Of all the fabulous places one can dine in the culinary rich San Francisco, I ate at the little hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant near my hotel – twice! As usual, I was totally craving the taste of home!
Dojima Ann, located a few blocks from the hustle and bustle of Union Square, is not just a little friendly Japanese noodle shop but an oasis for any Japanese or Japanese-food loving travelers tired of dining at fancy restaurants and just want simple, down-home cooking (the place was packed with those appeared to be Japanese tourists). What is so pleasantly surprising about this place is that despite its location, it offers many authentic, Osaka-style dishes that you would only expect in Asian enclave.
I ordered a bowl of Daikon Oroshi Udon, a cold udon noodle with grated Japanese radish, quail egg, fish cake, scallion and root vegetables (pictured above), served with dipping sauce, and a side of hamachi (yellowtail) cut roll to calm my Japanese food craving. (pictured below). They were both so darn tasty!
I guess you can take a girl out of Japan, but you can’t take Japanese food craving out of a girl.
Dojima Ann
★★★★☆
Lavender and OliVE 
Tania and I still haven’t found a ‘GOOD’ and ‘AUTHENTIC’ japanese restaurant here in Portland… and trust me it is not because the lack of trying, we tried different places probably twice a month… :)…. God!! I miss Wilshire and La Cienega Blvd…. haha
The udon noodle set looks so good and “comforting”.
It reminded me of that Japanese place at Bally’s in Vegas… there’s nothing like comfort foods away from home… especially with bad hangover 🙂
P.S. I’m glad for our comfy Japanese food… After my conquest with cheese, fried everything and meat… it’s nice to do a full circle and come back to the simple, natural, healthy Japanese food.
P.S.S. Do you think it’s possible to put a price range on your blog? Not like… do I dare say… RR’s “$40 a day”, but it’d be good to know if it’s a 5-star place or (good) hole in a wall that doesn’t break your wallet! I think it’d be a good addition to your already informative, insightful blog!
I hear you, Maya! It seems like Portland has a wonderful array of Pacific Northwest cuisines but surprisingly poor on Japanese food selections! You should really open a shabu shabu place and that will solve the problem 🙂 When are you visiting LA?
Hi Saori. Oh, putting the price range is a good idea! I’ll start doing that! Thanks!