Tsukishima Monja Moheji

There are many reasons why Tsukishima Monja Moheji is the ideal monjayaki shop in Tokyo. Each of their branches sees long snaking queues of Japanese, and it's no wonder why. The food is reasonably priced, there's a wide, and innovative selection of dishes, and most of all, you can taste the quality of the dish. Best of all, the staff cook it at the table in front of you, so you get both a table-side service and piping hot food right from the centre of your table.

The signature monjayaki (もんじゃ焼き) that every Moheji shop always recommends is the Mentai Mochi Monjayaki with Cheese topping. Very honestly, once everything goes into the batter, you can't taste the individual ingredients. But what makes a good monjayaki, is the taste of that batter, how much umami is packed into that unsightly gooey mess.

Eating monjayaki is also all about patience. When the staff finishes it, you might be tempted to eat it, but you should hold on. We recommend turning up the heat if it's not already on max, and letting the monjayaki boil some more. Ideally, when you scrape the monjayaki, it should have this nicely caramelized and browned crispy layer at the bottom. This gives the mouthful of monjayaki a nice crisp bite at the bottom, with a deliciously gooey layer on top. That's the ideal state of a monjayaki. And so if you're unimpressed by the dish cause you feel like you're just eating goo, well, you're doing it all wrong.

Personally, we also really like their okonomiyaki. Every okonomiyaki they serve is about the same, it's just about what goes on top. The most popular is typically the seafood or the pork options. But for us, we eat the okonomiyaki for the whole dish with the delicious okonomi sauce (お好みソース, Okonomi Sōsu) on top, so the actual toppings don't matter as much.

Don't miss out on the yakisoba (焼きそば, Stir-Fried Noodles) either, their salt-based yakisoba is simple and delicious. And the flavours help to be on the lighter side than the other sauce-based dishes.

Our bonus tip is to get the Tonpeiyaki. Few foreign tourists have even heard of this dish, but just imagine a creamy omelette with crispy bacon, and that's a pretty accurate descriptor of this delicious appetiser.

Our recommendation is to get at least a Monjayaki, an Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き), and a Yakisoba (焼きそば, Stir-Fried Noodles) to share. (If you only have two people, then we recommend getting two of these three items).

For the monjayaki, we recommend getting the Mentai Mochi Monjayaki (明太餅もんじゃ焼き) with cheese topping. Mentaiko (明太子, Spicy cod roe), mochi (餅, Rice cake), and cheese, each bring a different taste and texture to the monjayaki that increase its deliciousness when you dig into it. They are all mixed into the batter, so you might not notice their individual components.

For the okonomiyaki, we recommend getting the Kaisentama Okonomiyaki (海鮮玉お好み焼き), an okonomiyaki with seafood such as prawns and scallops, or the Butatama Okonomiyaki (豚玉お好み焼き), an okonomiyaki with pork belly slices.

Founded in 2015 by Fumitoshi Kano, the fifth generation owner of a Tsukiji fish wholesaler, Okume Shoten, Moheji aims to bring Tokyo’s only food specialty, monjayaki, to the world.

Born into a fish wholesale family, the monjayaki that was eaten at home was typically made from seafood broth, and so that’s the type of monjayaki that Moheji serves up.

Being their own wholesaler, Moheji uses the same fresh ingredients that they sell to high-end restaurants in their shop, as well as growing their own cabbage for monjayaki in their farm.

Interestingly, the owner also runs two more monjayaki shops, Kuuya and Okoge, which offer different concepts and menus, and are made as friendly business rivals to compete with each other.