Head to "Takoyaki Kinjiro" in Kojiya Shotengai, Ota-ku, Tokyo. While it's known as a takoyaki bar, they offer a wide variety of delicious dishes. They have a great selection of sake from all over Japan, all at the same price. I was lucky to try the popular No.6 from Shinsei that was sold out everywhere else. Their straw-grilled series is all incredibly tasty, especially the duck roast. During bonito season, I recommend trying the bonito straw-grilled dish. Among their fry series, the potato and horse mackerel fry are top picks. The thin and crispy potato is my personal favorite. The horse mackerel fry is big and affordable, available even during lunch. Their takoyaki is cooked to perfection, with options for crispy or fluffy textures and a variety of sauce choices. Personally, I prefer the crispy style with sauce. With a warm and friendly owner and staff, this place is not just a great restaurant but also a cozy izakaya.

Kojiya Shopping Street, located south of Kojiya Station on the Keikyu Airport Line, is a dining bar and izakaya specializing in takoyaki. They offer a "choinomi set" where you can enjoy three drinks, which is a great deal. The interior is shaped like an L with the kitchen in the center. I sat at the counter towards the back as a solo customer. The senbero set includes three drink choices, starting with a refreshing draft beer. However, you can only have one draft beer, so I saved it for last. I also ordered the "adult coleslaw" as a snack, which had a unique cut of vegetables and a slightly different taste, but it was delicious. For my second drink, I switched to a highball. I noticed they had fried oysters on the menu, so I ordered five pieces. The hot oysters with lemon and tartar sauce were delicious and paired well with the highball. To my surprise, they also offered a complimentary tasting of sake that day. It was a dry and refreshing sake, and although I usually don't drink sake outside of home, I enjoyed this small tasting. The senbero set, which allows you to have three drinks for 1,100 yen, is a great deal for those who enjoy drinking.

Dining bar located just to the right after crossing the Koshu Highway from Keikyu Kojiya Station, specializing in takoyaki. On a certain holiday evening, I went to Kojiya shopping street for some shopping. There, I saw a menu sign that read "Takoyaki Senbero," which caught my attention immediately with its offer of "3 drinks." It was already 4:40 pm. About half of the seats were already taken, mostly by couples and groups, so as a solo diner, I was seated at the counter. I ordered the "Senbero" set, starting with a glass of draft beer and chicken pickles as a side dish. The draft beer arrived promptly and was ice-cold and refreshing. As I enjoyed it, the chicken pickles were served. They looked more like chopped tandoori chicken than pickles, with a curry-like flavor. Despite the lack of acidity, they paired well with the alcohol. For my second drink, I ordered a plain highball. It would have been nice to have a slice of lemon, but it was served without any garnish. This drink also went well with the chicken pickles. Finally, I ordered takoyaki as the main dish. I opted for the classic sauce flavor with four pieces. After a short wait, two pieces were served first, with the explanation that the rest were still being cooked. The takoyaki was crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside, with tender octopus and savory sauce. As my highball ran out, I ordered another one outside of the set. When the remaining four takoyaki pieces were ready, they were piping hot and topped with dancing bonito flakes. They were delicious and served as a great accompaniment to drinks. After enjoying my meal, I paid and left the restaurant. Despite the slightly unusual service of waiting for the takoyaki to be cooked, the overall experience was enjoyable. The restaurant seemed popular with a variety of other appetizers available, and I would consider visiting again to try more of their offerings.

This shop may seem intimidating at first, but their service is top-notch! They recently changed their name, and it seems like they are running the place alone during the day. It must be tough, but they are really giving it their all. Since it's just one person working, small dishes, salads, and coffee are self-service now, but that's totally fine. I feel like I want to help out even more (laughs). The popular menu item seems to be the fried fish set. The fried fish here is big, thick, and delicious. Being able to eat two pieces is pure happiness (+200 yen). And the best part is the option to add octopus balls to the set (+50 yen). The time spent warming up with octopus balls and rice before the fried fish is ready really raises the excitement level. Then you can enjoy the main dish of fried fish. After eating, take a breather with an iced coffee. The rice is free to upsize, but even the regular portion is quite generous, so be careful. Delicious, filling, and all for a total of 850 yen, which is very reasonable. This is the best cost performance. It's a great restaurant.

This restaurant may look uninviting from the outside. However, once you try the food, you'll realize it's delicious, cheap, and generous (lol). They offer various lunch menus, but the highly recommended dish is the fried horse mackerel set. For only 600 yen, you get a large piece of fried horse mackerel, pickles, side dish, miso soup, rice, and coffee. You can also add an extra piece of fried horse mackerel for 200 yen and get 2 pieces of takoyaki as a bonus for 50 yen, making it a total of 850 yen. The rice can be upgraded to a larger portion for free, but the large portion here is probably more than most people can finish, showing their generous spirit. The lunch service is run by a single staff member, so sometimes you may have to give up as the seats fill up quickly. The service may take a bit of time, but considering it's a one-person operation, it's still quite fast. You can enjoy a delicious and filling meal at a reasonable price, complete with bonus takoyaki and coffee. It's a great restaurant.

When drinking with takoyaki, I always went to the same shop, but I saw the sign outside saying "senbero". This called for a research visit to the new place. "Takoyaki Cafe Bar Takoyakinjiro." This place feels like a small personal shop, but who knows? First, I ordered the following: - Senbero: a snack and 3 drinks. I chose a highball for the first drink. A highball with a square ice cube feels reassuring. - Takoyaki: the classic. While waiting, my excitement grew, but with a highball in hand, the takoyaki arrived. The visual alone looked delicious. Takoyaki faithful to the basics with sauce, seaweed, and bonito flakes. After one bite, I was convinced. It's really delicious! If the basics are this good, then surely the other takoyaki will be great too. Unlike the crispy outside and creamy inside of a certain chain's takoyaki, this one is fluffy and creamy. It's been a while since I had this type, but takoyaki is best when it's traditional. In the end, I couldn't resist trying more takoyaki. - Takoyaki: butter soy sauce. Born from butter. The menu description got me excited. While sipping on my third highball, the dish arrived. The scent of butter filled the air. The flavor is subtly balanced. If you like it stronger, adding soy sauce will do the trick. I only had takoyaki this day, but next time I want to try the Takowasa's Louis Vuitton or simply the salt and pepper takoyaki. Looking forward to my next visit. It seems to have many regular customers, so it must have a place in this town. The service was great, and the attitude of valuing customers was evident. It was a very pleasant time. Thank you for the meal.

The interior of the restaurant is set up with counter seats and table seats for infection prevention. It has more of a pub atmosphere than a takoyaki shop. The lunch menu offers a variety of options such as set meals and curry, starting from 680 yen, making it quite affordable. I ordered the Black Tan Tan Keema Curry, while my companion ordered the Beef Tendon Western-style Curry. We both opted for the large rice portion, which was free of charge. The Black Tan Tan Keema Curry was mild with a subtle spice flavor and plenty of cilantro. I wished it had more of a spice kick, but overall it was quite delicious. The meal also came with miso soup, salad, and coffee. According to my companion, the Beef Tongue Western-style Curry was just average. The three regular-looking customers around us all ordered set meals.

Today, February 22nd, I had the day off, but I went for my company's health checkup. I don't know the detailed results yet, but I've lost 3kg in weight. On my way back, I got off at Kojiya Station and visited a takoyaki cafe bar called "Takoyaki Jiro". The concept of the place is focused on takoyaki and they pay attention to the food and drinks they serve. The interior has a counter and table seats, with proper social distancing measures in place. Surprisingly, they have a happy hour from opening at 11:30 am until 7 pm. I decided to go for the mega size takoyaki upon recommendation from the owner, and it was a great choice. I enjoyed a mega jug of highball with a side of adult coleslaw, which had a delicious kick of yuzu pepper. The lunch menu was impressive, with a variety of options. The takoyaki menu includes both grilled and fried options, and they occasionally offer unique specials based on the owner's preferences. I tried the simple takoyaki first, which was soft on the outside and incredibly creamy on the inside. I also tried the mitarashi negi oroshi takoyaki, which had a unique flavor that I couldn't quite pinpoint. The restaurant also offers a selection of local sake, and I chose a bottle of Michisakari from Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture. The label on the bottle was charming, and the sake itself was a slightly dry cloudy sake that went down smoothly. I look forward to returning to try more sake options in the future.

The variety of takoyaki options is impressive and the presentation is great! The coriander takoyaki is generously topped with coriander, making it uniquely delicious and not found elsewhere. The owner is also very kind! The interior of the shop is clean and always bustling.

Located in the Kojiya shopping street. It has a residential area station front shopping street vibe, but they offer "senbero" deals from daytime. A rare find in this area. The senbero set includes one dish and three drinks for 1000 yen. A great deal. I ordered the senbero set and chose takoyaki and highball. The takoyaki they make on site is very delicious. It pairs well with the highball. However, the highball, as is common with senbero deals, might be a bit weak. It lacks a strong flavor.

Many takoyaki and fried chicken shops have come and gone in this area, becoming popular and fading away in an instant. This area is tough because it is a downtown shopping district, with many shops challenging the limits of affordability, especially meat shops offering ready-made meals. Even if a slightly stylish shop is created, if the prices are a bit high, customers won't come. In such a place, a takoyaki shop entered the scene. There is a chain powder shop in the nearby supermarket, but the taste is disappointing, so there is a secret hope for this shop. I have only done takeout, so I cannot evaluate the inside of the izakaya, but it doesn't seem to be particular about the interior, lacking any atmosphere. The impression is like a box. Now, onto the main takoyaki. The standard sauce options are 6 pieces for 400 yen, 8 pieces for 500 yen. Adding toppings costs an additional 50-150 yen. Hmm, it's expensive from the perspective of this area... but taste is more important than price. ...This is good! The batter has a strong flavor, not just masked by the sauce. There are various toppings like light and heavy, but no matter what you add, you can still taste the true flavor of takoyaki, with the toppings serving as a nice accent. This is good! It's tastier than the takoyaki from those chain stores like Gin-something or Janbo-something in the area. As for the negatives, the octopus pieces are small, there is too much pickled ginger making it taste strong (especially spicy for children), the variety of toppings is abundant but the amount on the takoyaki is small so it may not be worth the price (perhaps the small amount allowed the true flavor of the takoyaki to come through), these are the points to note. If the takoyaki is at this level, I could see myself becoming a regular. I really hope it becomes rooted in the community.