Xinji Noodle Bar: Ramen in Cleveland

We are obsessed with getting the perfect bowl of ramen, and until recently the pickings have been pretty slim in Cleveland. Fortunately Xinji Noodle Bar (4211 Lorain Ave, Cleveland, OH 44113) recently opened up, so we have a new place for our noodle fix in Cleveland. To be fair, this is not strictly a traditional ramen place – they do offer ramen – but also an array of other Asian and Asian fusion food. The restaurant is the brainchild of chef Shuxin Liu, who cut his teeth at other Cleveland stalwarts like Momocho.

The space is bright and airy with exposed pipes, ramen illustrations on the walls, and an inviting bar. It’s the kind of restaurany that wouldn’t look out of place in NYC or Chicago. The menu is compact, but has something for everyone. For appetizers, Xinji spans the Asian continent: you can start out with spicy Korean fired Chicken ($9) or Chinese bao sandwiches filled with pork or fired chicken ($7). We ordered the veggie dumplings with yuzu, wasabi and seaweed salad ($7) and the fried kimchi balls – which were basically like Korean arancine – yum! While the dumplings were good – they were folded and deep fried, and we were expecting more of a gyoza-type dumpling.

If you are not in the mood for ramen, there are other mains: rice bowls with tonkatsu (Japanese breaded, fried pork cutlets – $12) or grilled eel ($15). However, we were here for ramen, so we had to sample as many as we could. Xinji offers 5 types of ramen: shio (light salty broth), shoyu (a saltier soy sauce broth), miso, spicy miso and vegetarian broth (all $12, $10 for vegetarian).

When we go out for ramen I usually choose shio ramen as my baseline test, and here it came with chicken mushrooms, naruto (fish cake), bamboo shoots and napa cabbage. The noodles were wavy and slightly irregular, with a firm texture – delicious. The broth was fragrant and salty, but there was not quite enough of it – we should have asked for more! The vegetarian broth was light and savory, and was garnished with bamboo shoots. The spice-loving M enjoyed the spicy miso ramen, which came with pork and bean sprouts. The broth was actually pretty spicy for a change, and was flavored with ginger and chili oil.