JapanNewbie

Monjyayaki in Tsukishima Revisited

Posted on 17. Apr, 2010 @ 12:42 am by harvey in Culture, Food, Tokyo Views: 1,149

Went to Tsukishima in Tokyo with some of my wife’s friends to eat Monjyayaki.

Japan is fun like that. There are certain areas in Tokyo that you can go to see tons of shops serving the exact same dish, though done in their own special way. I’ve seen places like this for gyoza, okonomiyaki, ramen, oden, chicken wings, and many other things.

Monjyayaki is kind of like a sloppy-half-done-lazy-messed-up okonomiyaki. Most people from Kansai will say that monjyayaki is interesting, but okonomiyaki tastes much better. I’ve never eaten monjyayaki in Osaka, but I’m sure there is a store somewhere offering it. Monjya tastes best when burnt. It’s also best to chose monjya with mochi in it.

Monjya Hazama

The place we went to was called Hazama. Our friends made reservations in advance, so I guess it’s considered to be one of the better monjya places in Tsukishima – I wouldn’t know. I’m an okonomiyaki man myself.

Hazama Menu

Basically to make monjya you mix up the ingredients, spill just the ingredients and not the soup onto the hot plate, mix it all up and stuff, make it into a circle, ad then pour the soup inside. The goal is to cook the soupy stuff until its a bit viscous. Then, mix it all together and chop it up.

Monjya phase 1

Here’s a video I took that night so you can see how it’s done.

More of our videos on Monjya and other romps around Asia can be found on our YouTube channel here!

Here’s a picture of the environment inside the restaurant.

Fun at Hazama

Related Links:
Monjyayaki in Tsukishima
Tsukishima: Home of Monjyayaki

Monjya Monjya!