I have never had okonomiyaki お好み焼き in my life before!! I have seen it mentioned so many times in manga and anime... And the one anime / manga that mentioned it the most was Ranma 1/2. That was one of my favourite mangas! Towards the end of the series it mentioned a lot about okonomiyaki, and it is one Japanese dish that I have wanted to try out for a very long, long time.
If you have never heard of okonomiyaki before, it's a savoury pancake made with white cabbage, pancake mixture and other ingredients like squid or tofu - and obviously it was originated in Japan!
Well, obviously I am a bit of a late blogger, and this place Okan おかん has been opened for quite a while. Plus, I think it's been blogged about so many times! But nonetheless I am going to blog about it! I don't think there are many places in London where you can find okonomiyaki, however I found this one whilst trying to look for Japanese / Sushi restaurants in South East London (further south of the Thames) which isn't part of a chain! There are not that many I would say, but there are quite a few in Brixton! Okan is slightly hard to find because there isn't a shop sign. The top sign was blank. Miss Pinky saw it first. And I thought, is it this place?? Yes it was... The lanterns has its name in Japanese!
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| Okan - Look closely at the door for the sign... |
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| Japanese ornaments / signs at the door |
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| Kitchenware |
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| Chef hard at work... Look how many they are making at the same time! Amazing!! ^^ |
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| Okonomiyaki being prepared |
So there are a few choices of okonomiyaki, soba (Japanese fried noodles) and a small set of starters that you can choose from... After looking at the menu for a bit, I wanted either the tofu or the cheese and sweetcorn... I chose the cheese and sweetcorn, only because it sounded peculiar to have as a pancake (although I have had a bacon pancake in Amsterdam before!!). I had mine with an elderflower and ginger juice. The drink was sweet at first but it became watery afterwards (I took all the sweetness away).
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| Cheese and Sweetcorn Okonomiyaki - it didn't taste bad at all |
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| Ginger and Elderflower drink |
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| Inside my Cheese and Sweetcorn Okonomiyaki |
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| Squid Okonomiyaki - I liked the squid but slightly overcooked for me... |
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| Sapporo Japanese Beer |
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| Okonomiyaki!!! ^^ |
Well to be honest, this is what I expected. I have tasted okonomiyaki brown sauce before, and I just love the way they add the mayonnaise on top! It beats the savoury pancake I ate in Amsterdam last year too. :D I think I will have a try at making okonomiyaki myself - it doesn't look hard!
Here's also a few pics I took of Brixton Village Market too... I will need to come here again to try out the other cuisines! ^^
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| Brixton Village ceiling |
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| Brixton Village Entrance |
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| It's very multicultural!! |
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| I saw this sign and laughed :D - 'Fish Wings and Tings' - very Jamaican! |
My geeky rating: 4.8/5 (just the signage that let me down - but yes, I will come again!!!!)
Good points:
- Got to sit at the front where the cooks were preparing all the food!
- Good and friendly service
- Excellent experience in a non-chain Japanese restaurant
Bad points:
- Bad signage - I would have gone around in circles still looking for it if Miss Pinky didn't point it out!
- Miss Pinky got a small allergy reaction (I think it took a day to wear off)
Address: Unit 39, Brixton Village Market SW9 8PS
Website: www.okanbrixtonvillage.com
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Update 11/08/2013...
So many months later, 10 months to be exact I went back to Brixton Village to meet up with Miss Pinky, her new boyfriend Mr Picky with my mum, and this is what I saw! Okan have a painted sign above their door!! Yay!!
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| Okan sign ^_^ |
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| Improved |
