Finally! Great ramen comes to the Valley!
The owner of Ramen Jinya has seven restaurants in the Tokyo area. On my first visit I tried the Jinya Ramen, with chicken tsukune. It was awesome and I felt that this was the perfect bowl of ramen for the newbie who doesn't like pork (kind of like Ramen 101). I haven't had a bowl this good since I was at the Ramen Museum in Yokohama. Heck, it's better than the bowl I had recently in Dotonbori in Osaka. We went back tonight and the Wonton Ramen might be even better. The curry they serve is actually pretty good too (better than Curry House), which you can get with ramen, via one of the many combinations they have. Let me tell you, you will leave stuffed, but in a good way. There's even lots of parking underground.
Ramen Jinya
11239 Ventura Blvd., Studio City CA., 91604
818-980-3977
By Gourmet Pilot
on Jul 13, 2010 11:21 PM
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Is it located in the Marshall's strip mall? I look forward to trying this place
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this place is excellent. they're still in their soft-open, however, so their hours are kind of off. (ignore the one-star yelp review by the yelper who got there 15 minutes before they closed and decided to bitch about it without even having tried the place).
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Yup, there's a Marshall's and a Tuesday Morning.
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Next to marshall's, they've got a banner up that says Grand Opening and there's ample parking in an attached underground lot.
However when I went today I discovered to my dismay they are CLOSED Wednesdays.
Regular hours are 11:00-21:00 Thursday-Tuesday.
Foiled! should have just gone to Portos for my weekly fix.
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Hello, jadekarrde.
I'm a little confused. I called this afternoon for their hours, and I was told that they were closed today. When I asked for confirmation that they were closed on Wednesdays, the man on the phone said "just today we are closed," as though today was an exception.
It is too late now, but I will try to clarify this tomorrow and post any new information.
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tomorrow is their official grand opening. i suspect t that today they were closed just to get their house in order.
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Hi, rameniac! You suspected right!
The owner just informed me that they are open every day -- except Sundays - from 11:00am to 10:00pm, with the last order being accepted at 9:30pm.
I can't wait to try it!
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Was there today and the Chef/Owner confirmed the same hours stated by Liu above--closed Sundays (for now), open 11am-10pm. Will eventually open 7 days. Credit cards accepted. Wait staff just hired to start soon.
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Thank you, miss chai latte, for confirming their hours and days.
What did you have? Did you like it?
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I had their chashu ramen with tonkotsu broth, gyoza and salad combo for $12.50. I thought Jinya's broth is excellent, it is garlicky and definately has a kick to it. The chashu was very good, but I'm spoiled by Santouka's special pork. My bowl came with spinach and a whole egg. I would order my noodles firm next time. The gyoza was good but I would rather have pork over chicken gyoza. I drive out regularly to Santouka to get my ramen (Shio with special pork) so its wonderful to (finally!) have a close alternative. They have advertised so far only in a Japanese newspaper so are pleasantly surprised to see the flow of business they are seeing already (thanks to all the recent write-ups by Rameniac, Gourmet Pilot and Eatdrinknbmerry, etc). Look forward to reading more reviews on other menu items.
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Yesterday, they told me they close between 3pm-5pm. Best to call prior to heading down in these early days...
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We dropped in for lunch today. Amazingly handy location for us compared to any other ramen choices, so we had to check it out. While not without a problem or two this is the best in the Valley, maybe north of the South Bay. I preferred it to Daitokuya. I had the daily special tonkotsu ramen, Mme Akitist had the spicy ramen, no sides. We inquired about the gyoza but they weren't available. As was remarked on elsewhere they seem to include a lot of chicken here, as in the gyoza and the interesting chicken balls in the spicy ramen.
As befits a new place, it was neat and clean. Fairly spare decor, some tables outside (in July this may not be the prime seating area, at least in the daytime). Counter seating plus 2 and 4 top tables inside.
The good: broth was rich and tasty in both orders. Noodles were the way I like 'em, a bit al dente. Chashu slices were pretty good, too.
The not so good: broth was noticeably salty, and the orders were a long time comin', even though the place was short of half-full. Regarding the first, they said they would make the broth less salty on demand (meaning they built it to order, causing the lag?).
Overall, I give them a very-good. Really, only the wait bothered me, and I was both hungry and filled with anticipation. And with practice their speed should improve.
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So they've become a minor success...they sold out on Saturday!
FYI: Sunday is now the day they are closed.
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Yes, at least 3 of us showed up at lunch today, and of course all left hungry.
Nonetheless, there is always tomorrow!
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J Gold just did a write up on them, and of course, mentions Rameniac! Be prepared for long waits now.
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