In August I had two weeks of holidays and the destination was a country that I always wanted to visit: Japan.
During this time there, I managed to visit Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka and I’ll try to show here on the blog a little bit of my experience there, especially in regard to the topic I know more about: food. Yum Yum Yum!
To start, I decided to put here our first lunch in Tokyo: Tsurujiro Okonomiyaki in Asakusa. This restaurant is very close to the Senso-ji temple and had good reviews online, what convinced us to give it a try. Also, I was very excited to try Okonomiyaki and, if possible, to cook it by myself (some restaurants don’t give you this opportunity).
Okonomiyaki is kind of a savory pancake cooked on a grill, very popular in Japan and delicious. Toppings can vary but basically, the ingredients are eggs, cabbage, seafood or pork, green onions and wheat flour (Yeah, unfortunately this is not gluten-free).
My order
As the entrée, I ordered a portion of Kimchi. I simply love it! It was delicious, the only disappointing thing was the portion size. Very, very small.
After that, we ordered the mains. There was a good variety of Okonomiyaki flavours, including a two-flavour option, which was my husband choice: Pork and Pollack Roe Mochi Cheese. This one comes fully prepared out of the kitchen, so you just need to keep the pancake warm.
My choice was a simple Pork and Spring Onions Okonomiyaki. As I wanted to cook it, all the ingredients were brought to our table, together with some instructions.
The idea is to mix everything from the first bowl (egg, cabbage, cheese and wheat flour dough), next put them on the grill making (pork aside) a pancake shape. Then, once the bottom is golden brown and crunchy flip to the other side. Top the cooked side with the extra egg, spring onions and it’s done.
As I prefer my egg and pork well done, I decided to put them on the top before flipping the pancake, so they would cook a little bit more.
It’s still funny to remember … the waitress apparently didn’t like my style of cooking and tried to tell me that it was wrong hahaha! 😀
Well, to finish, top with some spring onions and some of the dressings available. I’ve decided to have a little bit of mayo. 🙂
This cooking process takes some time. I can say around 15 minutes for sure.
The final result was delicious and I was very proud of myself. Almost felt like an authentic Japanese cook. 🙂
The verdict
Although both plates were good and the experience of cooking it by myself was very cool, I believe the portion sizes were too small for the price, especially comparing to other places we visited during the rest of our trip. However, the location is good, especially if you are visiting the Senso-ji temple, and it does not seem to be a very busy restaurant comparing to others in that area (huuuge lines!).
About English: It is an English-friendly restaurant, including English menu. In case you have any questions on how to cook your Okonomiyakiyaki, the staff had an average level English, but were friendly and helpful.
Total bill (two people): $2,745 Yen (A$ 35) – no drinks.
Exact location: https://goo.gl/maps/xdWytcMLDcD2
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