Ejay Rin

Richmond needs an authentic Japanese ramen shop.  When I heard about Ejay Rin I got really excited.  Having read about how two established chefs here in Richmond are opening a noodle bar inspired by Momofuku in NYC I got even more excited.  Well, here it goes...

The house made pickle plate.  A decent variety of pickled items, they were a bit on the sweet side.

The house made kimchee.  It wasn't very spicy and too sweet for Korean kimchee.

Tuna sashimi with kombu salad.  The tuna was a bit dry, almost like the texture and mouth feel of smoked salmon.  The fish was nice and fatty (chu-toro cut) but did not have the delicate taste and texture of Sashimi.

Pork belly, pickled cucumber and radish, hoisin sauce.  The bun was too thin, dense, and lacked fluffiness.  The pork belly was too small and thin, lacked the creaminess of a good pork belly but it had some nice crispiness on the edges.  The bun as a whole had good flavor but it needed more texture from the pork fat.

Pork Ramen.  First of all, the ramen was served in the wrong type of bowl.  Allow me to explain; the fancy bowl with a huge lip does not allow enough broth for the noodle to float.  The noodles were either cooked ahead of time or put into the bowl before the broth went in it. I had to break the noodles apart with my chopsticks.    Ramen noodles should be placed into a hot bowl of broth to prevent the noodles from sticking together, not the other way around.  The noodles were over cooked and lacked the mouth feel of ramen made with alkaline water (has a smoother slippery mouth feel).  The broth lacked depth and flavor.  It really needed more seasoning and pork/chicken bones.  We were told to break the egg yolk and mix it into the broth but a good broth shouldn't need help of an egg yolk. The pork belly (cha-shu) topping again lacked creaminess and size.  The fish cake wasn't cut into slices and was a bit cold.  The pulled pork had a nice tender texture and good flavor.  Finally the poached egg was poached perfectly.

Overall I was disappointed. Richmond really needs an authentic Japanese ramen shop and I was hopping Ejay Rin would take that honor.  Maybe with some constructive feedback they will improve, only time will tell.

201 W. 7th Street,
Richmond

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