Okonomiyaki at Kura

We went out to dinner last night to a new restaurant near our house and will definitely be going back! Well it's not new, but new to us. On the walk over there we passed a dry cleaner and couldn't resist this picture.

The restaurant we went to was so neat! There was no English at all on the menu and no pictures. Julie said, "I'll do the best I can," because she can speak a little and read a little Japanese. I was completely clueless, but did see a picture on the wall of something and Julie said it's Okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) is a pan-fried batter cake and ours had egg, shrimp, green onions, ginger and something that looked like Rice Krispies. Okonomi means "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki means "grilled" or "cooked" (cf. yakitori and yakisoba); thus, the name of this dish means "cook what you like." As they're cooking you put bbq sauce on it and mayonnaise. I loved the bottle with the mayo in it!

The floor was all stones, tiny ones, with a cement walking path. Before we went up into the area to eat we had to remove our shoes. When I sat down I noticed a hole in the floor for my legs and was relieved since I've been to a restaurant where we sat on the floor and my feet and legs kept falling asleep!

We ate for ¥800 (about $8) each and ended up taking one okonomiyaki home. This restaurant also had the largest glass of water I've ever had at a restaurant here.