A relative newcomer to Wyomissing is Kinya Ramen, Japanese for “Golden House” ramen. This elegantly inviting restaurant certainly lives up to its name by serving up the gold standard of ramen to hungry diners. If you have only eaten this traditional Japanese dish as “cup noodles” or other instant fastramen varieties, your tastebuds will immediately recognize the difference at Kinya.
The chefs at Kinya, meticulously trained by Japanese ramen masters, take their time to properly prepare their signature broth, the cornerstone of their different varieties of ramen dishes, by slowly simmering the richest and most flavorful types of chicken and pork bones for up to four hours to extract the ultimate flavor. This creates a broth that coats the palate and excites the tastebuds with its robust profile.
Owner Jevan Chen explains, “Every detail matters — the measurements, the sauce, the ingredients and the tools are all imported from Japan.” Chen smiles, adding, “We’re known as a very traditional ramen restaurant, and we want to create a golden dining experience.” In addition to steaming bowls of noodles, Kinya caters to anyone with a yen for everything from sushi to yakitori, boba drinks and mouthwatering desserts.
Steaming Bowls of Yummy
The Miso Ramen is milky-tan with a miso (soy bean paste) and pork broth base that’s creamy smooth and somewhat sweet, topped with bamboo shoots, crunchy corn kernels, scallions, tender slices of chicken (or pork chashu), a seasoned boiled egg and narutomaki pink-and-white fish cake slices. The golden ramen noodles are just-thin but substantial and oh-so-authentic, providing warm comfort yearround, especially in winter, harking back to the interior moods of Kawabata’s famous novel, Snow Country.
Shrimp Ramen loads four pieces of shrimp in cozy chicken broth and includes crabmeat, seaweed, egg and more, served with straight noodles. Chili paste lends peppery heat in Spicy Ramen with aromatic golden noodles and choices of chicken or pork. Veggie Ramen, Tonkatsu Ramen and other versions add to the robust noodle menu.
Perhaps best known of all is Kinya Ramen. Obviously, a dish that serves as the namesake of a restaurant must be something special indeed, and Kinya Ramen does not disappoint. Each bowl is made with a pork broth which possesses a depth of flavor that deserves to be celebrated. What makes this dish unique from their other bowls of ramen is the incorporation of a house-made black garlic oil that adds an element of umami to the overall flavor profile. In your bowl, you’ll find thinly sliced roast pork belly, a lovely cooked jammy egg, fish cakes, sprouts, bamboo shoots and an enormous pile of engagingly slurpable noodles. Bonus: each bowl is topped with a square of edible gold leaf to remind diners that this is the gold standard for ramen. It’s truly a royal way to warm and satisfy the belly.
Trinity Sushi, Mushroom (Shiitake) Skewers & Boba
Choosing your sushi is delicious fun: no less than 11 specialty rolls are on the menu, plus traditional rolls, temaki and sushi tacos.
Trinity Roll, a signature roll, gets its name from its main stars: tuna, salmon and yellowtail. It literally melts in your mouth. Balance out the rich smoothness of the fish and avocado with some spicy mayo, a biting dab of pungent wasabi or a thin slice of fragrant fresh ginger.
Mushroom Yakitori shines in its simplicity, a winning starter for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. This appetizer is prepared by grilling skewered shiitake mushroom caps over an open flame, lightly brushing them with a slightly sweet sauce, delicately flavoring the mushrooms and creating a light caramelization of their exterior. Each bite is succulent, bursting with the naturally savory flavor of this “steak of mushrooms,” complemented by both the grilling sauce and the generous seasoning of cracked black pepper.
Kinya Milk Tea, like all boba at Kinya, is made with high-quality loose leaf tea. This particular recipe is made with a deeply fragrant black tea lightly sweetened with sugar, mixed with milk and poured over soft, bouncy tapioca pearls. For a beverage that can often be cloyingly sweet, this particular milk tea allows the flavor of the black tea to pervade with just enough milk and sugar to balance out its delicate, earthy bitterness. This is a wonderful choice for true tea enthusiasts.
Very pretty to gaze at, super soft and chewy in the center, Pork Bao Buns (served two per order and very shareable) deliver fusion-happy bites with unmatched texture. Kinya Ramen’s version of the slider, these bao buns are comprised of perfectly pillowy steamed rice buns filled with rich, thinly sliced roast pork belly, a crunchy slice of juicy cucumber, sweet hoisin sauce and creamy Japanese-style mayonnaise. Your taste buds will want for nothing.
Reservations are encouraged. The stunning interior has varied seating, including cool, private booths.
945 Hill Avenue, Ste. 650, Wyomissing | 610.743.5829 | kinya.us/location/wyomissing
