Okonomiyaki Night

Okonomiyaki, for some of readers who wonder what it is, is Japanese pancake made with flour, cabbage, eggs, topped with meat or seafood.

Tonight we took John to Ose, an Okonomiyaki restaurant located at Nagata, about five train stops from where the school is. We chose Ose, over the one near our place since Ose is a much better place for really good Okonomiyakis plus it's cosy and typically Japanese in ambience.

We were early as there weren't many customers yet when we arrived. Ose consists of two floors and we were seated upstairs, where you sit on the floor, on cushions laid down for you. It's a not a very big place, precisely because of the lack of chairs.

We've been patronising Ose for five years now and pretty much has remained constant. The food, service and the overall cosiness have not changed one single bit.

For starters we always go for our favourite tofu salad. It's a refreshing start and the tofu is really as soft and wobly as jelly you have to pick it up delicately with your chopsticks. I especially like the fish flakes sprinkled on the tofu.



Our next favourite item is another salad dish.



This warm salad came with seafood and beef with the addition of pumpkin, corn, mushroom, served on a foil which was then placed on the table of hot plate in front of us. We let it sizzle for a minute or two before tucking in.

Here's a picture and video to give you a better idea (QuickTime, 444kb).



Next came the Okonomiyaki which is the specialty of the Ose. We ordered a Korean style Okonomiyaki, which comes with soyu and some sort of sambal like dipping. Because it's Korean, it containes Kimchi and therefore a little spicy.

Here's another video (QuickTime, 652kb).



We didn't overeat this time as we normally do at Ose.

When we took the train back home, the cabins were filled with mainly salarymen in dark suits.



Once in the cabin my sensitive nose was hit by a rather peculiar odour emitted by these guys. Imagine the smell after a long drinking and heavy smoking session with colleagues after work (a vital part of work in Japan), and the smell of cigarettes gets stuck on your clothes and the beer stench is emitted on your breath, all collectively in the same room.

I won't say it here.

Technorati: Food, Japan, Singapore