Jinja Bar

Excellent food! This place was recommended by a coworker with good taste so I tried it. The small portion was very generous and the food was cooked to perfection! I had the Shaking beef with fried rice. I don’t know how they cooked that rice but it was the lightest, fluffier rice I think I’ve ever had!

Didn’t know what to expect when we got here. We were amazed by everything. Large portions, great food, and stellar service.

This is the second or third time I have been misled by the menu at Jinja, in ways that have not endeared the place to me, though I have liked it in the past. The menu offers chow fun, and it offers pad thai — both of these have very specific meanings, and they specifically imply rice noodles, for us gluten-​free types, and of a certain width, which is very satisfying to eat. Not at Jinja! They use wheat noodles in both, and the only clue you have to that is that there is no «gf» designation on the menu. You can ask to have the dish made with rice noodles, once you realize that it otherwise would not be, but these noodles are extremely wimpy and in no way provide the eating pleasure of the real thing. In addition, my companions got a couple of dishes that had no taste. Very disappointing. As of right now, I doubt we’ll be going back to Jinja any time soon.

The food is ok not so much of a wow. The Vietnamese coffee was good, the wings, and we had desert macadamia nut tart with a side of ice cream this where all good. Just the actual entrees where not tasty. The service was great. I also had a prickly pear mojito and that was great.

Today I made a meal of appetizers instead of going the whole route. I had to hoisin shrimp. You kids can’t go wrong with either of those!

We frequent Jinja when we are in Santa Fe, and we are never disappointed. The service is always exceptional, and the food is consistently good.
They offer a substantial military discount, which makes it all the more inviting for us. We will keep coming back!

We have been to Jinja many times and enjoyed the food. Last night we went for New Year. Having sat down we ordered drinks and an app. The app came, but no drinks (including water). Ordered three main courses. Main courses arrived (still no drinks). Asked waiter after the drinks, got a rude unhelpful response. Pointed-​out to waiter I had ordered the beef and not the chicken, was told I had ordered the chicken. everyone in our party concurred that I had ordered the beef. The waiter informed me I could get up and go and complain to the manager. Our New Years eve dinner was ruined. Your choice, good food but poor service that ruins the experience, or go elsewhere and enjoy yourself.

Jinja is one of those rare places where they get everything right — the décor, the music, the lighting, and of course the food, drinks, and service — everything combines to make a memorable and pleasurable experience.
Much as I love Santa Fe and its distinctive style, I love Jinja partly because it makes you feel like you’re anyplace but Santa Fe. The theme is travel to Asia in the 1930’s, and the walls are decorated with vintage travel posters («Canadian Pacific Steamships: Fastest to the Orient»), postcards, and photos from the period. Little table lamps, the kind you see in old movies, line the bar. Classic tunes from the 30’s and 40’s play softly in the background. It all combines to create a wonderful time-​machine effect that transports you to a different place and time. As one friend put it, it’s kind of like going to Rick’s Café Americain, but in Hong Kong or Singapore instead of Casablanca.
They have an extensive menu of vintage cocktails, with little historical notes about each one. It’s fun to explore the flavors of a bygone era, and the drinks themselves are great.
The food is some of the most delicious I’ve had anywhere. If you’re looking for scrupulously «authentic» Asian cuisine, then this probably isn’t the place for you. The food here is maybe best described as «Asian-​inspired» — unique dishes created by talented chefs, Jinja’s own take on some Asian classics, with some new creations thrown in as well. If you’re willing to set aside authenticity snobbery and are seeking delicious food in a uniquely inviting atmosphere, by all means give this place a try.
Some of the highlights for me: The potstickers, probably the best I’ve had anywhere (the tangy dipping sauce is outstanding). The Vietnamese Shaking Beef, cubes of incredibly tender and tasty marinated beef served on a bed of greens. Is it authentic Vietnamese? Probably not. Do I care? Heck no. «Authentic» or not, it’s some of the best beef of any style I’ve had anywhere. Lettuce wraps: I agree with another reviewer that these are outstanding. Malay coconut soup: a tad on the sweet side, but a very delicious coconut-​based soup with shrimp and noodles, and wonderfully different from the familiar Thai Tom Kha (I do wish they would add something like a Thai Tom Yum non-​coconut hot and sour soup to the menu for some variety, but oh well). Pad Thai: again, probably not very authentic (and again, who cares?), but one of the tastiest noodle dishes I’ve had anywhere, with a wonderful tangy lime flavor. Thai red curry: this one is pretty authentic, and you can get it with Jinja’s wonderful tender beef. Singapore noodles: huge serving of noodles with strips of pork, all suffused with a powerful yellow curry flavor, a bit overwhelming, but delicious. Moo Shu Pork: pretty much standard Chinese Moo Shu, but some of the best I’ve had anywhere. And oh yeah, Coconut Ice Cream.
All in all, one of my all-​time Santa Fe favorites.
(… and a note to the owners: You’ve hit upon a magical combination here. Please don’t mess with it. I especially agree with a previous reviewer that the lack of an annoying TV in the bar is a major plus; a TV, or modern music, or bright lighting, would destroy the time-​machine magic.)

Good vegetarian selection at this Asian fusion restaurant. Try the salad wraps.

I sooooo wanted to like this place. Located in a strip mall. Easy parking. Walking in, the vibe reminds me of a tiki bar/​chill lounge with a touch of Polynesian. Music was perfect for the overall vibe (Dean Martin, Sinatra, etc). The ambience is something that really resonated with me. Kinda felt «upscale Goodfellas» in a way. But the only problem… the food. I’m not sure what they’re trying to be. You’ve got Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese on the menu, and they all fall short. If you don’t know anything about Asian food, then I guess this restaurant affords you convenience in having everything on one menu. But if you do know something about Asian food, then you’ll be disappointed. It’s a shame though. The staff, the ambience, the vibe… such potential. It’s just the food that falls short.

coming from new york, Asian fusion was not exactly on the top of my list but this place did exceed my expectations. to put things in perspective, I went to a highly touted restaurant called the shed (4 star Unilocal avg with over 600 reviews) the day before and perhaps our table was unlucky or went at the wrong time but I would have preferred Chipotle over the food we got. this is not a review of the shed but if that place got 4 stars, this place probably deserves 4.5 stars. anyways. onto the food.
the chicken lettuce wrap appetizer was well done even by new york standards. the mushu pork was not bad either although they could’ve made the dish better by using shredded pork or pork strips to enhance the tenderness of the pork. the rice paper wrapped salmon was well done with the fish cooked just right and seasoned perfectly. pad Thai was a good attempt with decent flavor but couldve benefitted by using thinner rice noodles rather than chow fun. the tiger shrimp dish was a bit salty but flavorful.
service was great! waiter was attentive and courteous. the manager also came around and made sure we were satisfied.
the ambiance was also pretty cool as the restaurant is well decorated.
bottom line is, good food, great service, great ambiance, and definitely above average for Santa fe in my limited experience.

I love coming here for one menu item only — their chicken lettuce wraps. So addictive and tasty… and friendly on my waistline.
The other menu items are just passable as Asian food, but it hits the spot when I’ve got a craving. I love the comfy laid back interior, and would come more often if they had a happy hour at the Santa Fe location like they do in Albuquerque. But no… we should be so lucky.

They don’t have happy hour at this location! A huge disappointment for me since I enjoy happy hour at either of their albuquerque locations quite frequently. I was really looking forward to enjoying some of my favorites off the happy hour menu such as the chicken lettuce wraps, the ribs, and pot stickers. Instead we opted to sit in the dining area and order off the dinner menu. I ordered the kung pao shrimp and the rest of my party all ordered the mongolian beef. The kung pao shrimp was quite tasty with flavors of lime and cilantro and just the right amount of kick. What was off putting to me was how oily this dish was at the bottom, the entire plate had a pool of grease sitting at the bottom. As for the mongolian beef, this time it was prepared differently. Instead of sliced tenderloin pieces it seemed to be more of a breaded meat dish. It was still tasty but not as good as we’ve had before. Service here was excellent and friendly and although they seemed busy for a friday night, we were seated quickly. All in all I was disappointed with this location for not having happy hour and the consistency of the food with previous experiences did not live up to our expectations.

The food here is delicious – potsticker appetizer was delicious. The bar service, however, was disappointing. The drinks were watery and anybody’s guess as to the actual recipes. When we sent back the most obvious mistake, we were given a bar quiz by the waiter. The drink was not removed from the bill, either. My advice is to skip the bar drinks, and enjoy your meal.

Jinja has been able to maintain quality over a long period of time. Lettuce wraps, ribs, singapore noodles, tofu, shaking beef and good strong drinks in a good room.

A-​OK. This restaurant has a nice atmosphere with low lighting.
I ordered the pad Thai without chicken and my boyfriend ordered the Thai red curry beef. My pad tai was okay. I wish they had used rice noodles, instead of pasta. It wasn’t the worst pad Thai I’ve ever had and it was the worst. It was just okay. My boyfriend loved his dish and said the beef was tender and delicious.
We also had a fried tofu appetizer. It wasn’t great, but it was good. The accompanying smokey sauce was a little weird.
Our waitress was a sweety pie.

Small chicken soup is a bowl, so you are warned. Noodles are hard to maneuver with a spoon.
Had the small sashimi tuna as my entrée. Prepared as advertised, though a few pieces were rate. Nice serving of rice and spinach to complete the trifecta
The side combo of ginger, pickled cucumber and pineapple salsa was nice, but thrown into its dish.
I’d order both again.

Good atmosphere, horrible food.
I keep trying to give this place another chance and am always so disappointed with the quality of the food. Bad pad thai. Kung pao is way too sweet. Tap water tastes like its a from the garden hose. Should invest a little in a water filter.

Great place, nice décor and ambiance. I had the Kung Pao Shrimp and enjoyed it very much. We also had spring rolls and pot stickers. Nice server (Mickey) made great suggestions and was very attentive in lieu of having a full restaurant. I would recommend and will be back

This is my favorite restaurant in Santa Fe! I have never been disappointed. Great ambiance; very romantic; dark and quiet. I especially like the lack of the annoying sports TV at the bar. This is a classy place with very reasonable prices.
Try the best lettuce wraps I ever had in my life, and the ahi tuna on spinach with rice. Do get the pot stickers too.
Best wings I ever had too, Mongolian sauce on your wings is better than the dragon sauce. You won’t be sorry!
Great music from the 30s & 40s softly plays somewhere off in the distance. They have fine beer on tap, too
I go out of my way to get to this fabulous Asian fusion restaurant time and time again, and I will surely be going back.
I hear there are TWO Jinja restaurants in Albuquerque!