Michele L.
Yelp
Tada Ramen & Yakitori seems to be relatively new based on the number of reviews on Yelp. It's a pretty small, but cute restaurant. It's got a little bar seating area that fits 3-4 people. The rest of the restaurant probably has around 10-12 small tables that can be converted to medium size tables for parties of 3-4 people. Not a whole lot of space, but decent sizing. Decorations are cute, especially the various lanterns and cat posters (love!).
We checked in maybe around 6:30ish on a Friday. Tables were 80% filled up, but no wait. There was only one waitress managing all tables, but very efficient, friendly, and quick. The one thing I noticed right off the bat was that small tables weren't spaced apart enough. You can barely squeeze in-between the tables to get into the inner seat. But I suppose it does make it easier to convert small tables to bigger tables for larger parties without creating too much of a disturbance.
Between the two of us, we ordered:
1) Grilled Corn Cob - this would have been great, but the menu didn't mention anything about Parmesan cheese sprinkled on it. I wish they mentioned that on the menu for people who do not eat dairy products, but the description only says "spice seasoning". The smell of cheese for me is a little off-putting. I smelled it before I noticed where it was coming from. I ended up finishing the one I started, but the rest was all for my partner as I usually avoid dairy products.
2) Heart (Yakitori) - I thought portion wise was pretty good for price, and while it was not bad, it was a tad too much sauce. I generally prefer just a bit of seasoning I suppose.
3) Combo (Yakitori) - I thought this was a 3 in 1 deal sorta thing, but I only really liked the Unagi of the three ingredients here. The shrimp was a tad overcooked. A little bit of a tougher bite to it. Not tender enough. The scallop was soft, but somewhat bland. I think it lacks that super fresh taste to it. It just wasn't that impressionable. The Unagi though? That was a delicious bite. Soft and juicy.
4) Eggplant (Yakitori) - My favorite! I am a little biased towards vegetables. They can be made so simply and deliciously sometimes and this one was great! Grilled until soft, and it retained it's juiciness!
5) Cha Shu Bowl (my entree) - Hmm, I have mixed feelings about this one. The good parts about this bowl was that they're quite generous with their portions. Four pieces of large Cha Shu. Lots of seaweed salad and salad mix, and egg was perfectly made. Sauce was just enough so that it's not too saucy when mixed, but gives enough flavor. I liked that the Cha Shu wasn't too fatty. A good proportion of fat and lean meat. Buttttttt I just didn't think the ingredients mixed well all together. The sauce goes well with the rice, but the salad itself was bland (I don't think I noticed any dressing, but if there was, I missed it). The seaweed salad by itself is pretty good, but it just doesn't quite mix with anything else in the bowl. It's almost like a Poke Bowl, but not quite either. I'm not sure I really enjoyed my entree. It just seemed like aside from the Cha Shu everything else is simply placed there.
6) My partner got the Yuzu Ramen. He said it was not bad, but doesn't particularly stand out as amazing either.
7) Edamame - Free appetizer with Yelp check-in! We love edamame, so this was a plus for us. It's made perfectly too. Not too soft, but has a nice soft crunch to it. Again, very generous portion wise.
I would give Tada Ramen a 3.5 star. I think portion sizing is great here and some menu items are solid. Service was amazing, attentive, and fast. I'm amazed at the waitress, honestly. Unfortunately, what counted against this was the overall experience. At some point during our meal, a couple got seated next to us and one of the them had a bit of a disagreement with the waitress. Something about their mochi not being cooked correctly, and about being gaslighted. It was a bit uncomfortable since we weren't even seated more than two feet apart I would say. It's an intimate setting, but too close for my comfort to other parties. Food was alright. They have a good amount of selection and variety, but the things we got just didn't quite hit the spot for us. We drove a bit of ways to try this place, so although it won't be worth our drive again, it may just be worth yours. Who knows. We might give this place another go if we're around town.