Tajima Ramen East Village — Restaurant in San Diego

As locals who live just two blocks away, my friend and I have been regulars at Tajima Ramen for the past couple of months. We’ve always enjoyed the food and typically stop in about once a week. Unfortunately, our most recent visit on Friday, July 25th, between 8:30 pm and 9:10 pm, left a bad taste that had nothing to do with the food.

We arrived and asked to sit at the bar, which had only 2 out of 6 seats occupied. Surprisingly, we were told we needed to join a 15 minute waitlist. We didn’t receive any contact, so we returned about 25 minutes later. They then told us it would be just a 2 minute wait while they cleaned the bar. Still, only 3 people were seated. But no one cleaned the area. After another 15 minutes, nothing had changed.

We were a party of two, and it was honestly baffling how much effort it took just to be seated, especially at a mostly empty bar.

What made it harder to ignore was the context: the restaurant was packed with white and Asian Comic Con attendees, while we, two people of color who are usually treated fine during quiet weekday visits, were inexplicably delayed and overlooked.

We’ve supported this place regularly, but this experience made us feel unwelcome and invisible. Whether it was a one-off or not, we won’t be coming back. I used to ignore the roaches they have, but now, no point in giving them grace. Disappointed is an...

First off their handrolls are bommmmb!👌🏽🔥🍣. I def enjoyed my spicy tuna- I got two. They had a HH special for the day (Monday) which was the mushroom tempura. I really love mushrooms an tempura but this was a no-go for me. They tasted super greasy but $4 and pretty plating. I should have just ordered 3 handrolls lol.

Drinks: I ordered their Apple Pie Cider which was like 6.5% alcohol or so and tasted suuuper good! Really tasted like an Apple Pie w spices. I was very impressed w their drink menu which was full of different beers and ciders they had sake too. Which is also on HH but different days.

Ramen: so, I don’t eat pork and it’s hard to find ramen that’s not pork based or have pieces of pork. I came here because not only did they have chicken ramen, but creamy chicken. Their ramen also came with stuff I like inside that I didn’t have to pay extra for: corn and egg and spinach/greens. The noodles were great, chicken tasted good and nicely grilled, and the broth was amazing. This ramen was so good and made me happy! Pretty delicious and I would come back.

Only bad thing I have to say is that kind of takes a while for someone to check on you despite how small it was. You have to ask for straws also now in California and I had to kind of wave and flag them down to keep ordering stuff but other than that...

It’s definitely nice to have a ramen spot in East Village and the location is close enough to the Gaslamp, but distanced enough to give you some peace from the hectic crowds. I’ve eaten here many times over the years, and have not had any issues with finding street parking. It’s unfortunate the adjacent streets are riddled with so many homeless people, but they stay on the other side of the street. The interior is charmingly decorated and cozy, much preferred to the other Tajima locations.

Service here is overall good, but not as good as it used to be pre-pandemic. The ramen is pretty good, but the temperature of the soup is inconsistent. There have been times where it’s nice and hot, but sometimes it’s like warm. No ramen is enjoyable when the broth isn’t hot. My usual go to is the original Tonkotsu ramen, which they’ve now named: Tajima Ramen ‘23. My partner ordered the Creamy Chicken Ramen, which is pretty good considering it’s chicken broth based. The noodles have a good bounce and bite to them. I always order a Chili Bomb to accompany my ramen for that lovely kick of spiciness. Chicken Karage is usually a fave of mine, but the Karage here is just alright. Its seasoning is on the light side and the spicy mayo is bland.

Overall a decent ramen restaurant that you can always get a quick...