The new Tajima Ramen, North Park

A few weeks ago I met up with childhood friend at a craft fair where she was a vendor...

I killed some time doing morning errands and happened to see this new ramen outpost near one of my favorite coffee shops...

I'd never been to any of the other locations of Tajima; this happened to be the newest one, called Tajima Ramen North Park, even though yelp lists both North Park and University Heights as the neighborhood.  I  kind of felt like a loser eating alone, ha ha.  But hey, I swallowed my pride and went on in.

Nice art deco flourishes on this historic building. This used to be an older neighborhood market.

The space inside is long with tall ceilings. Very industrial feel in here with a red bar serving as a focal point.

I ordered the Taji Ramen with added corn (($11 + 1):

Togarashi and soy sauce...

I was also asked if I wanted "thick" or "thin" noodles. I didn't know that they had thick. For the record, I chose thin.  I liked my ramen but the pork slice in here were on the dried out side. I've had better slices of pork, let's say that much.


Again, I've not had ramen from their other sites so had nothing to compare this to. I thought it was decent but a bit on the salty side. The pork was not as tender as I hoped it would be.


The weekend after my last work week was spent with my good friend D. After viewing the Prince mural in Barrio Logan, this is where we headed for lunch. This time, I had a lunch companion unlike my last solitary lunch here.

Now for the bottom half of the menu. We chose a few appetizers plus another ramen - karaage and takoyaki.




Of the two, we liked the chicken karaage much better. The fried pieces were not dry (believe me, some places can really mess this up) and were juicy and tender.  Sadly, the takoyaki was not that great. It was mushy inside and rather unpleasant. We ate only one, saved the rest, but then forgot it was in the fridge so it ended up getting tossed later.

Our shared ramen, tonkotsu with pork. Thin noodles again. And again, dried out pork.  Is this how it's supposed to be? I don't think so.  The broth was so rich and flavorful.   I am more into eating the noodles and accompaniments than into drinking the broth.



I can cross that off my list I guess. Would I go out of my way to go to the other locations? Probably not.  It's funny how certain foods that weren't even on the mainstream radar are now all over the place. Foods like poke and ramen most especially.  I wonder if it'll reach critical mass and then go downhill?

Tajima North Park
3015 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116
(619) 756-7517

tajimasandiego.com + reviews from that four lettered site

The ramen was all right but the takoyaki sucked octopus ballz.  My sis and son #2 (aka TC's "twin")  is curious about this new location so perhaps there may be another revisit in the future.