Okonomiyaki in Tokyo

Okonomiyaki is a savory "pancake" that's typically made of cabbage, eggs, and a batter plus whatever else you'd like to throw into the mix. Okonomi means "how/what you like" and yaki translates to "grilled".

After hearing good things about the dish, we were curious to try it and found Furyu Okonomiyaki Sometaro. The day we visited was quite hot outside (and inside) so, it wasn't the best idea to be sitting next to a grill in a non air conditioned restaurant. While we loved it, I'd recommend going on a chillier day - it would be a great meal to warm you up. In true Japanese fashion, the ladies working there were very concerned about our comfort and turned on the air and gave us hand fans. 

I'm afraid that these photos and our poor preparation skills really do a disservice in selling this dish, so click here to see what it could have looked like if we knew what we were doing. The ladies working there were so amused by us and thought that Alex's stirring lacked the vigor necessary, so they stepped in. It was pretty funny to see people who were typically reserved suddenly become pretty pushy. They take their Okonomiyaki seriously! 

Since this trip, a friend of ours from Japan has made us Okonomiyaki for dinner. I'd definitely suggest giving it a try if you're curious. She gets her ingredients at Japantown in San Francisco but you can buy Japanese mayo at a lot of grocery stores or order it on Amazon... and our friend recommends Otafuku sauce (so good)! Other toppings include bonito flakes, which I hate and think ruin everything but you do you. I'll stick with kewpie, otafuku, and some green onions. There's a potato version that I think I'd like. Let me know if you try it!  - Mina