Kinya Ramen opens in Hicksville

Whereas finding a good bowl of ramen was once a challenge, these days it’s getting harder and harder to avoid one, thanks to Long Island’s growing number of sophisticated noodle shops showcasing a variety of broths, noodles, toppings and more. This is all to the good, of course, especially with winter coming, although it does pose a challenge to prospective ramentrepreneurs looking to stand out in a crowded market.

At Hicksville’s Kinya Ramen, the solution was apparently to exploit humanity’s helpless, and apparently evolutionary, attraction to shiny objects, by topping their soup with a bit of edible gold leaf. The attention-getting is certainly the point, as gold leaf, even the edible kind, adds nothing in terms of either flavor or texture to a dish, but here we are talking about it so the strategy obviously worked. Anyway, Kinya — which, yes, means gold in Japanese — has been selling the bowls for $18 since September, when it opened within another Broadway Commons restaurant, Hook & Reel, effectively creating a one-stop shop for Cajun boils and noodle soup. The bowls feature a pork broth base and pieces of either chicken or pork chashu over noodles, along with scallions, a boiled egg and a bit of 24K gold.

The Kinya menu lists several other varieties of ramen as well as appetizers, both of which can be sampled as part of a good-value $22 combo deal. For that price you get a bowl of ramen, along with your choice of such starters as a serving of shrimp tempura (normally $10 alone) or a pair of plump pork buns ($8).

Kinya Ramen is at 363 Broadway Mall in Hicksville, 516-719-0388, kinya.us. Opening hours are Sunday through Thursday from noon to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from noon to 11 p.m.

By Scott Vogel

scott.vogel@newsday.com

Newsday writer and restaurant critic Scott Vogel aims for a refreshing, gimlet-eyed take on the Long Island food scene, often while drinking a refreshing gimlet.