Ramen chain serves slurp-able spoonfuls in new, central Phoenix spot

I've been driving past the soon-to-be-opened site of JINYA Ramen Bar's second Arizona location on Central Avenue north of Camelback Road, waiting for it to open.

• That day finally came last week when I popped in to grab some ramen to go.

• My wife has been eager to try it too, especially since it's so hard to find good vegetarian ramen, so we ended up going back for dinner on Saturday.
• JINYA already has one Arizona location in downtown Chandler, and the new central Phoenix restaurant is the Los Angeles-based chain's 56th in North America, JINYA wrote on its Facebook page.

What we ordered: My first time around, I got the Tonkotsu Spicy, which has sliced pork in pork broth, thick noodles, green onions, bean sprouts, and kikurage — a type of mushroom popularly used in ramen — and I added a seasoned egg.

• I also tried the JINYA Tonkotsu Black, which is similar but includes garlic oil, garlic chips, and fried onions.
• My wife ordered the creamy spicy vegan version with tofu bathed in vegetable broth.
• We tried some tempura Brussels sprouts, too.

The verdict: I ordered my first dish spicy, but there was so much flavor that the spice didn't overpower it.

• The black ramen was unique — not spicy, but very flavorful.
• We agreed that JINYA was probably the best ramen we've ever had.