Jinja Bar & Bistro - Santa Fe, New Mexico

Dallas M

I wanted to have a nice dinner with a couple of friends for my last night (9 Oct 2024) in the area, and since I'm not familiar with Santa Fe, I asked them to choose the venue. We all agreed to this restaurant since they've been to it before and had a good experience. I wasn't too excited at first to come here because I have so many high quality Asian restaurants back home in Las Vegas (Nevada) and I wanted to try something more traditional to New Mexico. Regardless, I did tell them to choose and you can't really go wrong with Asian food.

When I walked in the restaurant, I was greeted nicely by the hostess at the counter. I had this picture in my head of what this restaurant would look like from the outside-in, and this was surely not the picture I envisioned...but in a good way - the décor was nice. It didn't take long before our primary server, Andres, stopped by and took our drink order. Andres did such a remarkable job that evening; he was very attentive, courteous, professional, and highly efficient throughout the evening.

I ordered the Potstickers (large), Imperial Lettuce Wraps (small), and Ahi Tempura Roll for our appetizers (clearly I shared these with everyone); and Thai Red Curry Beef (large) for my main entrée. The potstickers were prepared more in the Chinese/Cantonese style, which I don't mind...but I tend to be biased towards Korean and Japanese types of dumplings, Mandu and Gyoza respectively. The lettuce wraps were delectable...it's rare that I've ever experienced a horrible lettuce wrap at any given restaurant, and I'm glad this wasn't my first bad experience of that either. The ahi roll was interesting...I mean don't get me wrong because I'm a huge sushi, seafood (raw or cooked), and vegetable kind of guy...but I can't say this roll was my favorite ahi-inspired sushi I've ever had, but it wasn't horrible either. The texture wasn't good and the tuna quality was less than adequate...and yes, I know I was in a land-locked city/state. I wanted to order this because the folks in my group never tried sushi and they wanted to for the first time. Otherwise, I am traditionally a simple spicy tuna roll or ahi tuna sashimi/nigiri/roll kind of guy. Being from Hawaii and living in Las Vegas, I guess I was/am spoiled (or fortunate) to be exposed to top quality sushi/fish. Finally, the curry beef was good; not excellent. Although I wasn't expecting a glutton feast, I just thought the "large" entrée would've been bigger than what was served. Regardless, I didn't feel the price adequately matched the portion size/quality. Of noteworthy mention, my friends ordered the Pad Thai and Steak Frites (small) - they both liked their entrées; however, the steak wasn't something to write home about even though the dipping sauce was magnificent.

The biggest thing that left me confused with this business is that according to Google, it specified this restaurant to be "Asian Fusion." I know this concept may be different to some, but most places in Las Vegas that specify "fusion" are a combination of Korean and Mexican (or KoMex), or even Korean and Hawaiian. I guess that's one disappointment about my experience here because I was hoping for that KoMex style. Also, I was hoping to try some Korean-centric entrées too if the intent behind the "fusion" style means a combination of all Asian cultures. Who doesn't enjoy eating some Kalbi, Bulgogi, Bibimbap and banchan for dinner? But oh well, I didn't lose sleep over it, and I have all the Korean restaurants to eat within arm's reach back home.

Overall, I liked the restaurant as depicted in my 4-star rating. I hope this restaurant incorporates more Korean/Japanese dishes, or changes the restaurant description in Google so people understand that this business specializes more in the Chinese/Thai cuisines. I mean, I guess I could've studied their menu before dining here? But sometimes you just want to read a couple of reviews and just trust what the restaurant advertises and go try it yourself. Despite the above, I am still recommending this restaurant to all locals and visitors.

Amanda Biesecker

Lovely experience! The food was beyond delicious. Appreciated the option to order different sizes of each meal. The service was excellent. Everything about this restaurant was perfect!

Merideth Murphy

Jinja was fantastic! Comfortable seating with pillows available, excellent food, service, and drinks! Order small if you aren't very hungry!

J Mo

We love Jinja Bistro and make a point to go there every time we visit family in Santa Fe. Service is wonderful and the food is spot on. They have many choices for gluten free and dairy free diets. We love the Lettuce wraps, Shaking beef and Pad Thai. Much appreciated!

Alicia Abels

In town from NJ and can say the service here really stood out. Mickey was our lovely server and made our visit so enjoyable. Super attentive, accommodating and so sweet! I’d take her home with me if I could!
Our food was beautifully presented and mostly delicious. They were accommodating about anything we didn’t care for. Cocktails were extensive and top notch!

Tina Lee

We had an awesome date night here the other night. The food was delicious and I loved that you could get a small or large portion. The drink menu was extensive. And the presentation of the food and the relaxing environment made it feel like a special date night. Plus the prices are super reasonable compared to other nice but still casual spots in town. You could really just come here for tasty take out or you could come for a nice evening.

Oh and the sriracha fish and chips was excellent!!

Jacob Edkin

I wanted to absolutely love this place. The location is awesome, the atmosphere is comfortable yet enticing. Our server was attentive and not pushy but unfortunately the food was just ok.

Our lettuce wraps were delicious, I'll give them that. Their sauces are definitely on point but my teriyaki chicken was dry and chalky, like they just assumed that the sauce that they drizzled over it would make up for it. The vegetables were crispy but could definitely use some grill marks or some sort of searing. The rice was watery and not very easy to mix in with the meal making it difficult to eat with chop sticks.

My wife's platter of fried tempura roll looked amazing and it would have been except for the fact that her rice was just a complete overcooked mush...

Overall definitely a three star joint. Don't come in with high expectations and it'll provide a nice little release from our daily grind but I most likely won't be back to try it again.

Joe Carrillo

Always a solid choice for consistent food, and great selection/variety. We usually get the surf/turf and the shaking beef. Cocktails are great as well. We live their Jinja old fashioned, and the coconut mule.