Update on Jing Ramen “Vegan” Tonkatsu; AVOID if you have Allergies or are Religious ‼️
If you don’t know what I’m referring to, please look back at my first post. To put it short, Jing Ramen at Boulder has been lying about their Vegan options, which could lead to serious allergies. Recently, they changed the name on the menu (left photo before VEGAN tonkatsu ramen, right is new. Says VEGGIE tonkatsu ramen). They shouldn’t have been lying about it before because it isn’t vegan at all, not even vegetarian since it contains pork.
I messaged one of the workers and they told me a lot of interesting things about the establishment. That tonkatsu “vegan” ramen that they had labeled is 100% not vegan, not even vegetarian. Pork is the SECOND ingredient in the soup base (which is a powder in a bag, not at all made in house.) I will list the ingredients here, but if you want the photo please ask me. The ex-staff member ask me not to post the photo.
Ingredients:
Water, Pork Extract with Rendered Pork Fat (Pork Extract, Rendered Pork Fat, Salt, Mixed Tocopherols), Salt, Sugar, Nonfat Dried Milk, Lard (Lard, BHT, BHA), Concentrated Pork Broth (Water, Pork Femur Bone, Pork Skinless Fatback), Soy Sauce (Water, Soybeans, Wheat, Salt), Canola Oil, Monosodium Glutamate, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Safflower Oil, Food Starch Modified, Pork Extract (from bone) (Pork Extract, Salt), Natural Flavor Enhancer (Maltodextrin, Soy Sauce (Soybeans, Salt, Wheat), Salt, Yeast Extract), Pork Stock, Garlic Powder, Natural Vegetable Flavored Seasoning Powder (Maltodextrin, Chinese Cabbage Extract, Salt, Yeast Extract, Pork Flavor (Pork Stock, Flavor, Salt, Ginger Powder, Seeme Oil, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate, Black Pepper, Xanthan Gum, Disodium Succinate
Contains: Nik, Sesame, Soybean, Wheat
Part time workers aren’t told about how the vegan tonkatsu is made out of pork and are instructed to say that it is a creamy “vegetable “ broth. LYING TO THEIR OWN WORKERS.
NOTHING is made in house. Not the soups, not the appetizers. Maybe just the ice cream bowls as well as the regular bowls. But the soup is all packaged powdered soup base.
Almost all the 5-star reviews on Google are fake. I remember when going there and there was a sign on each table that says if you give them a 5-star review, they will give you a free appetizer. Pretty sure you can’t do that, and I’ll be sending a complaint later. That’s why their ratings are high even though they’re being dishonest.
Along with that, they boil everything in the same water, as well as fry everything is the same oil, so if you have celiac or just have sensitivities/allergies in general you might need to watch for that, since the GF noodles and regular noodles get boiled together. As well as the gyoza, since it contains egg.
After my complaint and to others complaints on Google reviews, they finally took it seriously and changed the menus online and I believe the physical menus. They changed “vegan” to “veggie” (what does that even mean?) and I doubt they will address it or stop lying.
Just be careful of this place if you have allergens or are religious, because they don’t seem like a truthful company.