Kirin Noodle Bar

We visited this nice restaurant off of High Street. It has some parking behind the building/strip as well as street parking. We went in around 3:30pm and it wasn't busy at all. We ordered the Tan Tan Men Ramen, Shoyu Ramen and Tuna Crispy Rice. The portion sizes were nice and worth it in my opinion. Tuna Crispy Rice - The rice is very crispy and crunchy so if you're a fan of textures you'll love this. They give you a generous portion of tuna which is spicy. This item is great for sharing. It has very good prices for ramen compared to other ramen places around central Columbus.

Straight from the motherland! As authentic as one could hope for at least. The Shio Ramen was delicious and packed with a verity of flavor. The boiled egg looked suspect but turned out to be the best damn boiled egg I ever had (soft boiled). There was a diversity of folks slurping away so I felt right at home. Small little hole in the wall with very little privacy but a great feel. One can ball out on a budget if they wanted to. Service was excellent so I hit shorty with a 30% tip. The next time I hit the Olentangy Trail I'll be stopping by for the Golden Lava Buns, kimchi and dumplings!

A friend and I have been wanting to try a ramen place together and I'm so glad we chose Kirin! The noodles were so good and chewy, the soup base was delicious, the pork, bamboo shoots and other toppings were just the right amount of crunch and added texture for the dish. My son got the egg rolls and soup dumplings and gobbled them up. The chicken karaage was SO good! The small plate comes with 4-5 huge pieces. The chicken is so crunchy and juicy! The only thing I didn't care for was how much fat was wrapped up inside of them. It created a weird texture, but it did add to the flavor. The service was great. Our food came out pretty quickly. There isn't a ton of seating, so a large group isn't the best. But there is enough seating for a group of 4-6 if needed at the large family style table. I really want to go back and try their sushi! Everything looked so fresh.

My kids and I decided to have an indulgent dinner but wanted to stay a little close to home, and Kirin Noodle Sushi & Bar came to mind. I've often come for a quick bite for lunch but never had dinner there, and boy, were we in for a treat! We started with drinks... a glass of Old Fashioned for my son (and yes, he's old enough to drink legally), and a glass of one of their specials, Black Orchid. I'm not one for mixed drinks usually, but the Black Orchid was delicious... light, fruity, and a little decadent. For appetizers, we ordered their gyoza and shrimp tempura. They went down very well with our drinks. My daughter held off drinks until our dinner came. She ordered two small bottles of Mio Sparkling sake to have with our main dishes. Next came two specialty sushi rolls. One was the Sexy Beach, presented as a little pyramid of bite-sized orgasms (pardon my description, they were just heavenly). The other was the Super Tiger Roll. This one has shrimp tempura inside... just yummm! For our main course, my daughter had the Seafood Ramen, my son had the Chashu Ramen, and I had the Unagi Dongu. We all did taste each other's order, as families do, and I'll have to say, the broth in each of the ramens were oh so good! Both were rich in depth and just exploded in your mouth. The portions were generous, too. My dish, the Unagi rice bowl came hot, and the eel was cooked to perfection. I've got to say, I have a soft spot for unagi. When it's on the menu, I find it hard not to order it. The sparkling sake was just perfect for all of our dishes. It was light and dry and never overpowered the food but only enhanced the flavors. In speaking with the owner, the sake offerings will expand even more soon, and I, for one, can't wait! I've been hoping for a nearby place that offered superior quality sake, and now we'll finally have it in Clintonville. Everything was delicious, fresh, and looked absolutely beautiful. Final verdict... I can't wait to come back!

Visited 23 JUL 2024 I really like what they chose to do with a small space in a strip of stores along a busy street. It is clean and simple furniture, there is a row of high table/chairs down the middle and more traditional tables at the ends of the room. I didn't notice/don't remember much on the walls. We have had Pho many times but there are not a lot of ramen places right near us in central Maryland. We were in town visiting family so this gave us a chance to stop into Kirin. I am always happy when I see a cultural group enjoying a meal of the cuisine I am about to try. My wife got a Miso based bowl and I got the Shoyu. The presentation was simple and attractive. The taste was just complex enough for me to enjoy the slight differences from Pho. It was very filling. We also had for the table crispy rice topped with tuna tartare (it was okay, but I'd likely skip that if we came back). They also have a broad range of whiskeys and I think they also consider themselves a whisky bar. Maybe that happens late at night or on the weekends. While we were there it was a pretty straight forward dinner spot. Not cheap, but certainly fair for the quality and presentation (4 adults, 1 toddler $80, no alcohol). If local would certainly treat this place as a treat, a change of pace kind of stop.