JINYA Ramen Bar - Ally Charlotte Center — Restaurant in Charlotte

This is going to be quite the long review so here's the TLDR: If you don't mind thinking "Ah, it would have been great if..." after every dish, you just might find something you like. However, without a single memorable experience, some shocking letdowns and soulless platters, I cannot recommend this place.

Before getting to the food, I'd like to point out that the Japanese greeting used to welcome guests to the restaurant is being pronounced incorrectly by the staff. The greeting is pronounced EE-RAH-SHAH-EE not EE-REH-SHEH-EE. This was not a single person, but the staff in general.

Let's start with the Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna. This felt like two random ingredients being thrown together without a thought to synergy or harmony. What normally makes this dish so appealing, is the contrast of temperature and texture between the tuna and the rice. When you take a bite, your palate should be wowed by the contrast, yet, amazed by how the two ingredients come together perfectly to offer a unique experience. Here, the rice was so crispy, that it failed to blend with the tuna. There was a constant battle between the two and what made it worse is that the lackluster rice took away from the flavors of the tuna. Not only is your palate trying to makes sense of the chaos, but your taste buds are not rewarded for going through so much trouble.

I don't have much to say about the Brussels sprouts tempura as I'm not a fan of truffle oil so I only took a single bite. My friends, however, really enjoyed the dish as they didn't even leave a single one.

The crispy chicken was actually both a hit and a miss. While I quite enjoyed how well the chicken was prepared and fried, I just found the dish to be tasteless. They serve the crispy chicken with JINYA's original ponzu sauce which helps to make it less tasteless, but karaage shouldn't be reliant on a sauce or garnish to make it tasty. Serving size is quite generous. Had they nailed the flavor, it would have been great!

It saddens me to say that the Tokyo Curry Rice was the dish I enjoyed the most. Normally, finding a dish that leaves a good impression is a positive, but the Tokyo Curry Rice tasted just as good as the readymade curry packets I can find at a Japanese supermarket. There was no flair, no signature touch, no twist, no love. In a sense, it was the dish that came closest to the Japanese flavors that I enjoy so much because they didn't do anything to it. That said, the rice served was shockingly bad. Curry should be accompanied by soft, fluffy, glistening, semi-sticky rice. Instead, we got dry, crunchy rice. Quite the letdown. The salad served with the curry had no dressing and really didn't add much to the experience.

When I saw the JINYA Tonkotsu Black Ramen, a spark of hope was kindled. The broth was enticingly thick, as Tonkotsu broth should be, and the egg was boiled to perfection. I took a sip expecting to be transported by the deep and complex flavors of the broth, but that was not the case. Yet another thing lacking flavor, devoid of a soul to make it truly unique. What caught me off guard was the chashu. It had a very potent, smokey flavor that further highlighted just how lacking the broth was. What makes a ramen bowl so special is the masterful handling of each ingredient to come together even when the ingredients have strong, opposing flavor profiles. The bowl showed none of that artful play.

Lastly, I tried the Cha Cha Cha* -For Garlic Lovers- Ramen. I was not a fan of the broth, but this is mostly due to personal taste since it was a pork and fish broth but I just didn't find it very impactful. What was really surprising and disappointing was that there was not a single hint of garlic flavor in the broth. This is definitely not something that a garlic lover should order.

Apart from finding the food bland, what really left an impression was the lack of creativity or passion. Having shown so little promise, I can't...

Atmosphere & ambience was above and beyond. It’s a modern ramen bar with ritzy, high end touches. Love the mural over the dinning area. As we walk in through the breathtaking wall of Japanese whiskey with an awesome bar to the left we walked through a beautiful hall way to the dining hall. 5/5

I had the tonkostu ramen black, my wife had the spicy tonkostu and the kids had a kids meal and a charshu pork rice bowl. Appetizer was jinya pork bun.

Appetizer: jinya pork belly bun was melt in your mouth, delicious. The girls were fighting over it. Fluffy, warm sweetness of the bun and melt in your mouth pork belly with hints of soy. It was well seasoned but I would have liked to have a little more pickled veggies, but that’s personal preference. 5/5

The tonkostu ramen black was the best ramen I’ve had in Charlotte. Creamy, mouth feel and perfectly seasoned broth. Good taste of fat and delicious goodness. Not too salty and well seasoned. It came with thin noodles which paired with the thick broth. The was so much flavor I’m still salivating thinking about it. The charshu pork held together well, but was buttery soft and packed full of flavor. The Egg!! Oh the egg was the most perfectly, cooked egg I have had in a long while. Veggies were julienned mushroom, garlic(ideal), tons of green onions, and nori. Be careful as it was piping hot, warms the soul!! (ideal) 5/5

Spicy tonkostu ramen was delicious. We got the spiciest and I felt for our palette it still wasn’t enough but, it had great flavor. It tasted a little sour, sweet and peppery from the chili paste. It was balanced out with perfect saltiness of the broth. With a good amount of fat and creamy mouth feel. This has the thicker noodles which was perfectly coated with the broth with every bite. The wife loved it. We will be coming back. 5/5

The pork charshu rice bowl came with diced pork, an egg in half, mushrooms, green onions over rice. Egg was perfect. I like to grab a little bit of everything in one bite and let it all mix in my mouth. Good flavor of soy, salt, little sweetness on the end and fluffy delicious rice! 5/5

The Kids meal comes with a little shio ramen, a beef and chicken rice bowl , two pieces of crispy karaage so chicken, fries and an ice cream to finish it off. The chicken was delicious crispy on the out side and juicy deliciousness on the inside. Shio ramen was well seasoned with corn and green onions. Rice bowl was delicious with all the mixed textures of green onions and mushrooms. It was such a great deal! It was like a mini tasting for the kiddo. Of course she loved the ice cream best. 5/5

Dessert menu was limited so we opted to pass. N/A

Service was not as good as we’d expect from such a high end feeling restaurant. We came in before dinner rush, but our server seemed too busy. Server needs to work on communication and overall attitude. The kids meal came in separate pieces at a time, but he didn’t tell us until we asked where the test was. It came after we were per much finished with our ramen. Disappointing, not a deal breaker. Our server didn’t seem as knowledgeable about the menu selection as we would expect. Servers need to taste and eat the food, beer, wine in order to really teach and recommend the dishes they are serving. I mean that would make more sense...

TL:DR, Good food but my friend wasn't told about cross-contamination and had an allergic reaction, we were brought two wrong items, and the tip was added to my bill by the server without my consent.

I'll start with the good: food and atmosphere. The food was amazing, a high price, but good nonetheless. And the decoration and theme of the restaurant was very pleasing (although quite dim). Now for the reasons I won't be coming back. We had two food items messed up. First was a vegan bun which we were brought vegan tacos (which we still ate) and then someone ordered a chicken ramen and was brought something completely different. My friend with an egg allergy was given an allergen menu and selected a dish without eggs (a vegan ramen bowl) but was not told about potential cross-contamination or other hazards and ended up having a reaction and had to go to the bathroom multiple times to throw up. We were compensated for his meal but it should've never happened. Then when our server was confronted about this, she just diverted blame by saying the menu showed no eggs so there shouldn't have been an issue. Related to the aforementioned vegan tacos which were mistakenly made and brought to us, we were charged for those at the end of the night. And while yes, we did eat them, there wasn't any notification to us that we would be responsible for the incorrect food item. So take that as you will, whether that's my party's own naivety or something else. At the end of the night when we were all closing our bills, I gave $30 for my $27.XX meal. I then said I'd like my change back. After waiting 5 minutes after everyone else in my party received their credit cards back, I asked about my change and was met with not one, but two outlandish statements. I was told that the charge was "rounded up" to 28 and then the extra two dollars was added as a tip. Never did I say to add that as tip, I specifically asked for my change back. She would've gotten more as a tip had I gotten my money back, but now I wish there hadn't been a tip given at all.

Horrible customer service by the food server which is a shame because the...