First time at Xinji Noodle Bar! We were really excited that a new ramen place was coming to town and came during opening week. The place was clean with a minimalistic industrial vibe with awesome lamps hanging overhead. It's cool that you can see part of the kitchen depending on which area you get seated at too. The staff was fast. They have paper menus with drinks on one side and various Asian fusion bites like Korean fried chicken, Chinese pork and chicken Baos (mini Chinese bun sandwiches) and Japanese ramen noodle and rice bowls.
For appetizers - we had the chicken bao, pork baos, and Korean fried chicken. We were surprised that 3 appetizer pieces of chicken cost $9. But if it tastes great that's fine...but it just tasted okay. Pork bao was okay. Our friend's wife liked the chicken bao though! So maybe that bao is worth trying for anyone who wants an appetizer.
For ramen we all ordered a different version from the menu. I had the miso ramen and added a soy egg. You can add toppings like roasted pork for $3 extra dollars or a soy egg or poached egg for $1 each on top of the ramen bowl that already costs $12. We agreed across the table that the broth lacks flavor and the meat could be better. We all hate wasting food and I was starving so I finished my bowl. If I could do it over, I'd just skip all the appetizers and the ramen and just order the soy egg on it's own. The waitress came over and asked how my bowl was and I told her it was okay. My bf said he saw she brought it to the attention of the manager and he laughed after discussing the bowl. Not sure what that meant...
If the broth is made more rich, I think we would have liked it more and instead of using pulled pork, using the traditional pork cut might add to the flavor of the ramen too! I thought our bowls would come with naruto, but they didn't. There were paper menus when we were there so maybe there is a changing menu as the owner plays around with flavor more.
Would recommend? In the words of our friend who brought us here "Meh". It's a new business so there is room for improvement. No where to go but up !