Ajito

Last night was my first time experiencing what the hype was all about.

I must say every thing was on point with seasoning and temperature of the food.

The Beef Tongue Stew stood out the most because it was extremely tender and tasty.

The chicken curry was yummy as well and the naan came out warm with my dish.

The skewers full of its juices and sweet sauce topping melted soo good.

Scallop skewer was very tender and not over cooked.

The chicken heart was hands down the best I've ever had in my life. Ordered without sauce.

Yaki Udon had a unique smell and flavor, even the table next to me said it smelled good. The bonito flakes gave the dish a nice touch of flavor.

Finally got to try the chicken ball skewer and grilled beef tongue this time around. Both are good with togarashi pepper on top also.

I also ordered my first favorites when I came in here and this establishment is consistent with their dishes. Loved it!

Came by for lunch and it was a tasty experience. Parking is plentiful in the private strip mall or on the residential street.

Ajito features daily bentos which they post on their Facebook and Instagram.

The restaurant offers indoor dining only and many of the tables have some sort of privacy when dining. The dining room is on the darker side. The restaurant does seem to have their fair share of take-out orders.

Started off with the California roll with real crab. The real crab was a game changer along with the ripe avocado and flavorful sushi rice.

The combination fries consisted of a couple of fried shrimp, a fried fish, a fried potato croquette, a few chicken karaage along with a couple fried oysters. This was all placed on top of a small bed of vegetables including cabbage and broccoli. The cominbation fries came with a couple dipping sauces. My favorite was their chicken karaage which was very fresh and flavorful.

Service from the staff was efficient and quick.

$23/head after tax and gratuity for lunch. Tipping options start at 15% post tax...

Cozy spot w lots of variety on their menu. Everything's ordered on an iPad (including water) so you don't really interact with staff aside from being seated, served food, and getting the bill on a machine handed to you at the table while some dishes are cleared and takeout boxes given.

Easily the best value on the menu:
DAILY SPECIAL - KAISEN BENTO 31.99
Assorted Sashimi over Sushi Rice, Salad, Rice, Fruits
-- the sushi was really fresh, great spread including uni! (all yummy cuts of fish choices without any mercury-laden ahi tuna that everyone dislikes in regular sushi combos lol)


APPETIZER 一品

TAKOWASA タコワサ 5.99
Raw octopus with wasabi sauce
-- pretty standard, good portion size

TAKOYAKI (6) たこ焼き 9.99
Octopus balls
-- octopus inside is nicely chewy

ANKIMO あん肝 9.99
Monkfish liver pate
-- great flavor

KUROBUTA SAUSAGE (5) 黒豚ソーセージ 12.99
Pork sausage
-- these were really nicely cooked, perfectly crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. served with grain mustard.


SIDE DISHES 単品

Grilled sliced beef tongue 牛タンスライスー 12.99
-- some slices were kinda sinewy but otherwise pretty standard, good amount.

FRIED DISHES 揚げ物

AGEDASHI TOFU (6) 揚げ出し豆腐 9.99
Deep fried tofu with fish dashi based sauce
-- standard staple

RICE & NOODLES

MENTAI UDON 明太うどん 15.99
Spicy Cod Roe Creamy Udon
-- interesting, sauce was creamy and delicious

DESSERT

Mitarashi Dango 笹みたらし団子（1 stick, 4 pcs）4.50
traditional rice flour dumplings (dango) that are skewered onto sticks and are covered with a sweet soy sauce glaze

Kinako Warabimochi 蕨餅
a wagashi (Japanese confection) made from warabiko (bracken starch) and covered or dipped in kinako (sweet toasted soybean flour).

Docking 1-star bc they will charge you $2.50 for lemon wedges for your water if you order it lol otherwise that sushi bento box alone is one of the best values in the area for the quality of fish!

First off, my wife says it's 5 stars! It was her bday and they prepared our cake for us along with a mochi ice cream dessert. Wifey said her Kaisen bento was one of the best bentos she's had in all of the Bay Area. Their fish is fresh with good variety, meaty cuts that melts in your mouth and a pretty generous portion for $32. I love how they add the potato croquette to mix things up.

Here''s a quick summary of our experience here:

+ Kaisen bento is a must order for its overall excellence and value at $32 (5/5)
+ Salmon sashimi is fresh and decent portioned for a la carte at $15 (4/5)
+ Daily specials are complete 2-3 main items in a bento meal $22 but for me had one of the items taste subpar (4/5)
+ Gyutan is thinly sliced beef tongue appetizer served with a minced ginger spread that you'll down pretty quickly for about $14 (4/5)

- Beef steak dish was a bit well done but has a nice sauce where I would dip the Gyutan slices.
- Restaurant is small just like you're in Japan.
- Amazing service but I wish each table gets a couple of their tablets to make ordering quicker.

My wife says we're coming back. I won't complain, but I'm ordering the Kaisen bento next time!

Ajito has a quaint, tranquil atmosphere with a a chill Japanese decor. I was really looking forward to the Mentai Udon which boasts a creamy velvety texture that coats the perfectly cooked udon, though a tad more mentaiko wouldn't hurt. The generous portion Chicken Karaage with light and crispy revealing tender, juicy chicken beneath. Great place for cooked Japanese food like bento boxes, udon, and noodles, but not really a sushi place.

An unassuming spot in a fairly empty strip mall is quite the unexpected dining surprise!

Food is delicious and fresh. We got the beef tongue, agedashi tofu, salmon & avocado salad, nigiri combo and chicken wings. Would recommend all of them especially the beef tongue.

Daily specials are shown on placards when you first walk in, be sure to check them out!

Service is spotty, as the food was quick but other than that didn't really see anyone who worked here except for when the food was dropped off at the table.

Plenty of parking. Restaurant was clean and homey. We were there early and there were plenty of tables as well.

Service was good.

My Dad got the Saba - mackerel bento and I ordered the Unagi bento. We both enjoyed our lunch. Their miso soup was delicious!

Someone had a Yelp review on their sausages so I ordered that also. It was tasty and served with ketchup and mustard on the side.

Got sushi take out, and it was solid. Got the nagiri set for $75, which came with a nice variety of sushi that all tasted really good. Also got the salmon and hamachi don which came with a good amount of fish and rice. Would definitely come again when craving fish.

Cute authentically Japanese place with really good food! Quick service but they rarely came back to check on us. I wanted a lemon for my gyutan but I never saw anyone come back except for the check so I just ate it as is. The beef tongue was thin, slightly chewy, and absolutely delicious with a ginger green onion "sauce" on top. I originally thought it was daikon with something green added!

They typically have 3 specials of the day (~$22) so I went with the special C - gyutan (beef tongue) bento box with croquette! The croquette was also crispy and fluffy potato goodness but my mom's is better!

My friend seemed to really enjoy her hamachi kama!
Overall, happy and would come back to try other stuff too!

They also had a cute kids bento option!! Hello kitty or cat, I want to show my kids!

It's a quiet and authentic izakaya run by Japanese owners and staff. The service is super friendly and they've recently started allowing dine-in.

The izakaya has lots of small dishes options, and here are some of my favorites:

Pork Sausage: $12.55 for five sausages. They may be just sausages, but the taste is really amazing, nothing like the ones you find in supermarkets.

Grilled Cheese with Bread: The best dish on the menu! It's a cheese lover's dream, you definitely have to try it! It's incredibly delicious!

Amaebi Nigiri: $12.55 for two sweet shrimp nigiri with a fried shrimp head. Whenever I eat Japanese food, I always order this one.

Ikura Nigiri: $10.99 for two salmon roe nigiri. It has seaweed at the bottom, rice and fish roe on top, and it's served with cucumber. I really like this one!

Uni Nigiri: The sea urchin is quite fresh, and the price is not bad either!

Salmon Ikura Nigiri Combo: This combo includes salmon and fish roe nigiri. I order this every time I come here. I really like how they make the salmon sushi into a rectangular shape with a mint leaf in the middle, keeping it true to its original style.

Ribeye Steak with Garlic: It's actually pretty good, but the garlic flavor is just too intense.

Mocha Ice Cream: This one is absolutely amazing! It has mochi, red bean, ice cream on top, a waffle biscuit in the middle, and a generous amount of matcha powder at the bottom. I highly recommend it!

The average cost per person is around $70, but I didn't order any alcohol. Overall, it's a nice place to unwind and chat with friends after work.

I ordered online for pickup. Pretty easy to do, my order was ready when I got there 10 minutes earlier than the pickup time. They had just opened and weren't super crowded.

Ajito is located in a plaza so there was plenty of parking around. The front door is a bit nondescript, but they put a sign to indicate which is theirs.

I ordered the kaisen bento, which is huge! Packed with so much delicious and fresh food!

The croquette was great, veggies and fruit were fresh. Salad was refreshing. All the components of the chirashi were delicious. Shrimp was perfectly sweet, tamago had a great texture. Scallops were nice and fresh, everything melted in my mouth. I would absolutely return!