14 May 2024

Japan 2024 Trip Part 20: Dotonbori and Okonomiyaki in Osaka

Previously:


A trip to Osaka won't feel complete without visiting Dotonbori!! Dotonbori is a famous entertainment district in Osaka for its dazzling neon lights, lavish giant three-dimensional signage and countless restaurants and bars.  It is also known as Osaka's nightlife area that runs along Dotonbori canal.  Surely correct because when evening comes this area fills with thousands and thousands human beings.  Sometimes, it is quite challenging to walk through the bridge or the main street let alone to get into the popular restaurants and stalls. 


There are being mentioned around the internet that there is this 'secret' spot where you can take a better shot with this iconic Glico signboard.  The photo would be like aligning you with the running field.  My thought, the place would be hidden and in a quite corner, but it was totally a mistake.  When I arrived at the location, there were many people lined up already and there was a sign saying the waiting time is around 40 minutes.  No way, I will wait for that.  It's like waiting for a ride at Disneyland.  But for you who have some spare time, I think the wait is worth it as you can get an epic shot like no other.





We came to Dotonbori with an intention to eat okonomiyaki.  Osaka is famous for their okono or short from okonomiyaki.  Osaka style okono is different from Hiroshima style where in here, all ingredients are mixed together before cooking while in Hiroshima, the ingredients are layered one after another on the hot plate.  We literally stopped by each okono shop mentioned in the google review.  But most of them are either has a small space or very long queue.  Then we ended up in this one shop locates on the third floor of Berusodo building at the back of Glico sign building.  The restaurant is big and most importantly we can go in right away without queuing.  Not because there wasn't customer there but the restaurant is quite big and can fit numbers of people.   



When we got in, there is a space underneath our seat to keep coats and other personal belongings.  Very smart and convenient.  Looking at their menu, they offer a great variety of okonomiyaki dishes and side dishes as well.  We were totally starving and ordered two yakisoba dishes and two serve of okono as well as one starter.  Fortunately, yakisoba arrived as ready to eat and we could dig in instantly.  It is gone in a flash before that okono even in their halfway through of cooking.


Beer 630yen

Cheese tonpeiyaki 870yen

Deluxe yakisoba with pork, squid, shrimp and sunny side up 1,880yen

Butatama - Japanese pork and cabbage okonomiyaki 980yen

With okonomiyaki, the lady there helped doing everything from mixing to cooking them.  She even clearly mentioned to us to not touching the okono until there are ready.  After it is done, our job is to cut them into smaller portion and of course, eat them.

Their dishes were delicious but I still prefer the one we had a few years back (but I couldn't find them anymore).



Pork, squid, green onion and mayo yakisoba 1,570yen

Dotonbori Ebisubashi Store
1-9-1 Dotonbori, Chuo-ku, Osaka
Level 3 of Berusodo Building
Ph: +81 6 6212 5990
There are many other branches across Japan

Stay tuned for the next blog still in Japan:

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