Authentic Osaka-style okonomiyaki with richly flavored special sauce and mayonnaise

Text and photos byShadow

After leaving Nara, the car gradually approached Namba Station. Exiting from Exit 15 of Namba Station and walking for a few minutes, we spotted the very familiar king crab model—long-awaited Dotonbori was finally here, Up！ From morning till afternoon, we had only been eating bread to tide us over, and everyone could no longer hold back. We decided to have a big meal to make up for the long walk today. The first stop was to try Tsukiji Honten's Hiroshimayaki (okonomiyaki) at Tsuruhashi Fūgetsu, which was recommended by one of our group members. The restaurant is located on the third floor of the building diagonally opposite that king crab.

There happened to be a Kurukuru takoyaki shop nearby—isn’t this the same takoyaki we had at Osaka Station Ekimaru? There was a huge line, but we’re not used to such soft takoyaki, so we skipped it, Up.

Many Taiwanese tourists include Tsuruhashi Fūgetsu okonomiyaki as a must-try dish when traveling in Japan, and this restaurant has quite a few branches in Japan.

The first floor of the Dotonbori Ebisubashi branch is a FamilyMart. We took the elevator from the side to the third floor. At first, we got a bit lost—even though we could see the sign, we didn’t know where to take the elevator from. Luckily, we met a local who was also going to dine on the third floor, so we followed their lead and successfully reached the entrance of the restaurant.

This is it—the storefront isn’t very large, and a staff member seated us right away as we walked in.

Since there were many Japanese diners, we didn’t take any photos of the interior. Shadow will describe it roughly: most of the seats are for four people, surrounding an iron griddle. Since our group was larger, we split into two tables. The staff, knowing we were Chinese, even gave us a Chinese menu. The servers here are young and very friendly.

My husband and I ordered the pork okonomiyaki, while another member of our table ordered one with beef. We also added some extra side dishes. The server first quickly mixed the okonomiyaki ingredients, then slowly poured them onto the iron griddle to form a round shape.

At this point, all we could do was stare at the okonomiyaki—we couldn’t touch it yet. Just looking at it made our mouths water and our stomachs growl even more. We had to wait a few minutes for the bottom to cook through before flipping it.

After a long wait, the server came over and sprinkled bonito flakes on top of the okonomiyaki. The heated bonito flakes danced around as if they were flying. Then the server walked away again, and we could only keep waiting....

Finally, it was flipped over. We thought this meant it was almost ready. Our stomachs were really growling now, and we could only gulp down water and keep chatting as we waited.

Wow, the sauce was finally brushed on—a layer of mayonnaise, then the special sauce. We waited eagerly for the server’s signal to dig in. We had chosen a combination of pork and squid, and the Japanese okonomiyaki was truly delicious. The sauce and vegetables complemented each other perfectly, and before we knew it, we had finished the whole piece.

We also ordered some side dishes, like stir-fried pork belly with vegetables. The sauce was sweet and spicy, and quite tasty. The okonomiyaki here really lived up to its reputation—the star of the show was definitely the sauce on top. If you come to Japan, you must try Tsuruhashi Fūgetsu’s okonomiyaki.

Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi were packed with people—just a sea of black heads. After the meal, everyone couldn’t hold back anymore and finally hit the shops. We only had this short window of time during our two-day stay in Osaka to go on a crazy shopping spree. Here, we mainly bought medicine—anything over 5,000 yen qualifies for tax refund, but that also led to long lines at the refund counter. My husband queued up while I looked for medicine. For items under 5,000 yen, I just checked out together with other group members. For tax refund, you need to hand your passport to the staff, who will then seal the purchased items in special plastic bags. These cannot be opened until you leave Japan. You’ll also get a tax-free purchase slip stapled to your passport. When you return to your home country, you’ll need to put the slip in the basket provided by customs at the airport.

Finally, everyone, laden with shopping bags, remembered to check out the famous Glico signboard in Dotonbori. In October 2014, it was replaced with the sixth-generation signboard, featuring 140,000 eco-friendly LED lights* on the board. The background image behind Mr. Glico also changes from time to time, so passersby can stop and take a good look.

We didn’t have much time this visit, so we focused on the highlights. Previously, we’d only seen the charm of Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi through photos from netizens. This place is not only a food paradise but also a shopping paradise. If you come to Osaka and don’t visit here, you can’t say you’ve been to Osaka. After a whole day of non-stop walking, our feet were sore. Everyone just wanted to hurry back to the guesthouse, take a good shower, and get some sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll head to Kyoto, and the itinerary ahead is pretty tight—stay tuned.

Address: 3F Bell’s 0 Building, 1-9-1 Dotonbori, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi
Phone: +816-6635-3251
 

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