World Food Tour: Hajime Restaurant and Bar in St. Cloud

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- There are a lot of food options in the St. Cloud metro area from chain restaurants, to fast food choices, to locally owned eateries.

However, even with all of these choices, humans are creatures of habit we tend to go to the places we know that are familiar to us.

That's why I have decided to embark on a "World Food Tour" throughout 2024. I have set two very basic rules for myself:

#1). The restaurant has to be in the greater St. Cloud metro area
#2). I can't repeat a country

Every couple of weeks or so I plan to go out and try something new. So far I've come up with about 14 different restaurant options that fit into my criteria, but of course, I'll be taking recommendations from anyone who knows of a place serving amazing ethnic food that you think I need to check out.

Photo by WJON.com's Jim Maurice

I have kicked off my "World Food Tour" by dining at Hajime Restaurant and Bar in St. Cloud. You can find it at 4170 West Division Street.

The restaurant specializes in Japanese food and has become widely known for its sushi offerings. Our server explained they have people who come from as far away as Alexandria specifically to eat their sushi.

Even though they've been open for about 10 years now, this was my first visit to the restaurant. I've avoided them because I'm not big on sushi, or at least I don't think I am I don't remember ever having it.

Photo by WJON.com's Jim Maurice

What I did find is that they have a lot of other offerings of traditional Japanese dishes on their menu as well. We ordered wontons as an appetizer followed by our entrees of chicken hibachi and chicken teriyaki.

Everything tasted great and the presentation of the dishes was amazing.

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Photo by WJON.com's Im Maurice

The staff was also very helpful. I explained to them that I had never been there before and they walked us through the food options. They also suggested trying the California sushi roll the next time I stop in, calling it sort of the starter sushi.

I've got many more unique ethnic food experiences to try throughout the year, and I'm looking forward to digging in. Stay tuned as I blog my food experiences in 2024.