Growing up, my dad (and his parents) were obsessed (obsessed!) with chinese food. As such, we were convoy regulars. He loved hitting up all the hole in the wall restaurants… because, hello? Convoy. It’s literally the one place in san diego you want to go for the most authentic asian cuisine. Always has been. Still is.

So y’all know… if we’re going traditional, we’re hitting up the convoy area.

Which is where you will find our current ramen obsession… tajima.

Seriously, there is nothing not to love. And if you don’t want to hit up the convoy area, there are 5 more locations through out san diego.

We started out wiht the house cold sake… got to be honest. Despite being the dryest on the menu, it was still a little too sweet for me. But for those of you who love sweet, you don’t have to have it plain, you can also add in fruit flavors to up the sweetness.

But still, there is something to be said about any japanese meal starting with sake. It just makes it feel like a meal, and I’m still ordering it every time I go. Kanpai.

We had to start out with the crispy rice bites. They were new to the menu, and highly recomended.

Here’s the deal. Crispy rice bites are probably some of my favorite bites ever. Always gonna order them. Always.

What was so unique about this iteration was the inclusion of avocado. The unexpeceted creaminess just added the perfect flavor and texture to the bite. Clearly something I’m gonna add in when I make them at home from now on!

Hi, it’s me, I’m the problem. It’s me… the fry eater. Always ordering the fries. Always.

And we absolutely loved the deconstruction of the pork ramen bowl, on top of fries… ‘cause who wouldn’t want those flavors on top of fries.

It was almost a japenese version of poutine, crossed with okonomiyaki fries, and then turned over on its head. All equaling the perfect loaded fries.

Yes, you need to order these.

Do I really need to say anything here? Except that to emphasize that a restaraunt with excellent food is even better when it offers stone ipa for jamie’s happiness. Seriously… his happy place.

You guys… when tempura batter is fried right, it’s fried right. And this was fried right. Super cripsy. Not over cooked, light and not oily… everything you would want. I wish the brussels were a little more al dente (personal preference)… but that didn’t stop me from devouring them. They were just that good.

Also, a fun surprise was that the house butter sauce? Had a kick. So you got some spice along with unquious flavor.

And, also, when we took our leftovers home, avy ate them all without leaving a single sprout for us… so you know they be some good brussels.

So there are several different types of tajima tacos… carnitas, karage, salmon, tofu, chicken. We defintely wanted to try one.. because, hello, bao bun. My fav.

We ended up asking our server to pick, and she recommended the carnitas… and then said she was ordering it with the sweat and sour sauce, because it was better than the original.

Pro tip: order the carnitas taco and ask for the sweat and sour sauce. No joke. Mic drop.

And now… I just want to go back and order each and every one of the tacos to try them in all their different iterations…

You know when you have something a whole lot; and then you stop. And then it’s been years. And then it’s almost as if your rediscover how good it was and what you’ve been missing?

That’s how it was for me and these wontons. I haven’t had cream cheese wontons in years… but I used to saturate myself in them. But then I had one too many bad experiences with over cooked wonton wrappers and less than fresh cream cheese. Just over it.

So I suprised myself when we ordered these. But man, am I so glad I did. They were perfect. Not oily. Not overly fried. The cream cheese was fresh and perfectly seasoned.

The only negative? We took the leftovers home to reheat in the airfryer, and avy ate them all before we even got to the fridge. She’d never had cream cheese wontons before… but is now asking where, when, and how often we can order them. Tajima, setting the bar high.

Perfect hazy. Love a beer that pairs well with sake. And all the foods. Don’t want anything too strong, because we want the food to shine.

First of all, who doesn’t love fried rice. And second, this isn’t your standard fried rice. We’ve got full pieces of chicken breast, big pieces of bok choy, and the freaking chili crisp. Like seriously… why haven’t we been serving fried rice with fried chili oil forever? I literally can’t emphasise enough how good this fried rice is, and how different it feels from the standard fare… in such a good way.

So, I seriously don’t think you can go to tajima, without trying their traditional broth/ramen bowl. We elected to try the black garlic broth version… could totally bathe in the broth.

The noodles were amazing, the vegetables perfectly cooked and not mushy, clearly they were not soaking in broth all day. It was the perfect balance of textures. The egg yolk was perfectly jammy; the noodles cooked but not overly so, and the pork belly was easily “cut” with a spoon.

It’s only been a few weeks, and we can’t wait to go back.