Rainy weeknight window seat monjayaki and spicy yakisoba: Jojo Yeonnam

A monjayaki teppanyaki spot in Yeonnam-dong — a Yeonnam-dong monjayaki restaurant.

This time I'm introducing Jojo Yeonnam Branch, an okonomiyaki specialist that keeps to traditional Osaka methods, cooking at high heat on a specially made large griddle — a world away from frozen okonomiyaki, and honestly better than what I've had in Japan. Jojo is the okonomiyaki restaurant famous for its always-long waits at the Seongsu and Yongsan branches.

Jojo Yeonnam Branch location and hours

• Location: 1F, 255-1 Donggyo-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul
• Hours: 11:30–22:00 (break time 15:20–17:00)

A rainy weeknight, no wait, and the mood inside

After work I went with Na-yeong, who'd been wanting to try Jojo together for a while. We got there around 7:30, and luckily — maybe because of the rain — there were seats open, so we walked straight in with no wait. Every other time I've come to Yeonnam-dong the line has been long enough that I just walked past, so I went in expecting to wait a bit, but the rain worked in our favor.

The place was cozier than it looked from outside. Every table had its own griddle, so I thought, ah, so you cook the monjayaki yourself? There's an open kitchen on one side too, so you can watch the cooking. If the weather were cooler, sitting at the standing counter right out front would've been fun too. There are window tables and regular tables, and on a rainy day the window seat had such a great atmosphere.

The menu and how to eat monjayaki

The menu had more variety than I expected — okonomiyaki, yakisoba, monjayaki, other teppan dishes, and sides. The back of the menu even had photo instructions on how to eat monjayaki properly. Honestly this was my first time trying monjayaki, and the staff kindly walked me through it, so I ate it well.

There's a card at every table where you can write a nickname, and apparently the food comes out prettily decorated with it (per Na-yeong, who's eaten here before). Also, showing your coupon at checkout gets you a stamp for every ₩10,000 spent — makes you want to come back, haha.

What we ordered — monjayaki, spicy yakisoba, volcano potato

Every seat had its own small plate and sauces set out. Since it was all new to me, I was pretty curious.

We ordered monjayaki, spicy yakisoba, and volcano potato. They turned on the griddle, set a timer, and left the monjayaki ingredients on the table — I assumed we'd cook it ourselves, but the staff said they'd take care of everything. The nickname we'd written earlier came out stuck into the ingredients like a little flag, very cute.

And then the volcano potato arrived! Mashed potato topped with a soft-boiled egg and flakes on the side — exactly my style.

The staff makes the monjayaki right at your table

When the timer went off for the griddle heating up, a staff member came over and skillfully made the monjayaki right there in front of us. They mixed the ingredients and broth on the griddle, cooked it, and spread it thin — watching the process up close was fun in itself.

After sautéing the vegetables a bit, they added the mentaiko (pollock roe), mixed it in, topped it with mochi and cheese, set a 5-minute timer, and told us to wait before walking off. Looking at this brand-new sight, I thought... hmm... will this actually be good?

The spicy yakisoba came out while the monjayaki was still finishing up nicely. I wanted to dig into the volcano potato too, but I held off, wanting to taste the monjayaki first since it was my first time, haha.

How do you actually eat monjayaki?

Once the bottom is nicely crisped, you're supposed to press it lightly and scrape up the crispy part to eat — kind of like scraping fried rice off a hot griddle. I scooped up small bites of the finished monjayaki, and the mentaiko flavor really came through, with the crunch of cabbage adding a texture completely different from okonomiyaki. Eaten together with the thin crisped bits stuck to the griddle and the cheese, it had a crispy, nutty richness too. Different parts cooked differently, so even within the same dish the textures varied, which made it more interesting.

The more I ate, the more I started craving kimchi, haha. So I tried it with the fire sauce and Jojo's special sauce on the table — and yeah, that gave it a whole different flavor.

The mochi pieces scattered throughout had a uniquely chewy texture. It was fun watching it stretch long like cheese, and having that chewiness pop up in the middle of the soft monjayaki was a nice surprise.

How spicy is the spicy yakisoba, really?

After trying enough of the monjayaki, we moved on to the spicy yakisoba that had come out alongside it. Just looking at it — wow, shrimp, squid, meat, cabbage — I was curious how it would taste.

It's billed as a spicy stir-fried udon, but the spice level wasn't as strong as expected, so people who can't handle much heat could still manage this one. The thick, chewy udon noodles combined with springy shrimp and squid and crunchy cabbage made for a tasty dish.

The spicy yakisoba comes topped with a soft fried egg. The savoriness is great on its own, but the seasoning is on the salty side, so about halfway through I popped the yolk and mixed it with the noodles — the yolk blended smoothly between the noodles and ingredients and mellowed everything out. Personally, mixing in a bit of yolk made me like it even more.

That day we had it simply with yuzu-sawa (a yuzu cocktail), which cut through a bit of the richness nicely.

The popular volcano potato

Jojo's popular volcano potato! Soft mashed potato topped with a soft-boiled egg — it looked delicious just from appearance alone, an instant pass. The staff specifically told us to eat it together with the flakes served alongside. So I did, and the soft mashed potato meeting the crispy flakes gave a great mix of softness, crunch, and saltiness, getting more savory the more I chewed.

Thanks to Na-yeong, trying monjayaki for the first time was fun in a whole new way — the process itself was entertaining, and it was enjoyable both to watch and to eat.

How is it as a Yeonnam date spot?

Jojo Yeonnam Branch, a Japanese restaurant near Hongdae, had plenty of couples on dates as well as friends chatting happily over their meal — it fits well whether you're looking for a Yeonnam date spot or just want to eat something different for a change. If you're searching for a Yeonnam-dong restaurant recommendation or a Hongdae restaurant recommendation and want something a bit special, a teppanyaki specialist like this is worth it. Trying monjayaki for the first time gave me a different kind of fun, and I'd love to come back next time and try other menu items.