..Food addiction in Osaka..#1 お好み焼

Close-up on waraiyaki, my favorite okonomiyaki

Osaka is Japan's greatest food city
My るるぶ楽楽 ("rurubu rakuraku") travel book of Osaka mainly talks about street food and restaurants and, I must say, the number of small food shops here is amazing. Someone told me that Osaka people eat out around 7 times per week. There is even a Japanese proverb for it:

京の着倒れ、大阪の食い倒れ

Kyo no ki-daore, Osaka no kui-daore

Kyoto people ruin themselves on clothes,
Osaka people ruin themselves on food

Even if Osaka is not a main spot for overseas visitors, a lot of Japanese tourists come to Osaka for the food
A friend that works in the luxury hotel industry (Hilton, Ritz-Carlton, etc.) also told me that the highest turnover for restaurants is made in Osaka.

So today I'll start a new blog series: my food addictions in Osaka!
All pictures are taken with my iPhone.


お好み焼 (okonomiyaki)

Okonomiyaki literally means "grill what you like/as you want" and comes in the form of a big salty pancake based on either shredded cabbage (Osaka style) or yakisoba (Hiroshima style) and topped up with onion, meat (pork) or seafood (octopus, squid, shrimp).
My favorite style is made of mochi and cheese!

Okonomiyaki are served or directly made on hot plates that are built into the table : your food will never get cold and you can finish the cooking yourself by adding ingredients such as aonori (seaweed flakes), katsuobushi (bonito flakes), mayonnaise, sauce and pickled ginger.

I usually eat okonomiyaki twice per week. In Osaka uni you can get them at the okonomiyaki stand for only 250 (3USD)!!
Normal okonomiyaki in restaurants cost around 900 (10 USD).
Okonomiyaki in France cost around 15 EUR (18 USD)

My 2 favorite okonomiyaki shops near my place in Osaka, Umeda:

Name: Yamamoto Negiyaki
Full name: やまもと ねぎ焼き 梅田エスト・ワン店
Address: 大阪府大阪市北区角田町2-4 エスト一番街
Access: 梅田駅より徒歩4～5分 / ＪＲ大阪駅 中央口 徒歩8分
Reservation: 06-6131-0118
Website: link

Name: Nishiki Warai
Full name: お好み焼き・鉄板焼 京都・錦わらい 梅田茶屋町店
Address: 大阪府大阪市北区芝田1-15-21
Access: 阪急線梅田駅 徒歩3分 / ＪＲ大阪駅 中央口 徒歩5分
Reservation: 06-6131-8111
Website: link

My favorite okonomiyaki shop in Paris:

Name: Happa Tei
Address: 64 rue Sainte Anne, 75002 Paris
Access: Métro Quatre Septembre, 2 minutes à pieds
Reservation: 01 42 96 60 40
Website: N.A.