Last Tuesday was the Emperor's Birthday, and his birthday is a national holiday which is great. But what made that day even greater was that the governor of Ibaraki ended the state of emergency. I can finally go out! Cautiously of course, but I can at least go out to lunch. The wife had an idea of getting some delicious seafood and walking around Oarai sun beach since it would be sunny day. We asked a friend of ours who works in Oarai where we should go for delicious seafood. She told us without hesitation that we had to try Kajima, and she was coming with us.
Kajima
As we headed out to Oarai, the wife and I kept talking about what seafood we would get. She really wanted crab and I just wanted anything that was good. We picked up our friend in Hitachinaka and continued onto Oarai. It took a little while to find parking because that area of Oarai has a lot of seafood restaurants and everyone apparently had the same idea we did. When we got to the restaurant, the wife and I were surprised to see a line waiting outside of Kajima. "I guess this place is super popular" I thought. According to our friend, it isn't strange to have a line out the door of Kajima, especially during a holiday or weekend. I didn't mind waiting but our friend told us we were not going to wait. She had called ahead and made a reservation. I told her that I owe her a beer and in we went with no wait.
Looks New!
The restaurant looks really brand new inside. All the chairs and tables look like they were just made yesterday. But what really caught my attention was the ceiling. There was a skeleton of a boat on the ceiling and it looked really cool. I was already starting to like this restaurant. We got to our table and checked out the menu.
The Menu
As we looked at the menu, my wife explained to me that this place is famous for their 海鮮丼 Kaisen Don or seafood rice bowls. Which means it would be some type of raw fish, on top of rice, in a bowl. The menu contained a lot of seafood bowls but there was also fried seafood dishes and croquettes. Everything came in a set of soup and a small plate of vegetables. According to the menu, the most popular seafood bowl was the Kani Don or crab bowl, and from the picture it looked divine. The wife came for crab and that is what she was getting. I decided to splurge and order the most expensive bowl in the menu, the Kajima Don. It brought crab, maguro (tuna) and ikura (fish eggs). Our friend ordered a fried seafood set. We also ordered some fried calamari and a crab cream croquette.
Fried Seafood Set
My friend's fried seafood set came first. I wasn't able to try any of the fried seafood from my friend's plate but she assured me that it was delicious. The set brought miso soup with clams in it, rice, vegetables and a plate of fried seafood that included crab claws and a huge shrimp. Our friend let us know that the fried crab tasted fresh and that she really enjoyed her food. I hope I get to try it someday soon.
Fried Calamari
The fried calamari was the next plate to grace our table. I was in shock by how big each piece was. I am used to having a small onion ring looking fried calamari but this looked like huge pieces of fried chicken. The fried calamari came with tartar sauce and some lemon. I tried the calamari by itself first and really liked it. It was so soft and delicious, the fried part had that nice crispiness you would expect from anything fried. Then I tried it with the tartar sauce and I have to honestly say that I wasn't a fan of the sauce. It tasted just a bit watered down so I enjoyed my fried calamari without it.
Crab Cream Croquette
Next came the crab cream croquette. The wife and I split one and took our first bite. After the hot burning pain subsided in our mouth from that first bite, we decided to let it cool for a while. Once we felt it was safe to eat, we gave it another bite. Instead of our tongue burning, we got a really nice flavor of crab that tasted so amazing and fresh. This place doesn't skimp out on the crab either. There were big chunks of crab in that coquette. The wife and I both agreed that this coquette was pretty awesome and that we might get some to take home.
Kajima Don!!!
Up next was my bowl. When I looked at the bowl, it looked like a work of art. All the colors and perfectly arranged seafood. My hat is off to the cooks at Kajima. They really know how to present a seafood bowl. I was about to dig in but lucky my wife stopped me. There was a big ball of wasabi next to the crab claw that I didn't see. I took out the wasabi and put it into my small dish of soy sauce. I first tried the crab ad rice without the soy sauce and I loved it. Then, I poured a bit of soy sauce into the bowl and began my meal. I was in heaven the whole time. Everything tasted so fresh, like it was caught that day and it probably was. This place is right by the sea. The maguro was so soft and amazing. I made it a point to get a spoon full of rice, crab, maguro and ikura together. It was spectacular. I gave that same spoon full to the wife and she was quite amazed with how good the Kajima Don was.
Kani Don!!
Finally, we come to the restaurant's number one bowl, the kani don or crab bowl. This bowl came with fish eggs, negi and a lot of crab. It also came with some greyish kind of paste that my wife later explained was crab miso. When she tried her first spoon full of carb and rice, her eyes lit up and she did the Japanese "美味しいいいい" which translates to delicious. But she really dragged out the い part. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, Japanese people will expand the い in 美味しい, which lets you know it is really good. She let me try a spoon full for myself and I then understood why this bowl was number one. The crab was so fresh and flavorful, it didn't need any sauce of any kind on it. Then the wife let me try another spoon full but this time with the crab miso. Kajima's crab miso must be something that Poseidon himself made in his kitchen and bestowed onto Kajima, because the miso with the crab meat was magical. I loved my Kajima Don but the wife's Kani Don was on a whole other level. I bow in respect to the chefs of Kajima for their skills in handling crab.
After we finished our amazing seafood, we paid at the cashier and thanked the staff for the awesome seafood bowls. We also got some crab cream croquettes for the road which we would have later with our dinner that night. As we got outside, I had noticed that the line had gotten longer and that those waiting are in for a real treat.
I hope I can visit Kajima again, possibly in the summer when I hit up the beach to go swimming. Maybe I can get some take out and take my seafood bowls to our beach towel. Kajima actually has two locations. One location, which is where we went to, is the restaurant. The other Kajima is take out only, which is also located in Oarai. Either one you decide to visit will not be disappointing.
So if you are in the mood for some fresh delicious Kaisen Don, why don't you give Kajima a try. Who knows, you might see me there, enjoying their delicious crab bowl in one hand and their amazing crab cream croquette in the other.
Enjoy! For more information on Kajima, check out their website:
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