after seeing the @burpple team's post about @jinzakaya, the newly opened sister restaurant of @sushijin_sg, i decided i had to check it out. for lunch, jinzakaya offers what they call a four x four lunch, essentially 4 categories of food (salads, rice, noodles and sandwiches) with 4 options per category all priced at $12.80 each.
yakimono skewers are also not served during lunch but only during dinner. it felt really strange visiting an izakaya and not having yakimono skewers but then again, jinzakaya isn’t supposed to be your typical izakaya.
i got to try the kimchi ramen and the jin yakitori don. the kimchi ramen came with an onsen egg, slices of chargrilled chicken thigh meat and springy ramen noodles. for the soup, kimchi paste was added to white chicken soup base, forming a combination which sets this bowl of noodles apart from the usual kimchi ramyun you find elsewhere. the chargrilled chicken thigh meat looked especially enticing but i felt it was a little too lightly seasoned hence resulting in a rather tasteless piece of meat, especially when contrasted with the soup.
similarly for the jin yakitori don, my friend and i came to a consensus that the yakitori sticks were too bland for our liking. given that the yakitori sticks are supposed to be the main accompaniment with each scoop of rice, i think the flavour of the meat is something that can be improved on. there was however no fault to be found with the onsen eggs in both the ramen and the yakitori don.
i’ll probably end up trying the salads and sandwiches during my next visit as they've gotten some pretty good reviews. for those intending to pay a visit, be sure to arrive early to avoid disappointment as some of their dishes run out real quick!