Jinja Bistro
Asian fusion is a concept that I struggle with due to being Asian American, when you're raised Asian: you're cheap about certain things, skeptical about someone other than a family member making traditional foods, and when you eat out in an Asian restaurant it's normally a dive where the staff speaks less English than grandpa. I had Mexican fusion once in Arizona and it was a horrible meal. I was pleasantly surprised by the Jinja Bistro experience, it blends a variety of Asian cuisines in a very well put together environment.
I've been to Jinja several times due to various reasons like friends or work outings. Jinja is very clean and tastefully decorated. The decor is Asian inspired but not Asian. The dark wood paneling is beautiful. The bar is well stocked and made of a dark wood. The bar is impressive. They carry a fair amount of fairly obscure, but great spirits; examples of the great spirits not carried in your average bars are Hendrix Gin, Appleton Estate Rum, and Chopin vodka. The bar does have two fairly good sized TVs that the staff is willing to change upon request. Their drinks are great. The Volcano was an experience on it's own. The Volcano is a behemoth of a drink intended to be shared. It's various juices and rum with a little bit of Bacardi 151 burning in the middle of the drink bowl in a special divider for what seems to be for that purpose. The beer selection could be better, but they do have some rare beers on tap like Anchor Steam. All in all, this is a great bar.
The food here is well prepared and very good. The lettuce wraps here come pre-done so all you have to do is eat it. The presentation of the lettuce wraps is great, but I am partial to the pile of meat, veggies, and other stuff with a bunch of lettuce that you make yourself. The edamame here is good edamame, but I have not had bad edamame so the only comment to be made here is that this simple appetizer looks great due to presentation on the plate. The Shaking Beef and Kung Pao Chicken here are great, but being Asian, like I said before you're cheap about certain things. For example, I love Shaking Beef, but at the dive place the price would be about half of the price. I understand why the price difference at Jinja vs. the dive. The money is worth it if you need the atmosphere for various reasons. I did not see the ribs on the online menu, but I had a rib appetizer once there that was fantastic. The ribs were tender and covered in a red sticky sauce that was thicker and darker than a char sue sauce, but the flavor and tenderness of the meat reminded me of a Saturday afternoon as a kid with a char sue pork chop bone in my mouth at Grandmas. Yes, the rib was that good.
Yes Jinja has made me a believer in the Asian fusion restaurant. The food is great, but fairly pricey. The bar is awesome and has reasonable prices for what you get. The atmosphere and service are top notch. Go there quick like a bunny if you have a nice event to eat out for and love Asian food. I would give Jinja three and a half out of five stars.
http://www.jinjabistro.com/locat.htm
I've been to Jinja several times due to various reasons like friends or work outings. Jinja is very clean and tastefully decorated. The decor is Asian inspired but not Asian. The dark wood paneling is beautiful. The bar is well stocked and made of a dark wood. The bar is impressive. They carry a fair amount of fairly obscure, but great spirits; examples of the great spirits not carried in your average bars are Hendrix Gin, Appleton Estate Rum, and Chopin vodka. The bar does have two fairly good sized TVs that the staff is willing to change upon request. Their drinks are great. The Volcano was an experience on it's own. The Volcano is a behemoth of a drink intended to be shared. It's various juices and rum with a little bit of Bacardi 151 burning in the middle of the drink bowl in a special divider for what seems to be for that purpose. The beer selection could be better, but they do have some rare beers on tap like Anchor Steam. All in all, this is a great bar.
The food here is well prepared and very good. The lettuce wraps here come pre-done so all you have to do is eat it. The presentation of the lettuce wraps is great, but I am partial to the pile of meat, veggies, and other stuff with a bunch of lettuce that you make yourself. The edamame here is good edamame, but I have not had bad edamame so the only comment to be made here is that this simple appetizer looks great due to presentation on the plate. The Shaking Beef and Kung Pao Chicken here are great, but being Asian, like I said before you're cheap about certain things. For example, I love Shaking Beef, but at the dive place the price would be about half of the price. I understand why the price difference at Jinja vs. the dive. The money is worth it if you need the atmosphere for various reasons. I did not see the ribs on the online menu, but I had a rib appetizer once there that was fantastic. The ribs were tender and covered in a red sticky sauce that was thicker and darker than a char sue sauce, but the flavor and tenderness of the meat reminded me of a Saturday afternoon as a kid with a char sue pork chop bone in my mouth at Grandmas. Yes, the rib was that good.
Yes Jinja has made me a believer in the Asian fusion restaurant. The food is great, but fairly pricey. The bar is awesome and has reasonable prices for what you get. The atmosphere and service are top notch. Go there quick like a bunny if you have a nice event to eat out for and love Asian food. I would give Jinja three and a half out of five stars.
http://www.jinjabistro.com/locat.htm
Labels: Jinja Bistro
posted by Erick at
1:30 PM
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