Pancakes, but make it savory
Another day, another post about food in Japan. This time, we’re back in Osaka and checking out the local favorite, okonomiyaki.
An okonomiyaki is a type of savory pancake that dates back into the Edo period. Now, I won’t go too in-depth into the history of the dish, but it was initially called Funoyaki, served as a special dessert at Buddhist ceremonies. It eventually evolved from being a dessert into a savory pancake during the Second World War, when rice was scarce and a full meal was difficult to come by. People created the okonomiyaki by using ingredients available at the time. A typical okonomiyaki normally has a few staple ingredients including a wheat pancake batter, eggs, pork and cabbage. However, there are 2 main types of okonomiyaki; the Kansai/Osaka style and Hiroshima style. The Kansai/Osaka type typically mixes the batter with the ingredients and is grilled on both sides, with other various toppings added on top of the dish. While the Hiroshima style has the ingredients layered, starting with the pancake batter, then cabbage and other ingredients such as pork and eggs, often ending with fried noodles. Both styles of okonomiyaki are grilled on both sides. As we’re in Osaka, we tried out the Kansai/Osaka style okonomiyaki.
It had been a busy day of travel, from waking up at 9AM to get our luggage shipped off to the next hotel, to taking the Shinkansen to Osaka and getting settled in our accommodation for the next few days. Nonetheless, as it was our first night in Osaka, we were excited to explore the famous Dotonbori district. From takoyaki stalls to the huge snow crab display menacingly overlooking the street, you’re always within touching distance of a food stall or restaurant that entices you with fake food displays and delicious food smells. As a result, we were starting to feel hungry and began looking for somewhere to have dinner. While walking up and down the street, we noticed this restaurant called Chibo located on the ground floor of a building. It didn’t look like there were many people inside so we decided to head in after looking at the menu on our phones.
The dining space inside was very small and cramped, however it seems they managed to put seating for at least 25—30 customers, with a few tables that sat between 2—4 customers, and a teppanyaki grill that had seating for 6 people. We were lucky to snag a couple seats in front of the teppanyaki grill. All that stood between us and the grill was a simple metal serving section, and you could definitely feel the heat radiating from the grill. Behind the grill was a kitchen, although it was mainly used for food preparation and drinks. Most of the cooking was done on the grill itself, with the staff at the back feeding the ingredients to the chefs in front. The only downside about sitting in front of the grill was how hot it could get, and that you’ll probably smell of food by the end of the night.
While there was a physical menu in Japanese available, menus in other languages were only available online via QR code. The menu was simple. The first page had 5 different types of okonomiyaki ranked in terms of popularity, The second page offered a pair set meal along with vegetarian and basic options and an a-la-carte menu, and there was a final page for drinks. We decided on the pair set meal that included the Chibo’s salad, a tonpei-yaki with cheese, Dotonbori okonomiyaki with green onion and sunny side-up egg topping, and seafood yakisoba noodles with green onion and sunny side-up egg topping. Whew, that was a mouthful (pun intended). It was recommended for 2 people, but from what we experienced, maybe they should adjust it to 3 people. As I don’t often eat my veggies (sorry), I won’t be reviewing the salad, but according to my partner, it tasted like any other salad commonly served in Japan. It had a yuzu salad dressing, with rocket leaves, baby corn, cherry tomatoes, shredded radish and sweet onions.
I’m not going to lie, I’m not exactly sure what a tonpei-yaki is. But after some excellent googling, it’s an egg omelet with thin slices of pork belly and shredded cabbage inside, topped with a homemade okonomi sauce. Chibo’s version of the tonpei-yaki included American cheese melted inside the omelet and parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. The pork belly is cooked first before pouring the egg mixture onto the flat top. Then, the pork belly is placed in the omelet along with a couple slices of American cheese before folding the remaining egg mixture on top. While we thought it was ready to be served, it was curiously plated up and given to the waiting staff instead. It wasn’t long before we realized that they were topping the omelet up with more cheese before serving it to us. My initial thoughts on the dish was that it looked very messy, but visuals aren’t as important as the taste, and this tonpei-yaki definitely tasted good. The pork belly was cooked just right, no toughness and the cheese inside was melted and gooey. And for the people that don’t like runny eggs, the omelet is cooked through so you won’t see any egg mixture seeping out. However, I thought that it was a bit oily, as we noticed the chef poured a generous amount of cooking oil before pouring the egg mixture. The grated parmesan cheese was also perplexing (did I mention it was Kraft’s grated parmesan cheese?) If anything, I was glad that the serving was small, because what came next definitely needed the stomach space.
While we were having the tonpei-yaki, the chefs were already busy cooking our seafood yakisoba on the side. It wasn’t long before it was served to us directly onto the metal counter, beside the tonpei-yaki as the chef finished the dish off with a sprinkle of pepper and dried seaweed. Both of us took a generous serving of yakisoba onto our plates and dug in. It was incredibly flavorful, the noodles were chewy, with some bits a bit burnt but still had a great taste and a bit of crunch. The squid had a bite to it, and prawns were cooked well, none of which I could tell were overcooked. The cabbage was mixed, some soft, some still with a crunch, both providing a different texture to the dish. The yakisoba sauce itself was also great, it had a good balance of tangy and sweet, without overpowering the entire dish. I personally liked the fact that they didn’t go crazy on the sauce like other places do. I don’t particularly enjoy bean sprouts, but I did enjoy it in this dish as they had absorbed a lot of the sauce and there weren’t a lot of bean sprouts in the first place. The portion size was definitely a bit too much for the two of us, and the next dish, although the last one, wasn’t helping our waistline.
The star of the show, the okonomiyaki. It was definitely eye opening watching them prepare it, because the mixed batter looks very unappealing. Since the batter is mixed with pork, shrimp, squid, beef and konjac jelly, it doesn’t resemble anything like the final end result. Although I didn’t take any pictures of it in front of me, I managed to take a picture of the batter that was just poured onto the flat top. The final result however, looks amazing. The pancake was served directly to us on the metal counter, where the chef drizzled the okonomiyaki sauce and Japanese mayo in a zigzag pattern, and a generous serving of bonito flakes, green onion and a sunny side up to top it off. At this point, we were near our limits but we persevered as this was the reason why we ate at this restaurant. So, I grabbed the spatula and started cutting up a small piece for myself and my partner. The first bite welcomed a mouthful of cabbage and batter with some thinly sliced pork and beef. The cabbage had a bite to it and the batter was fully cooked through. The sauce was the same as the tonpei-yaki, but the mayonnaise provided a different taste to the dish itself. If you’ve never had Japanese mayo before, it’s amazing and nothing like the crap that you’d get from Heinz or God forbid, miracle whip. It’s tangy and sweet, but still has a savory taste to it, which compliments this okonomiyaki so well. The seafood within the pancake was sweet and so was the okonomiyaki sauce, but the savoriness (if this is a word) of the mayo balances with the sweetness. The bonito flakes were also surprisingly good, with a gentle breeze the bonito flakes sitting on top of the pancake would wave around as if they were alive. They have a much more solid texture when eaten, it’s definitely something to try out for yourself because describing it isn’t enough. It also doesn’t have as strong of a fishy flavor as one might expect. They also have sauce bottles by the table, should you want more sauce on your pancake.
The total cost at the end of the meal was ¥6820, or about S$61.93. I will add that we ordered 3 drinks which amounted to about ¥1320, but you could also have the complementary water. Was it worth it, and would I go again?
In my opinion, much of the price probably had to do with the restaurant located in Dotonbori district, and that’s understandable. Given the front row seats to the cooking show, I’m inclined to say it was worth it, but getting these seats isn’t guaranteed and there’s plenty of other seats available that have their own grill built into the table. The only difference is that the food isn’t cooked in front of you. Sadly, it’s not worth it to me. Like my previous review of tsukemen, I think it’s entirely possible to find another restaurant in Osaka that serves okonomiyaki for a much cheaper price and isn’t as busy as this restaurant. By the time we finished dinner, we were incredibly full and probably headed into a food coma. That is, until I looked to my left and saw a massive crowd outside queueing to get into the restaurant. It seemed that in our lucky encounter with Chibo, that this restaurant was actually quite popular and had more than just the ground floor for seating. It had a staggering 6 floors of dining space, and in the time we were having dinner, it was completely full. With that being said, I probably won’t be heading back to Chibo for another round of okonomiyaki. Considering the amount of people waiting in line to dine at Chibo, I think it’s popular for a reason, but I don’t share the same sentiment with them.
Overall, I’d rate this experience a 5/10. Despite the positive review of the okonomiyaki, I think the portion size for the pair set meal is enormous and the amount of cabbage in it had put me off eating a couple times during the meal.
