Nishiya

At Nishiya, staff cook the monjayaki on the hotplate in front of you and guide it to the right point to eat, according to one visitor’s account. The shiso version appears on the menu as Tsukishima Shiso Wasabi Monja, combining shiso leaves, squid tentacles, seaweed and wasabi sauce. It offers a different combination from the house Nishiya Monja, which brings together mentaiko, mochi, cheese and butter. The same visitor described the fragrant dashi, lifted by the fresh taste of shiso, as a good match for drinks. They also found it reassuring to have staff handle the cooking on their first visit, making this a comfortable choice for anyone new to monjayaki.

Between rounds of monjayaki, try the anchovy potatoes with baguette (660 yen). One diner found the sauced potatoes particularly memorable as a first dish, enjoyed with the bread. Seafood garlic rice, infused with the savoury flavour of the seafood, was another visitor’s favourite; they recommend it to others and sometimes order it without prawns. The menu also lists seafood garlic rice, sauce yakisoba and sobameshi topped with a fried egg, offering several hotplate dishes to finish the meal.

For an inventive take on monjayaki, consider the carbonara version, made with bacon, Grana Padano, a soft-cooked egg, mayonnaise, pepper and butter. Diners have praised it, while the milk monja offers a different direction: its soy milk-based dashi is described as giving it a creamy, gratin-like quality. Other less conventional choices include lemon-cream monja with smoked salmon and asparagus, and Quattro Formaggi monja with 4 kinds of cheese and honey.

Pairing wine with small plates is another way to enjoy the menu. Wine cocktails include Kir and Kalimotxo (each 600 yen). With monjayaki, appetisers, rice dishes and wine to choose from, the menu gives groups room to share a range of dishes over an evening.