious brussel sprouts tempura!!! This is probably my favorite ramen around this area (the absolute best ramen is in Totto Ramen in NYC)!!! But since I don’t live in New York, I’ll gladly settle for JINYA whenever I have a ramen craving.

I think I just found my favorite ramen place! My friend Van D. and I were talking about ramen one day, and she recommended I try this place. Thank you Van!
The menu here is hugeeee, and they aren’t just limited to ramen, but have other dishes and tonssss of drinks on their menu. I just ordered their Tonkatsu Original ramen. The service was pretty quick about taking orders and bringing out the food. OMG the ramen was delicious! The broth was reallyyy flavorful and thicker than other broths that I’ve tried. The pork was super tender. And the spinach… OMG sooo good! It was lightly sweet and went perfectly with the broth. The portion was also pretty generous. I eat like a cow and even I couldn’t finish the entire bowl.
The restaurant itself is pretty small — seating is pretty limited, but the décor is really nice!
I’ll definitely be back to try some of their happy hour specials sometime soon!

I knew I was in for something real interesting the second I walked into JINYA. I’ve seen their other location on Sawtelle in LA but I’ve never had the interest to check it out. This place has been Jonathan Gold approved so I thought «what the heck» let’s give it a try.
Buffalo Wings — Absolutely disgusting. The sauce tasted like thickened tobasco sauce. The wings look big in the picture but the wings actually looked like they were of an anorexic baby chicken. Not only was the flavor horrid but the lack of meat made it an utter disappointment. We kind of picked at them and decided not to eat the rest.
Jinya Tonkotsu — This is their signature ramen. The broth is very thick and rich. Some may want to water it down. Thin ramen with chashu pork, bamboo, green onions, soy sauce flavored hard-​boiled egg and shaved fried onions on top. They give pretty thick slices of chashu with minimal fat but it was just okay. Aside from the rich broth, I’d say this is an A-​OK bowl of ramen. I’d much rather go to Shin Sen Gumi or Daikokuya, which are both nearby.

Last night I was meeting someone up for dinner, but we had no clue where we wanted to go. I casually said, «go Unilocal something!!» and long story short, we ended up meeting here.
Apparently my dinner companion is a hella-​ramen lover cause he had really detailed observations about this place. As he said it out loud, I was thinking — wow, I’m gonna include that. LOL: D And for the record, he said, «this is the best Ramen I’ve had– in America»
Anyways… we came here around 6:45pm and at this time they were mildly busy. We were seated immediately at a booth for two and given like 3 menus O_​O’ SO MANY OPTIONS! There was a regular menu, a happy hour menu, and a ‘specials’ menu.. My dinner companion was debating about what to get, but the nice waiter gave very helpful input. On the other hand, the decision was clear for me, BIGGEST & BOLDEST font! So we both decided on the jinya tonkatsu special, despite our different methods :) We also ordered a side of edamame and 2 reduced-​ice waters w/​lemon (but they never brought out the lemon… sads).
The waters came first, then the edamame. I think was too warm and overly salted. But after letting it cool down for a bit, taste like any other edamame. Soon after the ramen came out. This is when I got hella impressed! :D The visual was cute; all of the things that made it special was on display. The noodles were good, although I prefer it to be a little bit softer. THE BROTH WAS AMAZING! Like I woke up thinking about that broth O_​O debating to come back today for that broth *faint* The pork was very soft. It was moist and flavorful, and it almost just melts into your mouth. And OMG that egg! It was like an extra-​softly soft-​boiled egg. My egg was a little runny on the inside just how I like it. BEST RAMEN EVERRRR!
Overall, the service was great and the food was AMAZING :) I will definitely come back soon. I even made a mental note to myself during the meal that I have to go here with Denise K. cause she’s such a Ramen-​lover!

My friend and I got here at about 15 minutes after they opened for lunch. We were the first ones there. I ordered the Jinya tonkotsu ramen and their shrimp gyoza. The noodles were a bit soft and the broth was flavorful but not over powering. I prefer my noodles a little bit harder. The chashu was thick and very porky. The soft boiled egg was a tad hard. All in all it was a decent bowl of ramen. Not mind blowing spectacular, but it was good. The shrimp gyoza was good, but I’m heavily biased towards shrimp.
The bowl of ramen was good enough that I will come back to try other items on their menu. The waiter was very attentive especially in refilling our water and clearing the table.

Lamborghini Mercy
Your chick she so thirsty
I’m in that two seat Lambo
With your girl she tryna _​_​_​me
(Lines from Mercy — Kanye West)
OK, the only reason why I referenced the song is because this place is located across the street from the OC Lamborghini dealer. However, if your girl does order the Red, it is so hot she will definitely be thirsty afterwards. As far as the other part of the song, that’s a different story — LOL.
I had the Tonkotsu Red ($ 10.55) and my friend had the Jinya Tonkotsu ($ 9.55). We also had the five piece buffalo wings ($ 4.95). You can order Red from 1 – 10 in terms of spiciness. I ordered the 5 and it was plenty spicy for me. After the first bite I said, «Damn that’s effin spicy!». My brow and neck were sweating during the entire meal. Red comes w/​two big pieces of pork chasu, spinach, green onion, cabbage, dried seaweed, seasoned egg and red chili oil. The broth was super rich, the noodles nice and chewy and the pork was sublime: 5 Stars.
My friend didn’t like the richness of the tonkotsu broth. He prefers the thinner shoyu or shio broth. But, I won’t let his opinion sway me. He is not very adventuresome, so he is a bad person to ask for an opinion The Jinya version is just like the Red, but w/​fried onion and w/​o all the heat. BTW, even though he said he didn’t like his, he ate all of his dish before me, and ate both of our seasoned eggs: 4 Stars.
The wings were OK. They had a fair amount of heat (4 on a scale of 1 – 10). In addition, they were fairly meaty. The only negative was the sauce was a little to sweet for my taste buds: 3 Stars.
The service was OK. Minuses: We were barely seated before she asked us if we were ready to order; She also didn’t let us know that we could have extra noodles for $ 1. Pluses: She refilled our drinks w/​o being asked and brought out fresh garlic (free) and extra napkins when I asked: 3 Stars.
The ambiance is cool. It is definitely hip and modern. There is a lot of black in the motif: They have tables and seats at the bar and a lot of TVs. There is also current pop music playing in the background. We came @ 6 on a Sat and there weren’t too many people. I think there would be a line at Shin Sen Gumi at the same time on a Sat night: 3 Stars.
Shout out to my yf Lica N. for the ramen education! I definitely want to return and try other ramens and apps. They have fried chicken, gyoza, et al. The two things I regret was not bringing a friend who drinks beer: Pitchers of Sapporo are only $ 18; And not having the waitress pack my leftover broth so I could put it over rice later to nurse the hangover!

There are so many good ramen places within a few miles of each other in Costa Mesa, that the decent, good ones such as Jinya just don’t shine next to its competitors such as Ramen Yamadaya, Shin Sen Gumi or Santouka.
Don’t get me wrong. Jinya’s ramen is good, and if it were located in Kansas or somewhere far away from the other ramen places, it would probably get a higher ranking.
I got the Jinya Signature Tonkotsu ramen (see attached photo). It has a milky pork broth and lots of goodies inside, including an egg, nori, pork, etc. The sign of a good ramen to me is the broth and noddles. Although their broth is milky as I like it, it wasn’t very tasty. It was missing something. The noddles were good but not as chewy as I like it.
On top of that, their ramen is a bit pricier than its competitors. A bowl of Jinya Tonkotsu was $ 9.55.
They are located in a strip mall on the corner, and they have plenty of parking. The service was very attentive as well.

So it was brought to my attention that a new ramen joint opened in the OC. Came here with some friends and right away I felt like this is going be a good experience. The place was empty when we walked in, but it took 5 minutes for us to get seated. It was some logistical issues with the tables, but we were finally seated.
I like the ambiance. Plenty of tv’s all around. Nice dark wooden tables and plenty of water pitchers filled and ready to be poured.
On my first visit here, I got the Tonkotusu Red, level 5. The lady warned me ahead of time that level 5 would be still be hot, even though the levels ranged from 1 to 10. And 5 for me was just too insane. Lessons learned. Great, but there are things you just need to sacrifice in order to get the best experience out of your ramen.
But on my next visit here, I had to take it down a notch and go with a level 3 bowl. Now, that’s my level there. Obviously, I came back within days after my first visit, so you know that this place is a Mike C. approved ramen joint.
But unfortunately, I live in the south OC, so I can’t come here all the time. But if you have the opportunity to come up here once in awhile, then you should go. Great stuff here. Great ramen!

Nothing more soothing and fulfilling than ramen!
I love ramen and I could pretty much eat it everyday. Its fulfilling and yummy. I heard that this place was opening up and decided to give it a try with my friends yesterday for lunch.
I ordered the combination:
–Tonkotsu Red level 8 spicy
–Pork Chashu Bowl
–side salad
The bowl of ramen was very generous. You can choose the level of spiciness that you want and I opted for level 8 and it was very red but it wasn’t too bad. Next time Ill order maybe level 5 or 6 so I can taste more of the broth. The pork in the ramen was very tender and flavorful. The egg for the ramen was cooked perfectly. The flavor of the broth was delish! The Pork chashu bowl was very good and simple. I liked it a lot. All of this was more than enough for me to finish. All of my friends seemed to like their food as well.
The place was pretty empty when I came, but service was a bit slow for some reason and they got a bit confused with the orders too, but they just opened I guess so I will give them a break.
As oppose to most Japanese places they don’t have the weird hours where they’re closed during the middle of the day they are opened all throughout the day so that is a plus!

Decided to try this place out after seeing an ad in the magazine, it was our back up plan since Shin Sen Gumi looked busy and we were on a tight schedule. For a Saturday night, it was pretty empty. The interior is nice though and very modern.
I ordered the Tonkotsu Classic (Hakata) and my boyfriend got the Tonkotsu Original (Yokohama). They only have one size here, I wasn’t too hungry and asked if they had a half size, but unfortunately for me, they didn’t.
When our ramen came out the soup was already coagulated so there was a thick layer of soup skin on top. gross. The broth was flavorless and just tasted like oil. They also used egg noodles for the noodles and added cabbage, which I thought was strange. I tasted my boyfriend’s ramen and it was a lot more flavorful but still oily.
Overall, it was nice to try out a new place, but probably wouldn’t come back here again. Ohh and we asked if they had chili oil and the server said yes and brought us chili paste –_​_​(\ so just a note for all those chili oil lovers out there, they don’t have chili oil. lol

Another ramen shop right down the street from another ramen shop! Sure, why not? However, this new little ramen shop lacks in flavor.
I ordered the combo that included some boring salad that was just lettuce, pork gyozas which the taste was good nice pork flavor, but they were really greasy. I also ordered the Tonkotsu Black ramen that adds an egg and the a blackish, aromatic oil made from either charred crushed garlic. Everything in the bowl looks great and the bowl itself is very appealing however, the broth lack any flavor only pork fat and grease. I had to add powder chili, salt, pepper and even gyoza sauce to add some seasoning to it, it was very bland. The broth was very thick almost like a jelly substance which was a little unappetizing. I know this type of broth is suppose to be heavy because of the pork bone but it was curdling.
I enoyed Yamadaya better than here but Santouka is where my heart is. :) Let’s see where they are in month. I will give them another shot, they just opened. Oh! And they do have all the items yet on the menu. This is still the soft opening. Waiters still need a little work but I think they will get there.
Stars 2 ¹⁄₂