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    JA Ramen

    3.1 (44 reviews)
    Closed 12:00 pm - 10:00 PM

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    Shoyu ramen
    TJ S.

    As mentioned on my previous review, I came back to try some ramen today. Every place deserves a second chance and fair review. Whenever I come across new ramen place, I usually try shio (clear broth) or shoyu (clear broth plus soy sauce). My belief is that it is easier to judge ramen place if ramen is simple, and not have all sorts of things added to mask the lack of umami or deep flavor or base. I judge ramen by the broth, noodles, and the toppings. All three should be well balanced. So, I tried shoyu ramen. I was reasonably impressed that it has good enough base broth, and the yellow curly ramen noodles were cooked properly. Not a "wow" but a B grade. The toppings were not too skimpy or too much. The soft boiled ajitama (egg) was on par. Could use a little more flavor but the soft yolk center was perfect. I actually prefer this shoyu ramen here than the one at Fushi Poke in downtown Sarasota. My shoyu ramen came with chashu (pork roast), naruto (pink and white fish cake, menma (pickled bambooshoots), seaweed, ajitama (egg), greens and scallions. I still think that the value is not there. Why all ramens everywhere cost close to $20? I know inflation has something to do with it, but I still think of ramen as an affordable Japanese fast food. I feel like ramen in the US is more of a novelty and priced as such. If you go to Japan today, I bet you can find a great bowl of ramen for an equivalent of $10 and still be full. In conclusion, my faith in this place is restored. At least I am willing to come back for this shoyu ramen, but not for the awful curry.

    Tofu vegetable curry - Avoid the bad food at this place
    Ian S.

    What a disheartening experience! I went to this restaurant well over a year ago, in spite of the polarized reviews, leaning either to really good or really bad and tried their ramen. At that time, I was happy that my meal turned out good because I had had a long hard day at work and needed the satisfaction of a good bowl of ramen. Fast forward to more than a year past that one time experience and I re-visited JA Ramen and chose to try something different, their tofu vegetable curry. It looked appetizing but it tasted like slop. Bland. I had to ask for salt & pepper, chili oil and nothing could bring that dish to be palatable. If a Japanese chef tried the dish I had, he would've dumped it in the waste bin. On top of that, I asked the not too friendly cashier for an order of the ten ten dessert and he claimed they were out of it but then I saw he had his own ten ten waiting for him in the back on a cutting board.

    Tonkotsu Ramen
    Culture L.

    This isn't it. Tried 2 dishes. Tonkotsu Ramen - pork was raw and no flavor to broth. Noodles texture was way off Chicken katsu curry with white Rice - curry sauce was watered down, barely any carrots, no potatoes either Service was ok. Ambiance was inviting but my main goal was food as I was starving. Sorry guys - no hard feelings.

    Spicy Miso Ramen
    Michael Y.

    To some, ramen is something that comes in a plastic bag, you add to boiling water, and is eaten by college kids. To others, ramen is an art. I am one of those people that believes it is an art, but if I'm completely honest, I'm not sure where Ja Ramen & Curry falls on this spectrum. Brief Summary: This is a newly rebranded restaurant. For those who are local to the are, you may remember it as Bunhause. They used to specialize is pho, and to be honest, I thought they did a really great job with it, and I really really enjoyed going there to get a bowl of pho now and again! But, in the words of Elsa, the past is in the past! Sadly though, just like with Pokemon, what things eventually evolve into, isn't always better...... HOWEVER, this restaurant does have a saving grace......the boba tea! Would I Recommend This Restaurant? Yes for the tea. No for the ramen. The Food: There are two main things I want to focus on here. The ramen, and the boba tea. When it comes to ramen, it can be tricky to create a truly exceptional dish, because there are some places that just do it so incredibly well. If you've been to one of these places where the ramen is so good that you're contemplating marrying it, then you may be a bit disappointed in the ramen you get here. I had the spicy miso ramen, and it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either. I felt like it was missing those really bold and mouthwatering flavors that come with a really mature broth. Even the noodles and all of the things that went into it just really missed the mark in my opinion. The best way I could describe it is if you compare The Mona Lisa to a perfect bowl of high quality ramen and instant ramen to something drawn by your five your old that you'd find on your refrigerator, this ramen would fall somewhere on the high school art class level. It has potential, and you can tell that the effort is there, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. The boba tea on the other hand is this restaurants saving grace. I had the brown sugar boba tea, and it was pretty dang good! It wasn't the best boba tea I've ever had in my life, but I definitely enjoyed every sip to the last drop! While the quality of the ramen here is a bit lacking, the quality of the boba tea keeps them in my good graces. Value: I want to preface this part by saying that, Inflation is a real thing. I completely understand that this has an impact on restaurants. For me though, Ja Ramen & Curry is just too pricey for what you get. The quantity and quality of food you get, for both the tea and the ramen, just feels very unbalanced and is a bit deterring. Service and Staff: I got my food as takeout, so my interactions with the staff were brief. The gentleman at the desk wasn't super talkative, but I don't always need chit chat just for chit chats sake, so this didn't bother me at all. Order was prepared on time, and everything was packaged nicely. Location and Interior: The location of the restaurant is pretty good. It's right off of University, which makes it pretty easy to get to. It's part of UTC, so it's in a good area. The interior is nice, modern, and clean. Final Thoughts: I think this restaurant definitely has potential. They recently changed over to a completely different genre of food, and I believe they are still trying to find their flavor. I probably won't return for another bowl of ramen, but I can definitely see myself dropping by for a delicious, and refreshing boba tea! P.S. The bowl that the ramen is in is from my house. I put it in here as it was takeout. I apologize for dropping the ball on pictures for this review. I must have been enjoying that boba tea so much that I couldn't free up my hands long enough to take a picture of it! Lol Final Scores: Food - 4/10 Value - 1/5 Service/Staff - 5/5 Location/Interior - 5/5 Total - 15/25 = 3 Stars Stay fresh Mother Fooders! :p

    Spicy Pork Tonkotsu Ramen
    Brenden C.

    Dear JA Ramen, I am sorry for the one star but this place is an epic fail for Ramen. The biggest issue here is they're not using "Ramen noodles". IDK what type of noodles those were but definitely not yellow chinese wheat noodles, alkaline, and chewy or the traditional ramen noodles we are all very familiar with and love. It's about the noodles & broth. The broth, I got the spicy Tonkotsu, was good however, toppings lacking. Only half a soft boiled egg (where is the other half? You had to cut open a full egg only to place half in the bowl) and 2 thin american bacon sliced like pieces of pork. JA Ramen Has potential but needs revisions and of course the correct noodle type for EVERY bowl on the menu. I knew something was odd when the ramen bowl came out of the kitchen in less than 3 mins. I got boba, the brown sugar milk tea boba, pearls were okay but lacking brown sugar and the look of a brown sugar boba. Looked like flat out milk tea with boba. Where's the visible brown sugar? $16.50 for the Ramen and $7 for the milk tea. It says $5.75 on the board so idk why I was charged $7 and it says Custom item on the receipt? I did not order a custom boba. It's whats on the board under $5.75. Maybe this is my mistake But I've gotten better boba and ramen for this same price. Of course thats back in Worcester, MA and not FL. I seriously need to lower my expectations for this town. Sarasota is mainly white older people and I understand these local businesses need to tailor their menu/food for them.

    Shoyu ramen
    Chris J.

    It's ok. Had the tonkotsu ramen, shoyu ramen, curry tofu and chashu buns today. Buns were cold and bread was brittle and fell apart. Ramen was ok. Noodles clumped together. Tonkotsu broth a little thin and not a lot of body. Toppings good. No sticky mouth feel. Over all a decent three star I think. I'd consider a return to try some other items.

    Toni E.

    Excellent broth on their ramen, great ambiance. Service was excellent. Highly recommend, Great!!!

    Curry with chicken dumplings
    Taylor M.

    My first impression was that this place was pricy for a very casual restaurant where you order at the counter and they bring you the food. I got the dumpings with curry. You choose pork or chicken for your dumplings. The portions all seemed very generous. I wish they had smaller size options or a lunch menu. I enjoyed my meal, but I think next time I want to try the Ramen since it is what the restaurant is named after. A welcome addition to the UTC area (near Kohl's) and I look forward to trying their other menu items.

    Tonkotsu Ramen

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    7 months ago

    The boba is amazing and the service is wonderful! The staff is very attentive and kind !!

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    1 year ago

    Very expensive for bland, tasteless noodles. Atmosphere is poor and asking for tips up to 30 percent for counter service is absurd.

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    7 months ago

    great boba tea I like the lychee flavor plus lots of options to choose from food wise. lovely people too.

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    2 years ago

    The food was not very good. The ambience was horrible. The staff is not very friendly.

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    Page 1 of 2

    Ask the Community - JA Ramen

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    Chanko - Pork Belly add egg with rice is Better with the noodles & Bangkok sauce.

    Chanko

    4.6(225 reviews)
    41.3 miSeminole Heights
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    YESSSSSS SIRRRRR…read more Hear me loud and clear. Found this place just be driving. Cruising. One day rolled the dice and I'm glad I did. This place holds a special place in my heart. I'd come here alone on solo missions and this place makes it so easy to do so. Order at the counter with a kiosk. Pick up your food in a window and just enjoy. I've gotten almost everything on them menu and it just does not miss. The curry with pork belly is my favorite. Goes crazy. Big pot of curry. Give me a break. They are doing things special here. Brought the homies, everybody was happy. How could you not be, look at these photos. Psssh everybody else could learn a thing or two from Chanko. Celebrate birthdays, heartbreak and wins here. I will continue to do this. Chanko you are an anchor in my life.

    Came here for lunch on a whim and it was fantastic! It was a bit crowded during lunch time and is a…read moresmaller space but we made it work! It's a self service station so you basically go up to the counter and order your food and pick it up when they call your name. It's a very modern Japanese diner type feel and I loved the decor in there. I was mostly ecstatic that they had my favorite Japanese street food, Okonomiyaki (savory pancake) as I cannot get it back home. They have other street food like beef bowls, katsu, katsu curry, etc and also drinks and sauces too. My husband and I had the following: Beef katsu curry - 8/10 - The beef was grilled well and we loved the smokey taste but it was just a tiny bit dry. The curry was legit!! We've been to Japan and had plenty of curry and the flavor was on point. It had a strong curry taste just how we like it and the potatoes and carrots were tender. I can't tell you how much we loved that curry! The meal came with rice and picked yellow radishes too. The radishes helped cut the heaviness of the curry with it's acidity. They give you a pretty huge portion as well too and we had plenty leftover to take home. Hiro classic okonomiyaki - 9/10 - It had a crepe base, yakisoba noodles, cabbage, leeks, bean sprouts, fried egg, furikake, seaweed flakes (aonoriko), tempura crisps, and house okonomi sauce, and Kewpie Japanese Mayo. I chose to have pork belly as my protein and when I tell you this was one of the most delicious things I've EVER eaten, I'm not lying! The portion size was huge and all the flavors were just WOW! The noodles were tender, the pork belly just melted in my mouth, and the combination of all the fresh, crisp veggies and sauces on top was chef's kiss. Everything worked so well together! I loved how they put tempura crisps on top because it needed that textural element. I loved how I could taste a little bit of acid as well because the okonomiyaki was pretty heavy but the acidity helps with it. Food didn't take long to come out and everything was fresh, hot, and steaming! Portion sizes were pretty huge and the price was worth it. We will definitely be coming back here again when we're in the area!

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    Chanko - Pork Belly with added egg, noodles & spicy Bangkok sauce YUM! :)...

    Pork Belly with added egg, noodles & spicy Bangkok sauce YUM! :)...

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    Mitaka Japanese Ramen House - Ramen

    Mitaka Japanese Ramen House

    4.3(172 reviews)
    12.4 mi
    $$

    Ordered Tonkotsu Ramen for delivery & I was amazed at how delicious the broth & noodles were. Only…read morereason I rated 4 stars instead of 5, was the ajitama didn't live up to my experience of what ajitama should be.

    This was my first time eating at Mitaka at the recommendation of my friend who I was with, and who…read moreoften says it's the best place for ramen in the area. I was not disappointed. The restaurant has a nice atmosphere to it, spacious and decorated with kitschy Japanese posters and figurines. We were told that we could sit anywhere we liked. We started out with an order of dumplings and an order of crispy squid - both tasty and very generous portions. Now for the ramen. I ordered the spicy seafood ramen and asked for the udon noodles as a sub. I was impressed with the depth of the flavor profile of the broth and is one of the best I have ever had. It was also spiced at the perfect level for me. The udon noodles were delicious and perfectly cooked. In order to score full points, I would want to see the following addressed: for a seafood ramen it was a disappointing portion of seafood (basically 2 muscles, 2 shrimp and 2 squid rings); I would prefer it if the egg was more soft than hard boiled; and I was not expecting a $2 surcharge for the udon noodles (when I asked to sub the waitress said ok and did not mention the price increase). Overall was very impressed and will definitely be back, though will also try one of the other ramen options for comparison.

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    Little Jo To - Hibachi

    Little Jo To

    4.6(23 reviews)
    4.2 mi

    Went to Little Jo-To for Lunch today and was very happy with my choice. I ordered a Tempura Bento…read moreBox with Shrimp and veggies. It also included clear soup, ginger salad, fried rice and 3 filled wontons. The service was great and the decor is very pleasant. They have a Lunch Special, Tuesday-Friday $12.99 from 11-2:00. I definitely recommend giving it a try. Dine in or take out.

    If you miss the OG Jo-To's that was by the airport, look no further! While they may not cook in…read morefront of you anymore, the food is EXACTLY IDENTICAL! And as amazing as ever! This little gem is owned and run by the former head chef of the original Jo-To's. If you're looking for some good food and good hospitality from a family owned business, look no further! Brief Summary: Little Jo To is a small, hole in the wall, family owned restaurant that is owned and operated by the former head chef of the original Jo-To's restaurant by the airport. They have various types of Japanese cuisine available. All of which will leave you with a smile on your face! They may have dropped the cooking in front of you part of the dining experience, but man oh man is the food still worth it! If you miss the old Jo-To's, come check out the new one! Would I Recommend This Restaurant? Absolutely! Without any hesitation! The Food: They offer an array of Japanese delights. Everything from Teriyaki, to hibachi, to your favorite types of tempura. The food has all of the delicious flavors of the original restaurant thanks to the masterful cooking of chef Van! The soup, the salad, the fried Oreos, it's all incredible! They have my most favorite clear soup and hibachi of any Japanese restaurant that I've ever been to. It's truly difficult to find anything on the menu that isn't worth putting a dent in your bank account for! All in all, I promise you, you won't be disappointed with the deliciousness that they serve here! Value: The portions here are VERY generous! In an era where portions are getting smaller, and prices are getting larger, it's a major relief to see someone offering good value for your money! I can't believe I'm saying this, but I almost feel like they could charge more and I'd still feel like it was great value. THAT'S how good the value is in my personal opinion! Service and Staff: The front of the house is run by chef Van's wife. She is AS SWEET as they come! Just a truly incredible family. I actually remember her from when I was a kid and I went to the original Jo-To's restaurant. When I was about 6, I wasn't feeling good, and she brought me a ginger ale to help settle my stomach. It was something I never forgot! She still has the same sweet personality, and the service they offer here follows her example! Location and Interior: The location is on a major road. There is ample parking as well which is always a plus. The interior though is BEAUTIFUL! It gives me true Japanese vibes in there. With the little lanterns hanging from the ceiling, it made me feel like they brought a little piece of Japan here to the states! Final Thoughts: Chef Van still remembers me from when my Mom would bring me in when I was a baby. We're talking some 28 years ago. He never forgot my mother or I, and he has always been such a hard working genuine person. Him and his wife have a truly beautiful family and a truly beautiful restaurant. They, and their food, are worth giving a chance. Come out and support this gem of a hole in the wall restaurant! P.S. I very rarely give a perfect 25/25, but this one is well deserved! Final Scores: Food - 10/10 Value - 5/5 Service/Staff - 5/5 Location/Interior - 5/5 Total 25/25 = 5 Stars Stay fresh Mother Fooders! :p

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    Izakaya Tori - Yum....

    Izakaya Tori

    4.6(702 reviews)
    38.3 miSouth Tampa
    $$
    Casual dining
    Grab-and-go

    EXPERIENCE: My…read morefriends and I made a last minute decision to come and grab dinner here. The placed was decked out in Japanese culture. It is a small restaurant so the atmosphere is very bustling -- I liked it though. Definitely expect a wait of at least 25-30 minutes, but once you sit down and order, your food comes out really fast! FOOD: Mentaiko Fries 10/10 -- Delicious! Definitely my #1 recommendation here. Krab Special Salad 6/10 -- You taste more mayo than anything. Shiso Rangoon (n/a) -- No rating because I didn't try any. Just keep in mind that the rangoon is wrapped in shiso leaves and it's tempura styled. It's not in the pictures since we ordered it later on. My friend liked it though. Takoyaki (n/a) -- I never tried it but my friend who loves takoyaki said it tasted really good. Katsu Curry 8/10 -- The rice to katsu ratio is upsetting because the curry sauce is soo good. BBQ Eel on Rice (n/a) -- My friends entree. She liked it enough to say she would get it again the next time she comes. Kimchi Cream Udon (n/a) -- Two of my friends ordered this entree. One enjoyed it and the other one couldn't finish it because she got sick of eating it. Said it tasted too "fatty", needs more seasoning (?). However both felt queasy on the ride home.

    Izakaya Tori is easily a 5-star spot for sushi in Tampa…read more Everything tasted incredibly fresh, high quality, and thoughtfully prepared. The sushi was beautifully presented, and every roll we tried was packed with flavor without feeling overdone. You can really tell they care about the ingredients and overall experience here. The atmosphere is also a huge part of what makes this place special...cozy, modern, and perfect for either a casual dinner or a night out. The staff was friendly, attentive, and made the entire experience feel welcoming from start to finish. Definitely one of my favorite sushi spots in Tampa right now, and I'll absolutely be coming back.

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    JA Ramen - japacurry - Updated May 2026

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