Okonomiyaki originated in Osaka after WWII.
I would term it as a stuffed Japaneese pizza.

Okonomiyaki consists of two "pancakes" and inbetween is stuffed whatever you request, like shrimp, pork, bacon, shredded cabbage and vegetables. It is topped w/a Hoisin like sauce. Most Okonomiyaki restaurants also serve Yakisoba which is fried chinese noodles and cabbage (as well as anything you want such as fish, shrimp, pork).

In the building adjacent to the Osaka Hilton called the Hilton Plaza, is an okonomiyaki restaurant on the basement second level (B2) called Okonomiyaki Madonna, open from 11am to 9:30pm. They had an English menu which is not common in Japan.

We started out w/one order of Yakisoba w/shrimp as an appetizer. VERY GOOD!!!!

I then had the Okonomiyaki w/ bacon and pork while my wife had the Hiroshima Okonomiyaki w/ shrimp and mushroom. Hiroshima Okonomiyaki seemed to have a different and heavier tasting sauce on top of it. Both however were VERY VERY tasty and really hit the spot w/some cold Asahi Beer. Our bill was $26 USD.

My wife and I agreed that the bacon and shrimp were the tastiest and the regular Okonomiyaki was better than the Hiroshima version.

so the next day for Lunch before we left on our flight we had a shrimp/bacon okonomiyaki which was great!!!

Thanks for posting this.

I will be in Japan very soon (including Osaka) and will try to eat at this place, or at least try Okonomiyaki somewhere!

I wonder how a shrimp, bacon, and cabbage version would taste? Or shrimp, bacon, cabbage, and mushrooms? (Gotta get those veggies in there! http://www.flyertalk.com/dining/ftdining_forum/wink.gif )


Kathy

From Savuer Magazine Jan/Feb 2005

In Japanese, okonomi translates to "as you like it" and yaki is the term for grilled. Put them together and you get Okonomiyaki, a delicious pancake of flour and dashi batter mixed with eggs, various vegetables, and shrimp, beef, or pork. Grilled until it's golden, and topped with sweet, tangy sauce and dried bonito flakes. Our favorite okonomiyaki is the Osaka-style kind sold at the Chiba chain throughout Japan.

Kansai Okonomiyaki is very nice once in a while, in Tokyo they tend to make it too heavy. As it is a kind of street food (like Yakisoba) it's worth to explore a bit around train and subway stations in Osaka for good places. If a stall is full of locals feasting pn their Okonomiyaki it can't be that bad. ;) Don't forget to try the mom n´pop Takoyaki stalls n Kansai. It's a little bit of an acquired taste but they tend to do it just right.

Half the fun of okonomiyaki is making it yourself! You sit on the floor around a table with a heated grill plate in the middle, and order what kind of okonomiyaki you want. It comes to you in a bowl (shredded cabbage, vegetables, and whatever else you ordered, in a batter), and you mix it all up, then dump it out on to the grill (after oiling the grill, of course). Just like a Western pancake, you cook it until it's pretty much done on one side, and then flip it over (takes practice). Cook some more, put on toppings (sauce, shaved fish flakes, seaweed flakes, and my favorite--mayonnaise ^ ). Use the cooking implements to cut it up, and eat right of the grill...or for you well-mannered types, transfer it to your plate first. ;)

You can find okonomiyaki shops all over Tokyo, but the best are probably in the Shi-tamachi part of Tokyo (around Ueno, Asakusa, etc.). I think the best are the small mom-and-pop/family-run businesses. There are upscale, modern, and chain okonomiyaki restaurants, and while these are OK, you kind of lose the ambience of downhome Japan.

I love Okonomiyaki... there's so many shops in Osaka. Will definitely hit this place up next time I'm there.

I was at a place in Shibuya which was not the cleanest place, but the food was fabulous.

Don't forget to try the mom n´pop Takoyaki stalls n Kansai. It's a little bit of an acquired taste but they tend to do it just right.
Tako = ocotopus ?

Tako = ocotopus ?
Hai, so desu! :)

My favourite okonomiyaki store is located in Kofu, Yamanashi prefecture.

The place is called "Tokugawa" and it's located next door to the international relations center. The owner has been successful enough to expand his store and redecorate, so the restaurant has lost something of the cosy atmosphere that it had in the old days. But the food is just as good.

(And the super-chilled beer is just the thing to relieve you after a muggy Kofu summer day).

Mrs. jib71 and I have tried okonomiyaki in Osaka, Hiroshima, Tokyo ... etc. but we keep coming back to Tokugawa in Kofu. My only regret is that this information will be of little use to most tourists in Japan, because I can't think of very many reasons to visit Kofu. Come to think of it, Tokugawa may be the only reason I go there ...

Somehow it's just the best. (IMHO :D )

Tako = ocotopus ?

Mmmm... oishii!

My favourite okonomiyaki store is located in Kofu, Yamanashi prefecture.

The place is called "Tokugawa" and it's located next door to the international relations center. The owner has been successful enough to expand his store and redecorate, so the restaurant has lost something of the cosy atmosphere that it had in the old days. But the food is just as good.

(And the super-chilled beer is just the thing to relieve you after a muggy Kofu summer day).

Mrs. jib71 and I have tried okonomiyaki in Osaka, Hiroshima, Tokyo ... etc. but we keep coming back to Tokugawa in Kofu. My only regret is that this information will be of little use to most tourists in Japan, because I can't think of very many reasons to visit Kofu. Come to think of it, Tokugawa may be the only reason I go there ...

Somehow it's just the best. (IMHO :D )

Jib71,

It seems that you live in Japan: do you have any recommendations for good okonomiyaki restaurants in Tokyo/Yokohama? Am flying "back" to Japan for a few weeks next month and would love to have a good plate (or 2!)

Nippon_UK

Jib71,

It seems that you live in Japan: do you have any recommendations for good okonomiyaki restaurants in Tokyo/Yokohama? Am flying "back" to Japan for a few weeks next month and would love to have a good plate (or 2!)

Nippon_UK


I'll be there in a couple of weeks... interested in knowing a good recommendation also.

I lived in Osaka last year and suggest a restaurant called Fu-Getsu. It is basically in the Kansai area and specializes in Okonomiyaki as well as yakisoba. Ask your concierge, the restaurant is in pretty much the busy areas of Osaka. I know the area great, love it and want to return, if you have any questions about Kobe, Osaka, or Kyoto please PM me.

Hai, so desu! :)

Shall I elaborate a little bit further? Apart from octopus ( tako as our Kyushu expert mentioned ) Japanese cuisine also knows i(k)ka ( squid ) of sashimi and sushi & donburi dishes fame.

Both can be enjoyed as an arcade game:

http://www.manjiro.com/catalogtakoikapanic.html

do you have any recommendations for good okonomiyaki restaurants in Tokyo/Yokohama?

I don't know an okonomiyaki place in Tokyo that really stands out.

I sometimes go to the one about half way up Kagurazaka, which is better than average. I also occasionally go to the okonomiyaki in the underground area under Tokyo station (Yaesu side - Lemon Dori). Both those places are good but not exceptional.

I've decided to check out a "Kyoto-style" okonomiyaki place in Akasaka with some friends in the near future. It has a review on the bento.com website, I think. Who knows what Kyoto-style means... maybe okonomiyaki with yuba? :D

Don't forget to try the mom n´pop Takoyaki stalls n Kansai. It's a little bit of an acquired taste but they tend to do it just right.

And if you want to know how difficult it is to make the perfect tako-yaki, you can try cooking your own - at Tako no tetsu (蛸之徹 ), which is very close to the Osaka Hilton.

Tako no tetsu is a "cook your own takoyaki" restaurant in the basement (Level B2) of the Osaka Marubiru (the odd-looking circular tube building in front of Osaka station).

Be warned - Takoyaki is generally considered to be a "don't try this at home" kind of cuisine. Iit takes skill to manipulate the blobs of pancake mix into squidgy spheres around a piece of octopus - with nothing more than a steel skewer and dimpled hot plate. You probably ought to spend some time watching a professional before you try this.

Mrs. jib71 and I had a great time there - and we now know how hard it really is to make "octopus balls."

I don't know an okonomiyaki place in Tokyo that really stands out.

I sometimes go to the one about half way up Kagurazaka, which is better than average. I also occasionally go to the okonomiyaki in the underground area under Tokyo station (Yaesu side - Lemon Dori). Both those places are good but not exceptional.

I've decided to check out a "Kyoto-style" okonomiyaki place in Akasaka with some friends in the near future. It has a review on the bento.com website, I think. Who knows what Kyoto-style means... maybe okonomiyaki with yuba? :D

jib71, if you can find a link for a review of the place, would you post it? I looked on bento.com but didn't see anything (searched using "okonomiyaki" ). I'm always up for a new lunch place in Akasaka, although I have enough old favorites there that I'll be lucky to hit them all during my trip...

There's at least one Hiroshima-style place in Shimokitazawa, but I haven't been there in years, and I don't know if it's the one on bento.com.

jib71, if you can find a link for a review of the place, would you post it? I looked on bento.com but didn't see anything (searched using "okonomiyaki" ).

Sorry - not on bento.com after all.

It's here:
http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g960600/

About twice a month, my family and I go out to Donguri (across the street from the Park Hotel), a great okonomiyaki place in Akita City. It specializes in the Osaka style, although there's a variety to choose from. The proprietors are the friendliest people you could ever meet, and the food is simply delicious (the cheese okonomiyaki is to die for). The menus aren't English, but are mostly in katakana so it's not too difficult to find something great. Suppusedly, they even deliver now (although we haven't tried that yet, so I'm not exactly sure how that works)!

If anyone goes, order the "appuru dezeto" for an awesome ending!

Please forgive question: How far is this from Kyoto or Osaka? Thinking ot trying it if possible.

About twice a month, my family and I go out to Donguri (across the street from the Park Hotel), a great okonomiyaki place in Akita City. It specializes in the Osaka style, although there's a variety to choose from. The proprietors are the friendliest people you could ever meet, and the food is simply delicious (the cheese okonomiyaki is to die for). The menus aren't English, but are mostly in katakana so it's not too difficult to find something great. Suppusedly, they even deliver now (although we haven't tried that yet, so I'm not exactly sure how that works)!

If anyone goes, order the "appuru dezeto" for an awesome ending!

Could you please suggest additional places to eat in Osaka and Kyoto?


I lived in Osaka last year and suggest a restaurant called Fu-Getsu. It is basically in the Kansai area and specializes in Okonomiyaki as well as yakisoba. Ask your concierge, the restaurant is in pretty much the busy areas of Osaka. I know the area great, love it and want to return, if you have any questions about Kobe, Osaka, or Kyoto please PM me.

Please forgive question: How far is this from Kyoto or Osaka? Thinking ot trying it if possible.
About twice a month, my family and I go out to Donguri (across the street from the Park Hotel), a great okonomiyaki place in Akita City. It specializes in the Osaka style, although there's a variety to choose from. The proprietors are the friendliest people you could ever meet, and the food is simply delicious (the cheese okonomiyaki is to die for). The menus aren't English, but are mostly in katakana so it's not too difficult to find something great. Suppusedly, they even deliver now (although we haven't tried that yet, so I'm not exactly sure how that works)!

If anyone goes, order the "appuru dezeto" for an awesome ending!

Answer = About 450 miles (as the crow flies)

Please forgive question: How far is this from Kyoto or Osaka? Thinking ot trying it if possible.

45min to 1 hour depending on what type of train you are on. 15 min by shinkansen. If you drive on route one it will take about 1hour and a half.