Guro izakaya for second-round soju and Hiroshima okonomiyaki: Hoyo

I'd already visited this place 3-4 times before, paying out of my own pocket.

Today I want to introduce a place that's perfect for those moments after finishing a solid first meal with friends after work — when you're full but still want one more drink with something delicious to nibble on to shake off the lingering craving. That's Hoyo, a teppan-grill izakaya near Guro Digital Complex Station, specifically their Gudi Branch. It's long been famous as a teppan-grill specialist with great atmosphere, and I'd already been a few times, but I took this chance to go again.

What's the vibe at Hoyo Gudi Branch, and how are the counter seats?

Hoyo Gudi Branch is a calm izakaya with wood-toned interiors and soft lighting. The warm, composed atmosphere that hits you the moment you walk in immediately caught my attention. Unlike your typical loud, chaotic bars, the seating here is spaced generously, making it an ideal Guro restaurant izakaya for having deep conversations with your group. Inside, the bar-style counter seats (called dachi-seats) and regular tables are neatly separated, and sitting at the counter is a huge draw because you get a front-row view of the chef's flashy cooking performance on the massive teppan grill right in front of you.

Word has already spread among nearby office workers that this is a great spot to blow off steam after work, thanks to the quality of the food and the emotional atmosphere of the space — popular enough that waits happen frequently even on weekday evenings. The moment you walk in, the whole place is filled with the cheerful sizzle of ingredients cooking on the teppan and a savory, appetite-stirring aroma, building up genuine anticipation — a true Guro Digital Complex restaurant izakaya.

Menu and drink lineup at Hoyo Gudi Branch

Flipping through Hoyo's menu, you'll find a rich, thoughtfully-put-together lineup of Japanese-style bar snacks. Of course there's the signature teppan-grilled okonomiyaki, plus chop steak using juicy chuck flap or skirt steak grilled just right, soft and moist beef tataki, Nagasaki champon with excellent broth, and various types of fresh aged sashimi — a powerful lineup that pairs well no matter what you're drinking. The drink list is just as impressive: as a highball specialist, they carry a wide range including Suntory and Jim Beam highballs, sake, premium spirits, and cold draft beer, making it fun to pick something that suits your taste — a real Guro Digital Complex restaurant izakaya.

But among the many menu items, there's one must-order dish you absolutely cannot skip if you come here: the okonomiyaki, cooked to order right on the teppan the moment you order it. Since we'd already eaten meat at our first stop and were pretty full by round two, we decided to skip ordering a bunch of things and just focus lightly on this one star menu item to go with our drinks. We wanted to try the sake too, but it wasn't really our taste, so we passed.

This came out as a basic side dish. I think it's soft tofu, and it was delicious.

How's Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki different from the Osaka style?

Hoyo Gudi Branch's okonomiyaki is the Hiroshima style, built by layering ingredients on the grill. The okonomiyaki we usually see at Korean izakayas is Osaka-style (Kansai-style), where all the ingredients are mixed into the batter together and grilled thick, like a Korean savory pancake (jeon). But Hoyo's Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is completely different from the cooking method up. A thin crepe-like flour batter is laid down on the teppan as the base, then piled high like a mountain with cabbage, bean sprouts, thin pork belly, and chewy soba noodles for texture, all stacked and grilled tower-style in the authentic 'layered grilling' method.

I was on my way to the bathroom when they said they'd show us a fire show for our dish, so I watched, but the timing was off for photos, so I only managed to catch the finished, fully-cooked ingredients instead of the flames.

The subtle, deep sweetness of the cabbage — steamed under a lid — and the crisp, chewy texture of the soba noodles seared on the hot grill create an incredible contrast in your mouth. At the end, a thin egg sheet wraps everything gently, topped generously with the sweet-and-savory house sauce, savory mayo, and dancing bonito flakes delivering an explosive umami finish — all I could say was that it was the best. Even though we came for round two on a full stomach, it was so good I simply couldn't put my chopsticks down.

Pairing with soju and draft beer

When your mouth is full of crisp vegetable juice and chewy noodles, knocking back a clean glass of Jinro soju with its appealing alcohol aroma creates the perfect marriage that melts your stress away. The salty, hearty sauce flavor also pairs perfectly with a crisp, cold draft beer — with just this one dish, the drinks flowed like magic.

I pulled off a piece to bring over. Compared to thin-style okonomiyaki elsewhere, the one here is packed full inside.

This was a complimentary side dish. I think it was some kind of chicken dish — it was delicious, but I don't know the name.

Why I recommend Hoyo Gudi Branch as a round-two hideaway

Even though this was a light second round of drinks after already filling up, the top-quality teppan food and cozy conversation-friendly atmosphere gave me a genuinely healing sense of relief from the day's fatigue. If you want to enjoy a flashy teppan cooking performance with your eyes and mouth at the same time, or if you're looking for a hideaway-style space to quietly share a drink with a close friend or partner after work, I highly recommend this place.

If you're looking for a Guro restaurant izakaya that nails taste, style, and atmosphere all at once, don't hesitate — head straight to Hoyo. Thanks to the quality food and the small happiness that comes with a good drink, this will likely be the first Guro restaurant izakaya that comes to mind on any chilly night craving good teppan food. If you need a proper reward with high-quality food at the end of a tiring day on your way home from work, I genuinely recommend wrapping up your day with warm okonomiyaki at Hoyo Gudi Branch, a Guro Digital Complex restaurant izakaya that's guaranteed not to disappoint.