Kinya Ramen — Restaurant in Town of Oyster Bay

We were out east for the day and were in the mood for ramen on our way home (about 4 PM). We had another stop to make in the area and the reviews here sounded good. We got the TanTan Ramen and the Tonkotsu Ramen which are two typical bowls of ramen to find almost anywhere. The food itself wasn’t bad at all. I’ve definitely had better, but considering the restaurant‘s location and price point, I was happy with the meal.

Where things go downhill is that the service was less than desirable. Even if food is good, your experience at a restaurant sets the tone for how much you actually enjoy your meal. We were a table of two, there were maybe two other tables when we arrived and two other tables were seated after us. The restaurant wasn’t busy at all (less than 50% capacity). We wanted to start our meal with an order of pork buns which were forgotten TWICE. The first time with our initial food order, somehow they didn’t get put in even though we verbalized and pointed to the item on the menu and our waitress acknowledged the order. Our ramen came out quickly, then we were forgotten for about 15-20 minutes while the wait staff was tending to other patrons or standing by the register. When we finally flagged down our waitress to check on the buns since we were already half way through our noodles, she said we didn’t order the buns. Surprised, since we knew we ordered them, we asked her to put them in. 15 more minutes go by and there’s still no sign of the buns and our waitress has suddenly started avoiding our table like the plague. At this point we had finished our noodles and were just sitting waiting, so we asked for the check so we could finish errands and go home.

It’s not expected, but even a small verbal apology for the mix up would have been appreciated, but at this point we were just disappointed. When we asked for the check and to inform the staff that we no longer wanted the buns, our waitress said they were almost done (over 20 minutes have passed now). She brought us our check and said she would wrap them to go since we already waited under the assumption that they would be sending the buns with us free of charge for the inconvenience. When we told her that we would take them if they were ready, she grabbed the check before I could even look at it. I assume she went to add the buns back onto our bill. I followed her asking if she was adding them to which she froze and didn’t answer. Then I asked if they were actually ready and she said “soon”. I told her we didn’t want them and that we had other places to be (we’ve been here for over an hour which was supposed to be a quick stop).

Overall, the food wasn’t terrible, but the lack of awareness was astounding. We suspect that after we checked on the buns the first time that she forgot to put in the order the second time which is why it was taking over 15-20 minutes for them to come out. We also didn’t appreciate being told we didn’t order pork buns when she acknowledged the order at the very beginning. I wish this review could have been better, because the food was good, but the service completely ruined...

I know this place has a lot of good reviews, and I really hate to leave a negative one, but I brought my cousin, my friend, and my brother here because we're big ramen lovers, and we couldn't have been more disappointed. I recently found out they bribe customers with free dessert if they leave a review… so there’s that.

First off, the staff made us really uncomfortable. There were two younger employees, a boy and a girl, and the girl was the one who seated us. She kept giggling and chatting with her coworker, which is fine, but there's a time and place for everything. It felt unprofessional and made the whole experience awkward. Even when we went to the bathroom, they were standing there, laughing and looking at people, which came off as judgmental and weird.

We ordered two waters and two sodas. The sodas came in small bottles, so we needed 2 more waters. We had to ask for those extra waters multiple times and didn't get them until 10 minutes before we LEFT. It was really frustrating. The same thing happened with napkins - it was so hard to get someone's attention, and when we did, they'd forget about our request.

Now, about the food. We ordered two miso ramen, one Kinya ramen, a chicken chashu bowl, pork buns, and those sushi rolls that are like sushi in seaweed tacos . The ramen broth was unbearably salty, the egg tasted off, and the pork was really fatty and not good at all. The pork buns were pretty good, the only highlight of the meal. But the sushi tacos were terrible - they didn't taste fresh and were expensive for no reason. Total rip off.

Overall, this was one of my least enjoyable dining experiences. Thankfully, nobody got sick, but we definitely won't be coming back here. It's a shame because I always try to appreciate any meal, but this experience was just too...

If I could give it a 2.5 I would. The place wasn't great for a Ramen place. The first thing that I noticed was that the place was empty when I got there with my family I am not sure if it was because we got there at 5:50 or something else but when we left it was quarter way full. Second thing was that on the menu they had two types of meat for the Ramen, the two types were Pork Chashu or Chicken Chashu first I usually get the pork but when I heard Chicken Chashu I was confused because in Japanese the word chashu means "Roast Pork" and it is based off the Chinese word Char shu which means "Roast Pork". I know this since I am Chinese so they messed it up which made me unhappy. The third thing is that it is a standard for any resturant in the US to give water first before anything else even before stuff like sodas. So when we didn't get water first I didn't notice until somebody in my party asked for water. The fourth thing was the food itself which was not good. The chashu bao (Roast Pork Bun) and even that is incorrect as it is two languages together. It was Chinese and Japenese the Chinese word was the word "bao". And the bun was not even that good. The Ramen was okay, the hard boiled egg in the Ramen was sweet which was something I have not tasted in Ramen before. Overall this place was not the best and I have had much better than this. I also can't forget that something was off with the Ramen and it was not only me it was also with somebody in my party that had the same dish as me. And he started to have a problem and same with me. I would like a change and every Ramen place I have been to and not to be racist was Asian owned. All white ownership and management could use better improvement and change in a lot of stuff. I was not happy...