Monjayaki can be considered to be Tokyo’s soul food.
Monjayaki consists of batter combined with ingredients such as cabbage and other vegetables, meat, and seafood that is dissolved in water.
This mixture is then grilled and flavored with Worcester sauce or soy sauce before eating.
While monjayaki looks similar to okonomiyaki at first glance, this cheap and delicious food is typified by its light, runny texture.
Tsukishima Station is located not far from Ginza and Tsukiji, and once you walk out of the subway station here you will find yourself in an area with over 50 monjayaki shops centered around Nishinaka-dori.
Some monjayaki shops have both table seating and Japanese style floor seating, and some only have one type of seating.
Regardless of the seating type, you will find a grill at each table.
While people usually grill monjayaki by themselves, if you do not feel confident about it the shop staff members will help you if you ask.
There are many shops on Nishinaka-dori, so many that you might not be sure where to go.
There are often long lines at particularly popular restaurants.
Most shops have menus with photos, so don’t hesitate to enter a shop that looks good to you.
First, you grill the ingredients including vegetables, meat, and seafood, and then you make a ring base into which you pour the batter.
After you pour in the batter and a runny texture is achieved, you mix the monjayaki while eating it with a small metal spatula-like tool called a hagashi.
It tastes great to eat portions that have been burnt slightly while they are still hot!
Ingredients include cabbage, bean sprouts, and pork for the standard monjayaki.
Other popular types of monjayaki feature ingredients such as mentaiko (seasoned cod roe), cheese, and mochi (rice cake).
There are monjayaki using seasonal ingredients, as well as desert monjayaki called ankomaki that feature anko (sweet bean paste).
We hope that you make a visit to Tsukishima to try out Tokyo’s famous monjayaki that you might just become addicted to after you try it once.
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