Tajima Japanese Restaurant

We walked in about 15 minutes until closing, about 10:15m, and were promptly seated by the waitress . Maybe we got water right away but we ended up being forgotten for a bit. It was a full room and they somehow missed that we hadn’t ordered, in fact, hadn’t even gotten the MENU yet. We had to flag someone down to get a menu. I wonder if this happens often or maybe just that night.

I’ve always been a fan of salmon so this entree was something good to try. The restaurant kept this dish moist and flavorful. We hadn’t had good salmon in a while, perhaps from poor selection of previous restaurants? The sides such as the dark pickled(?) vegetable on the lettuce were great compliments to the fish or with each other. The block of tofu was definitely meant for layering with one of the other ingredients because it basically tasted as if it came out of the little tub you buy from the market. I have no idea what the white flakes were but they were also strange and plain until mixed with the pickled veggies.

Just to try out new foods, we ordered one of their ‘pancake’ dishes called yaki mix (9.50), which had clams, fish, and pork and added the noodles (1.00). The website describes it as

“Japanese style savory pancakes. Served with aonori (green seaweed powder), katsuobushi (dried fish shavings), okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise.”

The food was strange-looking, like a lasagna with multiple layers of seafood and vegetables. The lightweight shavings would dance around with the rising heat. Visually, it was fascinating because of the life it seemed to have on its own. Taste-wise, it ranked low, with too many ingredients and an overall strangely goopy, sweet taste. We don’t even know how different it would be without the noodles. Unless you’ve ordred this type of food before and like it, then this taste may be a bit out there for you.