Sakuratei

This okonomiyaki restaurant is a hidden gem that we discovered when living in Tokyo for graduate school in 2006. I was very glad to see that it was still in business and prospering.
As mentioned before there are menus in English, though I think you get a better overall experience if you have a Japanese speaker present. We ordered two okonomiyaki and I knocked the dust off my grilling chops and did a satisfactory job of cooking them up. I’ll add some photos when I get them downloaded.
Highly recommended and if you come for lunch you can get an all you can eat/​drink deal at a very reasonable price. It’s a lot of fun and better the more people you bring.

Really great okonomiyaki n monjayaka options here with a really superb atmosphere. It’s also a great option for taking friends who are visiting tokyo or japan for the first time since they get a chance to make their own okonomiyaki which is pretty darn cool. I luv this place so much!

Quirky little restaurant located in a simplex within the Harajuku district.
One of the more spacious restaurants we’ve been to w/​staff who speaks English. You can order a set menu/​AYCE but there’s plenty of food for single orders. Whatever you order goes on the grill in front and you cook you own dish. There’s no rice in the bowl, just veggies which keeps it light. You can place various sauces and season it to your liking w/​the condiments on the table. Their sides are tasty. My fave was the eggs w/​bamboo. Egg was cooked perfectly w/​a runny yolk while the bamboo provided a crunch. I’m a sucker for both and was so excited I get 2 in 1 dish.
Approximately 1000¥ per entrée.

We came here because the husband wanted okonomiyaki. What we didn’t know was we had to cook it ourselves! It was definitely a fun and new experience. Let the food cool a little before you eat it otherwise, you can burn your tastebuds like I did! They ran out of noodles for my sukiyaki monja~ but it was still flavorful & yummy! The artwork in each room is different & unique. I think it’s a little pricey for what it is but definitely still a worthwhile experience!

Très bon, du DIY authentique dans un cadre très convivial, apparemment apprécié des jeunes japonais.e.s.
J’y retournerai volontiers.

This place is definitely one for the hipster crowd. With the eclectic décor and the DIY cooking on the table, it is more about the experience than the food itself.
Great: the intestines, especially when they are fried up a little.
Okay: the actual food looks like vomit, but tastes like and overfilled omelet/​frittata.
We ordered the two things rated number one on the menu. They have small instructions in English that help explain how to cook the different meals on the tabletop in front of you. If you are really hesitant to DIY, the table beside us had a server help them. The style is community table where everyone has a spatial and helps them-​self to what is cooked (go with people to don’t mind sharing with).

At the recommendation of a friend, we stopped by here for some okonomiyaki. The place is a bit hard to locate, but once you do find it, you’re in for a fun time. There is an English menu to help you along with your selections. Also, there are instructions in English. After ordering, you are brought all of your ingredients and you are good to grill.
The experience was fun and definitely one of our culinary highlights on our trip to Tokyo. Although we didn’t follow the instructions to a tee, we were still satisfied with our end results. Beware of the smoke coming off the grill, it made my eyes water.

First time cooking my own okonomiyaki and yakisoba. They provide an English menu and instructions on how to cook the okonomiyaki… but alas, my group and I cannot cook well… so it burned a little and our okonomiyaki was a hot delicious mess. The yakisoba is much easier to cook without any cooking experience. And you can also adjust the heat on the side of the table. Though we found out too late due to the language barrier. When the check arrives, you have to take the check and the pink clipboard hanging on your table to the cashier to pay before you leave. The interior was very colorful and busy. It is very hot inside, and best to wear your least favorite and washable goods to dine here, because you and your belongs will smell like grease and smoke once you come out. They also have an all you can eat here for 2100 yen for 120 minutes; 1500 yen for all you can drink for 120 minutes. We just ordered regular and it was a good deal. Overall, it was a fun experience. Though it would be nice if a staff helped us a bit with the cooking. Maybe they have that service available. but we’ll never know. =D

Very cool spot! It’s kind of hidden off of Harajuku Street.
The place has a very art-​heavy aesthetic, with great ‘90s music playing in the background.
It’s make your own japanese «pancakes», and they offer an all you can drink for 2 hour option for 1500 yen (add another 500 yen for beer and wine), and all you can drink soda for just 700 yen.
The food is very carb heavy so you can definitely split one between 2 people. The pickled eggs with bamboo shoots and bacon wrapped cheese were excellent as well.
Definitely recommend!

We had an early dinner so we didn’t have to wait. There was a sandwich board in the laneway to indicate where the restaurant was. Instructions were given to us in English on what to do and were easy to follow. Our tip is ensure you keep the flippers away from the heat! They are metallic and got very hot even though we thought they were in a reasonable place.

We looked for this place after reading the good reviews about the place. I guess this is why we had high expectations for this first Okinomiyaki experience for us.
Unfortunately we were disappointed, one of the staff was very nice and friendly, but the other was rude and she was the one serving us, so we didn’t have much support to help us understand how to cook the Okinomiyaki, which is not trivial! In fact, it’s the other waitress that noticed we didn’t know how to proceed and that gave us some document to start with.
We didn’t appreciate the food much, but that may just be because we didn’t cook it right and we were not feeling comfortable asking, because of our waitress attitude.
The place and experience really looked promising, but it didn’t turn out good.
Would not return there.

Sakuratei is known for its okonomiyaki. It’s super hidden, so you have to go with someone who knows where it is or have really good wifi to use a map app. It’s also very popular, so expect a wait, even at random times during the afternoon. We waited about 30 – 40 minutes for a table for three at around 2pm on a weekday. I think they didn’t have enough staff, because when we went inside there were many open tables.
There are many different okonomiyaki flavors to choose from, each with different ingredients. Because one of my friends is allergic to shellfish, we ordered the ones with pork and mushrooms. At sakuratei, you’ll cook your own okonomiyaki on the hot plate situated in the middle of each table. It’s definitely an experience. Because it was our first time, one of the English speaking waitresses helped us a lot. She was so friendly and patient!
We found the okonomiyaki was easy to make, we painted it with sauce and drizzled mayo on top. Super yummy! The three of us each ordered one, and it ended up being way too much food, so I’d suggest sharing.
The inside is interestingly decorated and they play some good american music. I’d definitely come back :)

A first for me: I had Okonomiyaki for the first time here. Okonomiyaki is a style of food where you are given an egg-​based batter among a choice of near and vegetables and cook them on a grill yourself. The food becomes a kind of omelette.
We had the pork, the seafood, and the egg, cheese and bacon dishes. The pork and the egg/​cheese combos were most worthwhile. After cooking the creation on the grill, you apply a special sauce that is specifically intended for one of your dishes. For example for the egg/​cheese dish we received a smoky tomato-​based sauce. For the seafood, we received an onion and mushroom mix. There is also a sauce that stays on the table. All the sauces made the food stand out. Without them, I’m not sure that they would have been anything special.
This place can get packed, though. We waited at least forty minutes to get a table. But the atmosphere is really fun and there is some bizarre and amusing art everywhere in the restaurant. Ultimately I loved my experience here. I would say this restaurant is a must try when coming to Harajuku, in my opinion.
Last note: the restaurant can be a little difficult to find – it’s down a few alleys, which a foreigner like me might typically avoid without help from a smartphone or friend.

Fun place for Okonomiyaki cooked right at your table.
1. Atmosphere. The atmosphere in this place is awesome, it’s a bit of a stoners paradise. Lots of vibrant colors and surreal artwork everywhere. The staff is friendly and speaks moderate English.
2. Okonomiyaki. Cabbage pancakes that are nothing short of delicious. I got the steak pancake while my friend got the breakfast pancake. Both delicious but we had 1 glaring issue:
WARNING: Do not dump all of the food on the grill at once! It will burn!
This is what we did which ended with us sprint eating everything. It was still great but I would have liked to take my time and enjoy everything.
3. Service. There is an English menu available if you ask. Press the button at your table to call a waiter over (why have more places not instituted that)?
Great place in Harajuku, worth the trip. Just make sure you use your ingredients a bit at a time and it makes for an amazing meal!
Overall Grade: A–

Definitely a unique experience of cooking your own okonomiyaki and/​or monjayaki. It’s pretty neat that they provide all the ingredients and instructions too cook the dishes. Great for foreigners like me who want a fun time and learn a bit of cooking skills too! The restaurant is actually hidden along one of the alleys, but not impossible to find with Google Maps handy. The front store was actually closed when we walked by around 9pm on a Monday night, but we walked around to the back (where all the noise was coming from), and they were still bustling about with plenty of seating space, both indoors and on a covered patio.
Also, be warned that you will come out smelling like hot oil, but it’s nice that they provide some Febreeze for your clothes on the way out. Still doesn’t completely get rid of the smell, but it’s a nice thought.
I’d recommend the Sakura okonomiyaki, which is their namesake and has a variety of ingredients that traditionally go in an okonomiyaki, plus bacon on top!
TIP: make sure your stove top is hot before starting to cook! Sometimes they forget to turn it on, and it takes about 10 minutes to heat up. They told us to wait five minutes, but this still wasn’t hot enough, so my okonomiyaki ended up a bit undercooked. =[ We didn’t get sick from it, but I would’ve liked it cooked longer. I would also recommend only cooking two items on the grill at a time, as some of the dishes like the monjayaki require two spatulas and a bit more space.
They might’ve gotten five stars if they provided the dancing Katsuobushi bonito flakes to top it alll off!

This place is legit. Love the art gallery above and the atmosphere inside. Plus, some of the best okonomiyaki I had while in Tokyo. It’s worth a visit while in Harajuku!

Sakura Tei is quite a find in Harajuku. It’s uniqueness makes it really worth a visit. However, it is hard to find as it’s in the backstreets of Harajuku. A map or GPS is definitely a good idea. The art gallery type atmosphere is perplexing while eating okonomiyaki, but also quite enjoyable. You can eat outside which is really nice.
Cooking your own meal on the skillet was really fun though, and probably best done in a group of 3 – 4 people so you can try many of the flavors if not getting the all-​you-​can eat option. However, of course coming as a couple is fine, too, when I was there, a Japanese couple near us kept ordering more and more and they really looked like they were enjoying it. We were all seriously amazed at how much they could eat.
The English menu made things easy, and there are tons of options. Don’t forget to use all the delicious toppings in the side little basket, including using a paintbrush type tool to «paint» on the main sauce.
This is my favorite place for okonomiyaki in Tokyo. Such a great experience overall!!!