When travelling to Japan you want to taste as many typical and regional dishes as possible. Of course sushi, sashimi and tempura are well known, but there are so many dishes that we’ve never heard of. Something that you have to try when travelling to the south of Japan, is okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is not only a fun word to say out loud, it is also a fun dish. It is like a pancake/crepe filled with a mixture of meat, fish, onions, vegetables and spices covered with nori and a fried egg. The sauce is a bit like HP’s brown sauce. It is really tasty and savoury, great for lunch or light dinner.
The most fun place to eat this fast food dish, is in the geisha district (Gion) of Kyoto. Issen Yoshoku is a one dish restaurant, they serve only the okonomiyaki, however they do have a menu (with one dish on it!).
When you enter the restaurant the first thing you notice is all the mannequins in the restaurant. The mannequins wear kimonos and the most ugly wigs. This way when you go to a restaurant by yourself, you will never have to dine alone as a mannequin accompanies you. In a way it is better to look at an odd looking mannequin than an empty chair. There are small displays of strange and sometimes slightly pornographic figurines and cartoons. Let me just say, you won’t get bored in this place!
Gion, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan 533 0001
Reported by Lindsay M. Pronk - van Alphen special guest editor
