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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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!!!

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.