JINYA Ramen Bar - Flamingo — Restaurant in Spring Valley

Does Good Food Make Up For Horribly Uncaring Staff?

Read the reviews for this place and didn't believe that the hostess could possibly be as bad as reviewed... I was WRONG!

We arrived at around 12:30am after watching Cirque du Soleil's One. there were 3 tables of 2 ahead of us and the hostess said it would be a 20 minute wait. Not bad. However, once we entered the restaurant we could clearly see seating for the 6 people in front of us at the centre communal table. in fact, there was seating available for 8. The hostess instead chose to putter around doing not much anything at all. We were stunned to observe her for our entire wait (which turned out to be 35 minutes even though there were obvious seat available the entire time) basically do the bare minimal and really slowly. even making change for people paying their bills. Seriously terrible! She either has no clue how to do this basic job or simply doesn't care. The wait staff didn't seem to care much for helping her speed things up either. Perhaps they're sick of helping her or have grown desensitized to the needs of waiting patrons. We eat out pretty much all the time and seriously have never witnessed this kind of host ever! Why didn't we leave? We love ramen and read too many reviews about how good the ramen is, so we pushed through and finally got a seat and ordered after an hour of waiting.

So we all ordered the Tonkatsu Eamen Black. And the verdict? It was REALLY GOOD. The broth was super rich and creamy, although my wife and i found it too salty, our teenaged son loved it. i also would have preferred it a little thinner. it was the thickest tonkatsu broth i've ever had. The consistency of the broth was more of a cream soup so i don't like that. But really full of flavour. the Charsu was also one of the absolute best we've ever had. the Tamago egg was completely over done. It wasn't soft at all. It was simply a hard boiled egg, so that was pretty disappointing. Garlic oil was superb, however the noodles were a bit disappointing as well. They were basic Chinese egg noodles that you can pick up at any supermarket.

Overall, the ramen was only a 7/10. Worth the wait and putting up with uncaring staff?... no... if the hostess would get some basic training and speed things up as well as work on her public relation skills, I'd likely put up with the wait. But this just seemed like they were arrogantly trying to make people line up for some things that were above average and some things below average. Change the attitude and actually care about the paying customer and then waiting in line here may actually be justified.

We also tried the Panacotta and it was also really good, so that helped move the overall rating up.

I also have to mention that once we did get a table, our waiter was quite nice and caring. would have loved to see that as we were waiting. no seats to sit on while waiting and nobody offered even a glass of water. Makes me think the waiter (who must have walked passed us a dozen time as we waited to be seated) only was pleasant once a tip was on the line.

Anyways, if you want to put up with the uncaring neglectful staff for maybe slightly better than average food, the. this place is for you. If you don't mind paying a few dollars more for way better service and tons better hand made noodles and amazing pick belly, you're better off with Momifuku in the Cosmopolitan Hotel!...

TL:DR This place is definitely a place every tourist and local should visit. The prices are fair and the food is great. Excellent service. A very visually attractive restaurant that has good plate presentation without the gimmicks of high end establishments. The wait time isn't too bad if you're in a 2 person party. I recommend it to anyone looking for the best value for the food and experience.

JINYA ramen is by far the best ramen experience I've had in Las Vegas. The shop is tucked away in a local area away from the madness of the strip but close enough to the highway which makes it a convenient commute.

Inside you'll find warmly lit fixtures, enjoyable music at a loud enough volume that helps filter conversations but allows you to hear the person next to you. Wooden tables with matching chairs surround the perimeter of the wall with a grand table in the midst of it all. The grand table has people sitting around it with an arrangement of retro designer light fixtures that give off a casual atmosphere. Overall the place is very attractive and took my mind away from the fact that we were in the middle of the blazing Mojave Desert.

The service we received from our host Gino* (pronounced Jeeno, sorry for misspelling) was excellent. He was attentive to our table, made a delicious appetizer recommendation when I asked for one (creamy tempura shrimp) and made sure we were enjoying ourselves. He truly made the place feel like home and made us feel like regulars.

We ordered the Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen and the Spicy Umami Miso Ramen. Both served with tofu. Excellent first choices I would say to start with. I would definitely order their Tonkotsu again. The quality of their ingredients is not only fresh but premium. The flavors are very pronounced and the textures are incredibly refreshing to eat.

Their menu is easy to navigate with the option to even customize your ramen selection with toppings. Their prices are very fairly priced for the quality (and hefty amount) of food you receive. In total we didn't $34 for a regular bowl, a premium bowl, and an appetizer. Ramen ranges from $10 to $14 if I remember correctly.

The only drawback some people might find is the waiting list. Upon arrival you walk inside and sign in with a name and party size. If you are going with a big part (3+) during peak hours you should expect a decent wait time. I went with a party of two and was seated before them due to the availability. I would estimate we waited between 5 - 7 minutes. So just keep that in mind and plan ahead for the time if you're in a big party.

This place is not only the best ramen restaurant in Las Vegas, but one of the best restaurants period. The establishment and its product are great but what really convinced me was our outstanding host that made us feel right at home. Thank you JINYA for our unforgettable experience. I very much look forward to coming...

Oh boy! Aside from one employee the service was good and our first server was a short haired man who was very sweet. HOWEVER!! Maybe I am spoiled from having authentic Japanese ramen in both Japan and Calgary because the vegetarian ramen here was disgusting. Loaded with American vegetables (broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, spinach and topped with salad???) I was told substitutions would be possible as long as it was vegetable for vegetable and the prices were equivalent. Several minutes pass and our second server of the night (we had arrived as our first guy was going on break) comes back to tell me they can substitute nothing unless I want to pay $1.50-$3 per vegetable. HARD NO. Dinner arrives and the broth was nearly flavourless. Like they boiled the vegetables in mushroom flavoured dishwater and called it good enough. I am not usually a picky person - I will eat any vegetable but was disappointed by the lack of authentic ramen vegetables and broth available to vegetarians. I had to add three cloves of garlic and heaps of the seasoning sauce to even stomach my first four or five bites before I stopped eating. My husband had a meat-based ramen that he said was “okay” - flavourful but again mediocre compared to ramen we have had in Canada and Japan. When I asked for a bowl as a courtesy - no plan to complain and no plan to eat the ramen later - we waited over 10 minutes and I stopped the hostess as she walked by to ask for a bowl. At this point I have not complained or mentioned how awful my “soup” was. She comes back, doesn’t look at us and dropa the to-go bowl down on the table saying “here” as she keeps going. We have been disappointed but pleasant up to this point so she had NO reason to be rude or cold to us. For the first time in my life I tipped less than a dollar and I feel awful for the server because he deserved more but we couldn’t justify spending more than the $43 we were charged for our awful meal. The one redeeming quality was the industrial aesthetic inside was gorgeous and the “irasshaimase!!” shouted as we walked in felt just like the shops we...