Osaka trip: okonomiyaki

I went to Osaka and met my friend who now works in Osaka. The first time we met, she was studying Swedish in Stockholm and I was just back in Sweden from my first six months stay in Sapporo. She wanted to practice Swedish and I wanted to practice Japanese to not forget the little I knew.

This time in Osaka, she took me to a famous Okonomiyaki restaurant. Osaka is famous for tako-yaki and okonomiyaki (food that is more like omelet, and is not served with rice).

Okonomiyaki means literally "fry what you like". You can usually choose what you want in it (and toppings to put on it too), with options like pork, beef, squid, octopus, cheese, shrimps, mushrooms, etc.

The place we went to served very nice okonomiyaki. The interior was also nice, in an old Japanese style. We had to stand in line and wait for about 20 minutes or so, and then wait another 15 minutes inside the restaurant, so the place is evidently popular.

In some okonomiyaki places you get to cook your food yourself on a hot plate on your table. The place we went to this time was not like that, but you had a hot plate in front of you to keep your food burning hot while you ate the rest of your food.