It's time to talk about ROBATA JINYA on 3rd and Crescent Heights (aka the robata-ya what serves up RAMEN?!)

[Mr Taster]

Robata Jinya--

I've heard great things from a work colleague whose food opinions I trust.

She says it's amazingly affordable and delicious, in that she and her boyfriend could order carefully and have a great meal for about $30 total. I like the sound of that.

However, there's very little about this place on Chowhound- more info about their Ramen shop in Studio City.

Highlights from my colleague:

"the bacon wrapped enoki mushrooms"
"the shrimp toast was great"
"all the chicken skewers and all the vegetables"
"yellowtail carpaccio to die for"

http://jinya-la.com/menu.html

Also, interesting that some of the ramen has filtered down into a non-ramen focused menu. Rameniac like the studio city offerings, so I wonder if this is the same?

Discuss!

Mr Taster

[Mr Taster]

OK, went last night. We hit the very well-priced happy hour.

$2 edamame (generous bowl, served warm with salt)
It's edamame. Tasty but boring.

$2 chashu (a generous slab of meltingly soft pork. It dissolves away in your mouth. Go to happy hour for this alone)

$2 tsukune (3 meatballs, 1 stick)
Nice, but certainly not the best I've had. It appeared to have some kind of grain or rice filler binding it. Nicely char-grilled, and tasty enough for the price.

$5 tempura shrimp in sweet glaze (also, a relatively generous portion of medium to large shrimp- probably would be $8-12 in another restaurant)
Essentially Robata Jinya's version of Yang Chow's slippery shrimp

$5 spicy tuna on a ball of fried onigiri
These were *really* nice simply from a textural point of view. While I would have preferred more spice (and flavor) in my spicy tuna-- even the sliver of jalapeno on top was relatively bland-- the wonderful texture of the onigiri made up for it. Instead of a triangle, it's a little ovaloid shaped onigiri, deep fried to a beautiful crunchy golden brown, topped with a dollop of spicy tuna. I'd go back for this alone.

In addition, we tried the non happy-hour specials

Enoki muchrooms (a little hard to bite into, but really nice-- wonderfully smoked bacon) $3

Freshly made tofu-- this was mesmerizing, to see liquid tofu congeal before your eyes. Not for everyone, but if you like silken tofu pudding you definitely should try it. $6

shrimp sandwiches- spectacular! They were essentially served as a tower of little fried finger sandwiches stuffed with shrimp, with a sort of mayonnaise dip. Crispy, soft, chewy, shrimpy loveliness. A generous portion for about $8

duck and green onion stick- $3, brown sauce glaze, fine interpretation but not spectacular

Also for happy hour there were $3 draft beers on tap but we didn't imbibe.

Rice was free, and brown tea was free, as they should be.

Overall, I'm a bit stunned by the quality to affordability ratio of this place, considering the location. In other restaurants these prices would be 2-3 times the price. This absolutely will become a part of my regular rotation.

Mr Taster

[QualityMart]

Umm ... no ramen?? :)

[Tripeler]

Maybe Mr. T decided to opt out on ramen during that visit. Still, sounds like a great place with surprisingly authentic Japanese fare.

[Mr Taster]

Went back tonight. Got the small bowl of ramen (shoyu tonkatsu) for $5.80. It was fantastic-- clean, light, but flavorful broth. Meltingly tender chashu. Al dente noodles. Topped with fried onions which lent a lovely earthy flavor. Really, everything I could ask for in a bowl of ramen.

Oh, and we got the prime beef with garlic skewer. ~$5. Pricey, but wow. When you bite into it, the tender meat literally pops with juice. Phenomenal.

And last thing- Mon-Fri happy hour before 7pm = $3 Sapporo on draft (and $5 Lycheetinis, if you are so inclined)

Mr Taster

[Ciao Bob]

I like Jinya WeHo alot (never been to Valley location). I don't think it is such a bargain, my bills tend to go way beyond your colleague's, exclusive of alcohol.

I wish they had more yakitori offerings (like kokekokko/nanbankan/robata-ya/yakitori-ya) and I think the tofu J Gold raved about is good but not really rave-worthy. But the ramen is quite tasty. I have not had sushi or carpaccios there.

[raizans]

i went there a little over a week ago, and the shio tonkotsu ramen is solid. overall satisfaction is on par with santouka, almost as good as ippudo, imo.