Tojo’s Kitchen — Restaurant in Paramus

The Garden State offers incredible food from every region of the world, and it has a large Asian population spread across the state (but more clustered in North Jersey).

Although sushi and ramen have made a name for themselves worldwide, there’s so much more to try in Japanese cuisine.

Located on the lower level by Neiman Marcus at the Garden State Plaza in Paramus, I attended the Elite event—Bites and Sweets at Tojo’s Kitchen—thanks to Sara and the Yelp team.

Upon entering this spacious, clean, and modern interior, we were warmly welcomed by the staff and sat at a table with our fellow participants, enjoying live music with Pete.

We enjoyed samplings of small savory bites such as Onigiri おにぎり (Japanese rice balls made of steamed rice that one compresses into a triangle), Asian Tacos, and Karaage (Fried Chicken). For desserts, there were Kakigori (Japanese Shaved Icea) and Japanese Crêpes. To wash them down, there were Sample Drinks Mango Cloud, Matcha Lemonade, and Oreo Milk, ending with the owner’s own sake brand. Thank you, Olive.

The meal was both authentic, traditional dishes that one would consume in a Japanese household and restaurants in Japan, which were tastefully delicious. Amongst the reviews, it seems that the Kaarage stood out the best, being moist and flavorful.

One of the highlights was finally meeting up with new fellow Yelpers and putting a face with others.

Tojo’s Kitchen continues to attract food lovers eager to explore the rich tapestry of Japanese flavors, which I...

12/22/23

Come in by the valet for Neiman Marcus, and the restaurant is right there...

The restaurant is a large space. It felt like it used to be a store that sold kitchens. LOL Service was excellent, she was helpful and attentive.

Takoyaki - is good, taste the octopus inside :)

Clam Shoyu - Delicious! So much flavor. Got a good number of clams :)

Black Garlic - always good!

11/16/23

Kyoho Grape Soda - the best grape soda I've ever had

Red Shiso Juice - light and refreshing

Japanese Style Calamari - crispy outside, they seasoned the flour which made it taste good with or without the dip. It was just a tad greasy.

Golden Yuzu Ramen - ordered something I've never had in ramen, yuzu. Unfortunately it did not turn out as good as it sounded... The yuzu egg was delicious, I wanted more! The smell of the chicken... roasted chicken is mouthwatering, fried chicken can be greasy but still mouthwatering, but boiled chicken is just something else... I didn't taste the yuzu, just boiled chicken. I think I just picked the wrong ramen, really should have gotten any of the pork ramens instead. Lesson learned and I will go back to try something else. Black Garlic and Clam Shoyu were my other choices so I will go back to try them. :)

2016 The Black Garlic Ramen was delicious!!! The only complaint is that the bowl was too small and only 1 small piece of pork for the price which even in NYC you can get a larger bowl and 2 pieces of pork. I would still go back just because I've never seen Black...

Starving from a harrowing day shopping with the family but terrified to brave the food courts in this era of Covid-19, we opted to try Tojo Kitchen. With bamboo stalks & Andon Lamps lining its entrance( inside the mall) the place looks pretty authentic.

The space is quite expansive especially now with social distancing being adopted throughput the restaurant. Tables were more than 6 feet apart. Most of the authentic deco is located at the entrance leaving rest of the restaurant kind of bare. Not sure if changes were made due to the pandemic.

Service was like most reviewers have mentioned – slow! Took over 30 minutes to get our appetizers and that’s after I told them I would be leaving in 10 minutes. Kitchen seemed to be a bit of disarray as a few tables weren’t getting all their orders at the same time. They could use some more help.. Servers seemed friendly though.

For our appetizers we ordered Pork Gyoza and the pork Buns. The Gyoza could’ve used more seasoning and was barely seared. The buns were fluffy and doughy but the accompanying pork, cucumber etc were ordinary. Starters were forgettable to be honest

For our ramen – I ordered the Black garlic ramen and my wife chose the red Spicy ramen. They were both disappointing. Broth was pretty tasteless, Fatty pork didn’t have the requisite smokiness. The wavy noodles and egg were cooked ok. Ultimately, not a ramen place I would try again considering the wealth of options in the...