Mizuno Okonomiyaki, Osaka

Osaka is really a vibrant and robust city, the 3rd largest city in Japan after Tokyo and Yokohama. Readers, I am so sorry to have jumped from location to location...from Tokyo to Kyoto then Hakone and now Osaka. :P

There's a saying in Japan....
local ppl go broke in Kyoto buying Kimonos, and
loca ppl go broke in Osaka EATING

so it has got to be the Mecca of Food right?
oh well half of that is right, only if you are seeking a different type of food. Street Food!!!!

by the way your favourite Takoyaki *grilled Octopus balls* and Okonomiyaki originated from Osaka (Kansai). Since we've only got a nite to spend here, we decided that these 2 dishes must make it to our to-eat-list.

Speaking of a nite trip here, we managed to do a lot in less than 24 hours. It was meant as a layover from Kyoto bcoz the traveling time by Shinkansen *bullet train* was only errrr 12 minutes??? Yea I know right? before my bum-bum can heat up the comfy seat, we've already arrived at Osaka main station. Since we were already in Kyoto, was contemplating to visit either Osaka or Nara, and bcoz Monkey is such a greedy person when it comes to Food, the choice had to be Osaka..

Hey in Nara, u dun get to eat....u only get to feed the Wild Deers rice crackers!!!! But that would be something that we'll loved to do in the very near future....


We finally located the shop which was off the main street of Dotonburi. The queue was pretty systematic. Each of us were given the menu in Japanese/English to browse through. Soon the menu alone isn't enuff bcoz u'll only need less than 5 minutes to look through at all its specialities, while the average queue is about 45 minutes.

They were not reading the menu...
HAIII!!!!! no wonder all these local Japanese brought their books along!!!!!
to kill time while waiting!!!!
so JS and me ended up browsing Facebook on our mobile. -_-"


of coz in the end, it ended up only Monkey standing in the line bcoz JS is someone whom u can't contain at/on the same spot for too long. He'll get restless, agitated and frustrated. Bahahahahaha.
As usual, he'll go around wander along the street snapping more quality pics for this blog :))))))


Monkey and JS looking at their reflections.

so from standing outside, we finally got inside to Queue!!!
bahahahah so in the end we queue-ed for one hour for 2 freaking okonomiyaki. By then every single spot along Dotonburi street was already captured in JS's camera....KEKEKEKEKEKEKE

There were only a few counter sittings on the ground floor. And it can only seat precisely 10 ppl at one go. Mizuno has got an upper floor as well.

It's pretty normal to have a basket underneath the chair in Japan.....including Starbucks. So u just dump ur possession in there.

Hmmm there were so many types of Okonomiyaki today. Different style, ingredients and cooking method. Bcoz this was the holy grail of Okonomiyaki of coz u gotta go for the Original one.

Okie, Mr. Hensem Chef....gimme the most original Okonomiyaki with Bacon!!!!! wahahahahaha

while I down a bottle of Special Kirin.
There's so many types of Kirin in Japan...the premium ones, the flavored ones, the limited edition ones and a Zero Alcohol Kirin. >.< Why would u want a zero alcohol beer? Just go and drink juices if u want zero alcohol ok?

I was so impressed with the "cut" of its bacon. Thick and layered with good fat....bahahahah. Yes denial...fat is fat..is there such thing as good fat? Japanese however dun refer this as bacon...it's Pork Belly which is more accurate :))

That reminded me of our Barcelona trip when they were promoting HEALTHY BACON. Good fat and low cholesterol bcoz they were fed with organic corns. -_-"

Okonomiyaki derives from 2 words..
Okonomi = as u like/watever u want/watever u like
yaki = grilled

The Osaka/Kansai variation of Okonomiyaki is cooked with all the ingredients mixed into a batter with lots of cabbage on the grill. Where else the Hiroshima style is cooked separately, layers by layers with more shredded cabbage...up to 5x times the Osaka/Kansai style.

Sizzles~~~~~~~~ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

I lurve scallions and they looked so fresh and yummy :)))))))))

JS ordered a seafood variation. He was as impatient as Monkey coz both of us were very hungry despite chomping down 10 takoyakis on the queue.

I tell ya, watching food cooked right b4 ur eyes is a feast on its own.
Each sitting was given a stainless steel spatula, chopstick and a small plate.

The cooking isn't much down until sweet or savoury okonomiyaki sauce was laden on top. So u can choose if u want it sweet or savoury or both.

Then generous heaps of Bonito Flakes were put on top....due to its heat, the bonito flakes just shrunk n bcame almost invisible!!!

Waiting for food when one is this hungry is quite a torture u know?
the smell, the sight the sound!!!!!

Mayonaise sauce on top with green tea powder. Again it's up to your liking, if u didn't want it, u can omit them.

WAHHHH looked so creamie!!!
the fragrant of the pork belly, the fresh chicken eggs.....and all the vege!!!!

It's then served on the grill...so u'll just cut it with your individual spatula...and we made quite a mess outta it :P

The ingredients were cooked just right, soft and fluffy....the seafood was still to the bite esp the white squid. U can still taste the occasional crunch of the shredded cabbage. Not bad but apparently everyone said this is one of the top 3 Okonomiyaki in Osaka.

Mizuno has been operating for the last 65 years, having being passed down from generation to generation. Prollie streetfood isn't our kind of food. It was a good experience minus the queue time. Well one said that when u are in Rome, u gotta do wat the Romans do right?

Mizuno Okonomiyaki,
1-4-15, Dotonbori, Chuo-ku,
Osaka, Japan.
Tel: 06 6212 6360
www.mizuno-osaka.com