JINYA Ramen Bar - Heights Waterworks — Restaurant in Houston

I visited this location to try the red garnet ramen combo that is available to the end of October. So this review will have a focus on this combo.

When I visited this place I noticed the parking lot is inadaquate. There are about 40 parking spaces, yet they to serve two other businesses: Common Bond Bakery, Verdine Vegan Restaurant, and HopDaddy Burger Bar. I went here on a rainy Saturday morning and the parking lot was 3/4 full. I can't imagine how much of a pain finding parking would be at dinnertime.

Premises were in a reused brick building that used to be a water pump station. Decor is the usual dark interior with highlights.

Food came decently fast, about 15 min. Place was about 2/3rds full at 12pm.

I ordered first the takoyaki (11.80). The balls were placed on a bed of what appears to be slightly tart mashed potato salad. Takoyaki itself was pretty good, each piece had two small bits of octopus in it.

The red garnet ramen combo ($15) came with the bowl and ramen and a side of crispy thigh pieces.

The thigh pieces were of good size, but have some qualities I must criticize. Firstly the meat was really dark, even for thighs. It must have been refried. Secondly I definitely did not taste any garlic or pepper. It was just well salted.

The red garnet ramen on the other hand was great. The vegetable broth was rich and oily, full of spiciness. Yet not spicy enough to bring one to a rapid sweat. It also came with some well done spinach. Noodles were firm as expected. As for the char siu, I have forgotten how good Jinya makes it. It was moist, tender and most importantly: smoked. It has a pronounced wooden tinge to it. A benefit to this is that adding smoke hides "warmed over flavour." I can't remember how many times I have been to ramen shops where the blissful experience of digesting a bowl is tempered by eating char siu that has been prepared the day before. I usually chomp the stale slices down before eating the rest of the bowl. Not here. I took my time eating every smoky bite.

I always Jinya for their ramen: the chain has never disappointed for making a good bowl. Stick to that and you will be fine. Just make sure for this location, be mindful of the...

TLDR; Food was superb.

Heading to Jinya, I struggled to find parking and large congregations of youthful hipsters were coagulating all around the area which is laden with hip establishments that make typical old schoolers snear. I heavily regretted my decision to try this place when I entered. Initially the layout of the place suggests a small room and bar, but the 18 employees hawking the front door brought me down a hallway and back into a nice open communal style ramen bar with some booths that provided adequate private seating . It was too dark to read the small print menu. Music was loud and the atmosphere was hip and youthful.

Every moment there, one can not miss the incredible overstaffing. They were friendly and diligent but clearly pushing me to order-eat-GTFO.

Every thing was clean. Every thing was fast. Every thing had respectable prices. Every thing was gone, including myself, in probably 30 minutes. In and out. The pace felt over rushed by money hungry business owners. Didn't like it.

The menu, although I couldn't read it due to small font, lack of light, and staff, again, rushing me, had a great selection. Prices were at the lower end of high end, and bam. My food was there. I barely set my menu down.

Damn. Highly crafted, perfectly cooked appetizers flooded my mouth with nicely balanced deliciousness. I'm talking just a few steps down from Michelin level, then BAM. My dinner was there. I barely tasted my appetizer.

Ramen was in the top few of best I've ever had. It lacked the gigantism most bowls have, but that was the only moderately negative thing I could say about my dish. My partner had a wonderful meatless curry rice bowl with, again this term, well balanced flavors. I have to emphasize the perfectly flavored food. It truly deserves recognition.

I walked out, THANK YOU!! (inside joke,) incredibly happy. The bill for 2, drinking, with tip, was below 100. This place had food that forced me into a smile, like the Joker. I'll be back for sure and will concern myself less next time with the youthful edge this...

Right off the back, I highly recommend this location in the Heights!! Me and my wife came here for the very first time not knowing if she was gonna be able to eat here because she has severe shell fish allergies and they do serve seafood. Upon entering we were greeted by a hostess and before she could even seat us, I asked her if my wife would be able to eat her due to her condition and she gladly told us that she would be able to eat here. This hostess was extremely professional and had the best attitude ever. She told my wife that she would have to pick a dish from the vegetarian menu and she could choose a different protein like chicken or beef instead of the tofu or other vegan options. My wife was extremely happy that Jinya could in fact cater to someone with shell fish allergies and also happy that the hostess took the time to explain everything in detail. I really loved the atmosphere in this restaurant and I also lived how friendly and kind the waitress/waiter were. On this particular day we had a young lady (waitress) that was being trained and she was excellent. The food here is extremely delicious and I highly recommend it. The serving portions is just right and the ramen was and is cooked to perfection. For all you vegetarians out there I highly recommend the spicy vegan creamy ramen and for the non vegan I highly recommend the Jinya chicken ramen. I had been wanting to come here for the longest and just kept putting it on the back burner, but we came we tried it and it was a AMAZING!!!! I can't express enough on how delicious this food was and how excellent the service is and was. I really really recommend this location. It's a wonderful place to bring your family your wife on a date night your friends your first date or you can even come alone. Thank you Jinya for the great service and for the delicious food...can't...