Kiji's Reviews/Tokyo Restaurants, Okonomiyaki, Monja

Momo	Perfect Okonomiyaki (2010-02-22) I have never had such a delicious Okonomiyaki and Yakisoba in my life! It was really, really nice and I would recommend it! It was a bit hard to find, but with the map and the pictures you will find it for sure. (0)

Gabriela

Kiji
(2009-06-30)
One of the prominent reasons I returned to Japan for my study abroad was so that I could eat okonomiyaki. This restaurant made me remember why. Although the wait for our food felt a tad long (perhaps because we were all ravenous), it was totally worth the wait. I got the sujiyaki, and it was fabulous. It was beef brisket okonomiyaki with green onions piled on top. It was slathered in sauce, and even though I was starving it took a concentrated effort to finish my meal. I kept eating even though I was full, just because it was so delicious. The people I went with also loved their selections. One got the pork and potato okonomiyaki (which I sampled, and though good, seemed to lack the flavor of the sujiyaki), and another got the chicken okonomiyaki which was also very good. This is certainly one of the best okonomiyakis I've had in Tokyo, and rivals the ones I ate in Osaka.

(1)

Biki

The SAME good taste.
(2009-01-16)
My boyfriend's parents came to visit from Canada and we wanted to show them what okonomiyaki was. So, we stayed in line for 1 hour before being seated. To decrease wait time inside the restaurant all customer orders are taken while the customers are waiting outside the store front. We ordered 4 different types of okonomiyaki(mix, shrimp, chicken and corn), 1 soba and 1 udon. The waiter stopped us from ordering any more, saying we wouldn't be able to handle it. He was right!

It all tasted pretty good... but they all tasted the same. Except for the texture, which varied depending on the ingredients. It seems that they depend on their (one) okonomiyaki sauce for flavoring and the noodle dishes were cooked with a variant of this sauce.

I thought that the sauce they used was pretty good, but a little too much on the sweet side.

(1)

Nico

Kiji
(2007-10-03)
Okonomiyaki Kiji is a branch of a famous chain of Okonomiyaki restaurants based out of Osaka. Okonomiyaki is a Kansai specialty and consists of a cabbage pancake topped with all sorts of things, lots of sauce and sometimes mayonnaise. Okonomiyaki translates more or less as “your selection of things grilled,” but Kiji does not take their menu lightly and will serve you some of the best okonomiyakis available. They are so serious about their Osaka roots that they airfreight their spring onions from Osaka and the chefs are from the Kansai region and can be heard muttering in the Osaka dialect. After you wait (and most likely you will have to wait anywhere between 10 minutes and an hour for a table), you will be hushed in and seated at a table with a hot iron plate in the middle. Some okonomiyaki restaurants will let you prepare your own okonomiyakis, but at kiji a chef will make yours and the hot iron plate is just meant to keep them warm while you dig in. The absolute winner of the night was sujiyaki, followed closely by the mix yaki. Sujiyaki was topped with slowly stewed beef in lard that becomes so soft that it melts in your mouth and will send you to culinary wonderland. This was generously topped with spring onions, which added a bit of contrast to the heavy beef underneath. The mixyaki had a bit of everything in it ? pork, shrimp, octopus, konnyaku and mushrooms. With that many toppings, you are bound to find something you like! We washed down everything with beers and Kansai came alive a footstep away from Tokyo station. Kiji is a must-try spot, especially if you haven't had a chance to go to Osaka. Their okonomiyakis rank among the best I've ever tried. Though we didn't order it, you might want to order yakisoba as well, stir-fried soba noodles, which are a common item at okonomiyaki restaurants. I wouldn't suggest this place for business meetings unless you warn your partners that you will probably have to line up for a while. Otherwise bring anyone you can think of to enjoy kiji, and arrive early if possible to secure a table.

(5)

Kiji きじ Okonomiyaki, Monja / Tokyo Station

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