In terms of decor, it was clean Japanese. The waiters and waitresses were very helpful and explained the menu to us silly Gaijins. We were sat at a table with its own built in grill.
We ordered a couple of starters, ika itame (grilled squid with garlic and soy) and an unsual dish of pickled carrot and burdock root. Both were very good, the squid soft and the burdock was almost sesame in taste. I think it makes good drinking food – a bit like Japanese meze, no wonder the Kirin was going down so well.
Of course the main event was the okonomiyaki. We ordered three:
Kimchi with pork,
Squid
Cheese, mushroom and lotus root
All were topped with bonito flakes and an assortment of sauces. The kimchi was quite spicy with the bacon givng it a good saltiness. Of the three Lea and I think that the squid was probably the best, Gareth rekoned the kimchi was more his style. However, the cheese et al version I wouldn’t order again.
My home cooked version compared quite well. There were some differences though:
1. The cabbage was finely diced as oppossed to finely sliced, giving it a crumblier texture
2. They used a sweeter sauce, tonkatsu sauce is good but the authentic okonomiyaki sauce is better
Altogether a good night out.
A Sushi Curious Blog 