Hiroshima: Okonomiyaki

Wednesday – Thursday, 2nd – 3rd April, 2014.

Hiroshima is famous for oysters and Okonomiyaki, savoury pancakes  filled with layers of cabbage and other vegetables, noodles and meat or seafood.  We managed to have both.

 

You could buy these enormous oysters on the street and have them freshly shucked.

 

These are actually plastic replica oysters, but it gives an idea of the size.  My main regret on leaving Hiroshima was that I didn’t have more oysters.

 

Okonomiyaki is prepared on a large countertop hotplate, with diners sitting on stools beside it.

 

For our first okonomiyaki experience, we opted to sit at tables on the side of the room, rather than right on the hotplate.

 

Cooking eggs.

 

Cooking oysters.  Yum!

 

Here’s our okonomiyaki, complete with six fat oysters.

 

Other diners beside the counter.

 

Next day when we came home it was raining, so we decided to look in the covered shopping arcade for some more okonomiyaki  before returning to the ryokan.

We found another okonomiyaki  restaurant quite near the first one.

Sadly, they didn’t have oysters at this one, but we were braver here and sat beside the counter.

 

 

 

 

There’s nothing like a hearty serving of okonomiyaki  to prepare you for walking home in the rain, and a welcoming ryokan  hostess with a towel to meet you there.