Popular chain JINYA Ramen Bar has been in Virginia’s Mosaic District for a while now, but has just opened their Logan Circle location in D.C.

I had not been to to the VA location, but was happy to visit their new place during their grand opening party. The staff was super excited, friendly, and happy to have us. While I think there were some communication issues and the staff needs more training, that will likely come with time. JINYA was very generous and that is much appreciated. The vibe was awesome–it was really was a great party.

As far as drinks, I mostly stuck with the passed sake or Prosecco, though I did try a light, fruity, Dragon cocktail that was quite good. The appetizers were passed as well, and the Brussels sprouts tempura and fried chicken were both really tasty and perfectly crisp. But what I really loved was the pork gyoza, pork chashu and kimchi tacos, and poke tacos. The gyoza is nicely seared with plenty of flavorful filling. The tacos are crisp from the wonton shells and while it’s a toss up between the pork and poke, I think I prefer the poke. The pork is amazing, but the poke is so light and fresh, yet delicious. For ramen, I went with the chicken ramen, and that is not the way to go; it was so bland that I had to add both sriracha and seasoned vinegar to coax any type of taste from it. I heard from others at my table that the pork ramen was good, so that will definitely be my choice when returning. We also got to try the mochi, and the chocolate mochi was rich with the perfect amount of chewy dough.

I do look forward to returning to JINYA. I’m a huge ramen fan and JINYA offers plenty of styles to try, plus all of the sides were great. It’s also needed in the neighborhood, so it will be popular additions.

-LEM (Lia)