JINYA Ramen Bar - Katy — Restaurant in Katy

This place gets an easy five stars.

I had a very solid impression walking in to the venue. Out of all the restaurants I have reviewed, this is definitely the best atmosphere I’ve seen. Beautiful interior, clean and stylish bathrooms, and an open kitchen in the back where they make the food in front of you. The music is club music, and my only complaint about the atmosphere is that the music was too loud and I had to shout to talk to the waitress. However, as this is a bar I felt it was unfair to take a star off atmosphere for this reason.

I was picking up a to go order to eat at home, so I didn’t stay here long. From what I did experience, the waitress was very nice and polite, and extended that same cordiality to other customers.

I ordered the vegan red fire opal ramen & jalapeño butter corn. One thing to clarify: the prices on google are not accurate with the price I paid. It was actually cheaper compared to google price; I paid 16.50 for ramen while google price is 19.75 and paid 6.50 when google price is 8.50 for the corn.

Taking the food back home, I first opened my ramen. As the picture shows, the presentation was beautiful. The chili thread made a strong visual impact on the toppings, and the arrangement was very appetizing. I didn’t put a picture of the broth and toppings together as it didn’t put the presentation justice. The ramen itself was a 7/10 (my ratings system is at the bottom). The flavors were delicious, and the toppings complemented the broth wonderfully. The thick noodles also were a necessity as it gave the ramen some heaviness and I was full after I finished the bowl. The only criticism I have was that the tofu was too soft; I think a firmer tofu would have elevated the dish to an 8 or 9.

Next was the jalapeño corn. It was absolutely delicious, a 9/10. The corn was nice and sweet, the jalapeños gave a nice kick after the initial sweetness and the onions gave the corn a more complex flavor profile without taking away from the experience. The soy butter was a stroke of genius; it made the corn perfectly salted and kept me coming back for more for another bite. The only criticisms I had were that I think the dish could use some red pepper flakes, not enough to change the flavor but just for presentation so that there is a little bit of red. The second criticism was that the corn was too buttered; I didn’t mind as I loved the butter but it made the dish too heavy.

Overall, I had a great experience and can’t wait to come back!

1/10: horrible 2/10: bad 3/10: below average 4/10: slightly below average 5/10: average 6/10: slightly above average 7/10: above average 8/10: good 9/10: really...

I wish I could give 100 stars bc this was hands down the best ramen experience of my life. Our server, Jessica, being the reason for the extra 95 stars. She was so nice and funny, gave great recommendations, and kept the hot green tea flowing! I had the creamy vegan ramen and it was literally the best bowl of ramen I’ve ever had in my life. The thick noodles were perfect and fat and slurpy and not sticky. The broth had so much flavor! My husband had the pork and it was also very nice - but I think we both preferred the vegan one! We also had goyza, edamame, and the seaweed salad which were all gorgeous. We went here to cure a mean Monday hangover and found the best ramen ever! 💯 🍜🧡 Update: I went back today and had a less amazing experience. I saw at the bar, not with Jessica. I ordered the same, creamy vegan, but this time without tofu add mushrooms and spicy sprouts. (Is asked the bartender what made the sprouts spicy and she said hot sauce.) I got my ramen and it was cold! I sent it back, it was the same bowl, and it was still cold but I didn’t want to send it back twice so just ate it. The mushrooms and spicy bean sprouts both came on the side. The spicy bean sprouts were not spicy but covered in sesame oil which I can’t stand, it’s so overpowering and just appalling to me. The mushrooms were basic white mushrooms, sautéed (but cold) and in a bunch of water so I couldn’t pour them into the soup. I told the bar tender the spicy sprouts were not in hot sauce by sesame oil which I can’t stand so I didn’t want them. She was very surprised and said she had no idea there was sesame on them, smelled them, and was like woah that is really strong! Some people have severe sesame allergies, the bartender should know what has sesame oil in it! She could have killed someone! When the bill came, the spicy sprouts I didn’t like were still on the bill. It was only $1 but it was weird in comparison to my last visit. I will go back to Jinya, but I’ll make sure I get to sit...

So lucky that thru a friend I get to go on their soft opening night. Am I IMPRESSED! It's a group of us foodies and we ordered almost everything on their menu, NOTHING failed me at all. They play pretty exciting music trendy enough to match the décor of the restaurant. I was in love with the interior design, its hip, upscale and trendy. The layout of the place makes it look pretty spacious. Once I went in I was excited about getting my food.

Fried pot stickers have the most thin skin, big meatball inside, very soft. And when you take the first bite, there's juicy coming out, almost like Chinese Xiao longbao. its so hard to do for such a thin skin.

Shrimp toast is something I first had in Houston area. The only other place I ever tried was in china. And Jinya's are amazing. Its very toasty when they bring it. The toast is soft yet crispy, the sauce on the side makes the toast even better. We had two orders. LOL.

Pork belly buns are amazing. The buns are sweet and the pork belly is soft and juicy, perfect together, but not to much fat makes you feel overwhelmed.

Unlike other place their Taco teriyaki balls are pretty soft, not too chewy, even though I like them bit more chewy, but the softness has its own flavor. I can eat it without the sauce on the bottom, that's who flavorful the balls are.

I like my ramen have more texture so I asked for advise, cant remember which one they brought me, but I just love love love the chewy texture in it. Bravo. Soup are very flavorful, super rich, must took them a long time to brew to this level.

My waiter was so handsome and super attentive, I think he refilled my friend's coke 5 times the entire time we were there. Food came in very fast one after another, we almost had no down time. Maybe that's why by the time we were done, we all feel supper blowded. But its GOOD blowded. LOL. Worth the 2 lb I put on myself. We absolutely had nothing to complain about. But enjoyed the whole time while...