My First Time at Inya Ramen…
Today I tried Inya Ramen for the very first time. I went to the Gongguan branch, and I lined up at 11:40 but didn’t actually get a seat until 12:40 (the place was seriously packed…).
Inya Ramen location details and wait times
Inya Ramen on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/28XBZJQmQFEr9XZe7
If you’re planning to go, I’d suggest showing up around 1 p.m. instead — there will be way fewer people. That said, the staff here are incredibly attentive. They even handed out umbrellas while we waited so we wouldn’t get baked by the blazing sun, and honestly all my frustration from queuing just got doused by how warm and friendly they were. Below is Inya’s TKG rice bowl.
The TKG rice bowl comes with a nearly raw egg, salad, torch-seared chicken, and aromatics like chopped scallions. The egg isn’t off-putting at all — that raw-egg smell gets covered up by the chicken and the sweetness of the salad, which actually gives the dish more depth. The seared chicken is cooked just right: it has a nice chew without being tough and stringy. It’s a tasty bowl. The only thing is it was a touch too salty, maybe because the portion of rice was a little small, or maybe there was a bit too much sauce.
What I ordered was the golden chicken broth ramen. The chicken wasn’t stringy at all — it was the juicy, tender kind. The golden chicken broth doesn’t have that rich, salty tonkotsu punch; instead it’s a light chicken-broth flavor with just a touch of natural sweetness, so it never gets boring and has plenty of layers. The only thing is, I shouldn’t have ordered so much noodle. At the ticket machine you can choose the noodle portion and firmness, and I went with the large — but that much noodle ends up kind of stealing the show. On top of that, you can ask for a broth refill if you run out, but I didn’t, so I can’t really tell you how much that affects the flavor.
Here’s the menu.
