Hey friends! So there's been this new Japanese restaurant making waves recently, and it's called Ajiya Okonomiyaki Restaurant. Ajiya is located at Beauty World and is known for its DIY okonomiyaki. Their food is also authentically Japanese, so it's great for many of us craving Japanese food but can't travel to Japan just yet. We weren't able to make a reservation as they are currently not accepting any, so your best chance is to just head down early and join the waiting list.

Ajiya's interior reminds me of those tiny restaurants that you would see in Tokyo, although Ajiya was much more spacious. It also resembled a teppanyaki restaurant.

The staff were very friendly and asked us if this was our first time here, and when we said yes, they proceeded to give us lots of recommendations.

We were recommended the Garlic Fried Rice (S$7) as well as the Potato Cheese Mentai (S$11) which were both of their most raved dishes.

We also topped up S$3.50 to add tiger prawns to our fried rice. The Garlic Fried Rice was extremely fragrant and you could taste the distinctiveness of the garlic. Although it was flavourful, it wasn't overpowering and the rice was very easy to eat.

The Potato Cheese Mentai was any mentaiko or cheese lover's dream. It was on the oilier side, but I loved the generous toppings of mozzarella and mentai sauce. The overall taste was one that was sweet and strong, and made for a great appetizer.

We also ordered a Chawanmushi (S$4) that came with shiitake, chicken, and prawns.

Our main course was the Meat Lovers Okonomiyaki (S$16) and we got to choose our three toppings which were smoked duck, chicken ham, and cheese. Basically they mix all the ingredients for you in a big bowl, provide you with spatulas, and you get to fry the pancakes yourself. Making your own pancakes isn't just fun - you also get 10% off when you choose to DIY!

Don't worry about burning your pancakes or flipping them at the wrong time - their staff are always on standby in case something goes wrong (which rarely happens). There are also hourglass timers so you know exactly when to flip over your okonomiyaki.

After drizzling the sauces, you're ready to dig in!

The pancakes were very savoury and although the ingredients were simple, they tasted really good. The only complaint is that certain flavours aren't really distinct, especially the cheese. I did like the batter as it wasn't chunky and floury, and the portion was very decent. We shared one okonomiyaki among two people and it was the perfect portion.

For drinks we had two glasses of Calpis (S$3.50) each - something sweet to end the night!

My boyfriend and I were both very impressed by the food here as they were all delicious and very authentic. The DIY okonomiyaki is super interesting and makes for great Instagram stories! The ambience was also nice although I did feel a bit uncomfortable sitting at the sides of the counter because you will be facing the people perpendicular to you, which is quite awkward and you can hear everything they're saying.

If you're not going to make your own okonomiyaki, perhaps you can request for these booths which offer more privacy.

Do note that there's a 60-minute dining limit, but you can easily finish up your meal within 45 minutes. I've heard people say that they queued almost 30 minutes before entering, so it's best to come down on a weekday.

While I thought the whole DIY okonomiyaki was quite gimmicky at first, I'm really glad that Ajiya proved me wrong because their food definitely lived up to the hype. For those of you planning to visit, I guarantee you'll have a great time like I did.

Thanks for reading, and see you next post!