Yeonnam-dong teppanyaki restaurant for a weekend date: Jojo Yeonnam

What is Jojo Yeonnam Branch like?

Jojo Yeonnam Branch (죠죠 연남점) is a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant in Yeonnam-dong known for tasty yakisoba and monjayaki. It is open daily from 11:30 to 22:00, and there is no parking.

I went on a Yeonnam-dong date with my boyfriend over the weekend. I wanted yakisoba, so I looked for a teppanyaki place and ended up at Jojo Yeonnam Branch, which is often recommended as a Japanese restaurant in Yeonnam. It's fairly close to Hongik Univ. Station, so it's easy to get to!

What are the atmosphere and seating like?

The restaurant has wood-tone interiors and soft lighting, so it feels cozy. We sat at a bar table looking out the window and the mood was so, so good! 👍🏻👍🏻

The menu and the monjayaki set for two we ordered

The menu has monjayaki, okonomiyaki (savory Japanese pancake) and yakisoba (fried noodles), plus lots of other teppan dishes and sides, and there are set menus too, which I liked. We came for the yakisoba, but Jojo seems famous for its monjayaki as well!

I'd never heard of monjayaki, so I looked it up~!

Monjayaki: a Tokyo specialty made by topping a thin flour batter with vegetables, seafood, cheese, mentaiko (seasoned pollock roe) and more, then cooking it on a griddle until it sticks and crisps.

So it's a Tokyo griddle dish that you let stick to the pan and scrape up to eat. I was so curious about this unfamiliar food! The menu was so varied that I agonized for a long time, then we ordered the monjayaki set for two, which includes monjayaki, yakisoba and the waterfall potato I'd seen all over social media, plus a grapefruit ade!!

Eating teppanyaki while looking out the window~ the mood is just so good, right? 💗 It was neat and fun that they gave us mini spatulas as cutlery haha

How do the waterfall potato and grapefruit ade taste?

The first things out at Jojo Yeonnam Branch were the waterfall potato and the grapefruit ade. The waterfall potato was cold potato salad topped with a poached egg, and the combination was pretty good! It was perfect as an appetizer.

The grapefruit ade wasn't too sweet and was delicious 👍🏻 I really should have had a highball or a beer, and I'm so sad I couldn't because I'd brought my car T_T!

How was the yakisoba at Jojo Yeonnam Branch?

The yakisoba had glossy noodles evenly coated in sauce, and it looked so appetizing. The noodles were springy with a great texture, and the seafood was fresh, so I really enjoyed it.

The yakisoba came in a separate bowl. It seems that if you don't order monjayaki, okonomiyaki and other dishes are put on the griddle for you. I wanted to try the okonomiyaki too and was so sad I couldn't 🥹

Do staff grill the monjayaki for you? How do you eat it?

At Jojo Yeonnam Branch, a staff member made the monjayaki right at our seat and kindly explained how to eat it. So even first-timers can enjoy it without trouble.

Watching the monjayaki being made was fun in itself, and it turned an ordinary evening into a more enjoyable, tastier date!

The look was a little unfamiliar, but when I pressed it down to crisp up and scraped it as instructed, the crunchy texture made it feel like eating okonomiyaki fried rice!

Mentaiko monjayaki: what if you don't like mentaiko?

The mozzarella cheese in the monjayaki, plus grilling cheese placed here and there, added a nutty richness. But the mentaiko flavor was strong, and as someone who doesn't eat mentaiko well, I found the taste a bit odd. My boyfriend ate it happily! Next time I want to try the squid ink monjayaki!

Jojo special sauce or fire sauce: which goes better?

Jojo Yeonnam Branch also has Jojo special sauce and fire sauce, and both paired decently with the monjayaki. I think the Jojo special sauce suited it better~

Do I recommend Jojo Yeonnam Branch for a Yeonnam or Hongdae date?

If you're looking for a Japanese restaurant in Yeonnam or a date spot around Yeonnam and Hongik Univ., I highly recommend Jojo Yeonnam Branch! What I liked most was that the griddle on the table kept the food warm to the very end, and the staff were so kind!!

I'd been longing for a trip to Japan lately, and at Jojo Yeonnam Branch I could enjoy teppanyaki with a local Japanese feel~! I especially recommend a highball at the window seat. The view is so good~!

• Recommended combo: okonomiyaki + yakisoba + waterfall potato
• Recommended seat: the window bar table with a view outside
• If you drive, you can't have a highball or beer, so keep that in mind