Hongdae restaurant, 15-minute wait for a 3-person set: Jojo Yeonnam

Hi everyone, today's post is about Jojo in Yeonnam-dong! I was out playing around Yeonnam-dong with friends and we were trying to figure out dinner, when I suddenly got a craving for okonomiyaki haha (I'm generally a fan of teppanyaki...). So I looked up good okonomiyaki spots in Yeonnam-dong and decided on Jojo!

Since it's a teppanyaki specialty restaurant, the second we walked in it really felt like a teppanyaki place. In the end, everything was solidly tasty across the board, and we even ended up loving a dish we didn't expect much from haha.

Inside Jojo Yeonnam Branch and the 8pm weeknight wait

We got there a bit after 8pm on a weekday, past the usual dinner rush, so I figured we'd walk right in. But surprisingly, there was a wait...🥲 Thankfully we only waited about 15 minutes before getting in. After we sat down, tables seemed to turn over pretty quickly. I guess since it was a bit past peak dinner time, seats kept opening up as people left.

Jojo has a mix of seating — bar seats, window seats, table seats — and each spot has its own teppan grill built in. So the second you sit down, there's a grill right in front of you, and honestly the atmosphere from that was better than I expected. The moment you walk in you just know: today's a teppanyaki day lol.

Every table has special sauce, mayo sauce, and fire sauce, so you can really go to town. Personally I loved the fire sauce haha. True to its Yeonnam-dong location, the whole vibe was casual and easy — a good spot to come eat comfortably with friends.

What comes in the 52,000-won signature set for three

Since it's a set that lets you try a bunch of dishes at once, I looked at the menu and immediately went for the signature 3-person set haha. When we ordered, they handed us a little paper and pen and asked us to write a nickname. Okonomiyaki has cabbage in it, so it's basically a diet food right (^^)

• Signature 3-person set (₩52,000) — okonomiyaki + yakisoba + donpeyaki + volcano potato
• Drinks (₩3,000) x2

Donpeyaki: the surprise favorite of the night

The surprise discovery of the day was donpeyaki! Honestly, I'd never even heard of donpeyaki before, but it turned out way better than expected. Then again... an egg roll stuffed with pork belly really can't be bad. We were hungry and it came out as the appetizer, so it disappeared instantly lol.

The savory pork belly paired with the soft, fluffy egg made for a combo that worked way better than I expected! Honestly I enjoyed the donpeyaki almost as much as the okonomiyaki 🫶🏻

Volcano potato: the side that resets your palate

Next up was the volcano potato that came with the set. This was exactly the style of potato salad I already love, so it was great haha. The pepper, the egg yolk, the potato, and the crispy bits underneath all came together nicely lol.

It wasn't a super distinctive flavor, more of a savory, soft potato-salad feel, so it was nice to pick at little by little in between. When you're eating teppanyaki, the flavors can start to blend together, so having a side like this to switch things up was a nice touch!

Spicy karai yakisoba: how hot is it really?

And then the spicy yakisoba showed up~! Break the egg yolk and dig in properly. I was a little worried since it's called "spicy" yakisoba, but it wasn't actually all that spicy! It fit right in as a teppanyaki dish, and switching back and forth with the okonomiyaki kept things from getting repetitive~!

Okonomiyaki and the little nickname flag

And of course, the dish I was most looking forward to was the okonomiyaki. Overall it was solidly good, nothing to complain about.

If you flip over that little flag on top, there's the nickname we wrote earlier. Pretty cute haha.

It wasn't an overly bold or intense flavor, just a comfortable dish that's great for sharing bits and pieces with friends. I liked dipping mine in the fire sauce!

The downside: the signature set skips the tableside grilling

There was one thing that left me a little disappointed, though. Since it's a teppanyaki specialty restaurant, I honestly assumed the food would come out and get grilled right in front of us on the tabletop grill, sizzling away. But the signature 3-person set we ordered actually comes out already fully cooked. With the grill sitting right there, I just assumed it'd be cooked on the spot, so that part was a bit of a letdown...

Looking over at the table right next to us, though, I saw them grilling monjayaki right on the teppan. Watching that suddenly made it look so good. We should've ordered monjayaki too! Small regret there ^_ㅠ So if I come back to Jojo Yeonnam again, I want to try the monjayaki instead of the signature set next time. Something made fresh right on the grill just seems like it'd taste even better haha.

Still, thanks to the signature 3-person set, we got to try okonomiyaki, yakisoba, donpeyaki, and volcano potato all in one go, so overall I was satisfied! And I later found out that Jojo's owner is actually the teppan master who appeared on Culinary Class Wars haha. Finding that out after visiting made me even happier that we came 🥹

Jojo Yeonnam Branch: hours, address and directions

• 📍 Address: Yeonnam-dong 229-51, Mapo-gu, Seoul / about a 5-minute walk from Exit 3, Hongik University Station
• ⏰ Hours: Daily 11:30-22:00 (break time 15:20-17:00)
• 🚗 No parking (use the nearby Yeonnam public parking lot)
• 🍽️ Signature dishes: okonomiyaki, yakisoba, monjayaki
• 💳 Total paid: ₩58,000 for 3 people
• ✔️ Reservations available via Naver Reservation

Given that there was still a wait even past peak dinner hours, it seems like a genuinely popular spot in Yeonnam-dong. I'd recommend booking ahead if you can! That said, we did notice seats opening up steadily after we got in, so if you visit really late in the evening you might get seated faster than you'd think :)

Would I go back to Jojo Yeonnam Branch?

Overall, everything at Jojo in Yeonnam-dong was solidly tasty! It's not the kind of flavor that's going to blow your mind or stick with you forever, but it's a really convenient place to visit with friends when you're hanging out in Yeonnam-dong and craving okonomiyaki or teppanyaki.

Next time I'd love to order and include the monjayaki! If you're ever in Yeonnam-dong craving Japanese-style teppanyaki, Jojo Yeonnam Branch is worth checking out ✨ If it's your first visit, I'd recommend the signature set so you can sample a bit of everything 🤍