Hongdae restaurant, spicy yakisoba better than Osaka's: Jojo Yeonnam

What kind of restaurant is Jojo Yeonnam Branch?

Jojo Yeonnam Branch is a teppan-style Japanese restaurant on the first floor of 255-1 Donggyo-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, sitting between Hongik University Station and Yeonnam-dong. You can reserve through Naver, and takeout and group bookings are both available.

Monjayaki is something I'd wanted to try for ages — even in Japan the timing never worked out, so I could only wonder what flavor was hiding behind that, uh, intense-looking dish.

This is the place that finally granted my monjayaki wish — let me introduce Jojo Yeonnam Branch, run by the teppan master from Culinary Class Wars 🍀

Inside Jojo Yeonnam Branch and the wait at 11:30 opening

This was only my second time trying a teppan-specialty restaurant, after one visit in Osaka! The place was clean, and I loved that every table has its own individual griddle.

It's famous enough as a Hongdae Japanese restaurant that I did an opening run and managed to be the very first customer seated haha. Right after we sat down, people started filing in one after another, and by the time we left the place was completely full — office workers from nearby and people out for a day in Hongdae, it seemed like all kinds of folks come here!

What we ordered: the monjayaki set for two, 39,500 won

• Monjayaki set for two ₩39,500 (mentaiko monjayaki, spicy yaki udon, waterfall potato)
• 📌 Review event: free Japanese oolong tea

Every table gets a special sauce, a spicy sauce, and mayonnaise — you drizzle or dip the monjayaki in them 🎵 The mayo cap took me a second, it doesn't twist off, you just pull it straight up (〃⌒▽⌒〃)ゝ

Mentaiko monjayaki cooked on the table griddle in front of us

The mentaiko monjayaki came out first, with mentaiko (marinated pollack roe), kirimochi (sliced rice cake), cabbage, and monjayaki batter mixed in. Mozzarella cheese came alongside it too!

The staff heat the griddle and cook it right in front of you — basically a live drum-show viewing.

It sizzles away on the griddle with a pretty mysterious look, doesn't it? No matter what angle I shot it from, it just never looked appetizing in photos ㅠㅠㅠ hahaha if anyone knows how to make this look delicious in a photo, please let me know...

The photos were disappointing but one bite and it's a savory, salty explosion of flavor — genuinely delicious. I totally get why people call this the monjayaki holy land of Yeonnam-dong and line up for it without hesitation.

Scraping it up bite by bite with the little griddle spatula was its own kind of fun — a must-do Yeonnam-dong date course at Jojo Yeonnam Branch.

Is Jojo's karai yakisoba better than yakisoba in Osaka?

The spicy yaki udon included in the set comes coated in a spicy sauce with real charred, flame-grilled aroma. One bite in and my eyes genuinely widened — look at that perfectly fried egg on top, it looks delicious just from the photo.

This suited my taste way more than the yakisoba I once waited an hour in line for in Osaka — a Hongdae Japanese restaurant worth it for this alone. Whenever you're craving a spicy-sweet noodle dish, order this without hesitation — it's the perfect sidekick to Yeonnam-dong's monjayaki.

Waterfall potato, the side that cools the spice down

Waterfall potato is soft potato salad topped with a soft-boiled egg. Dipping it in the yolk and onion flakes is absolute bliss ♡

A perfect combo for cooling down after a spicy bite of the yaki udon — the balance at this Hongdae Japanese restaurant is spot on 🎵

Great atmosphere, great food quality, full stop. Jojo Yeonnam Branch served up genuinely excellent teppan cooking, even better than what I had at the source — I ate really well here 🧡