mizuno

we didn't have any other thing to do in the afternoon since we were not lucky to book matsusaka yakiniku that night, so we had nothing to do. plus it was raining, so we decided to just go to dotonbori and enjoy some street food. the last time we went to dotonbori, we only managed to try takoyaki so we wanted to try some more. if you had no idea, some famous street food were takoyaki, okonomiyaki, melon pan with ice cream or custard, kushikatsu (basically just fried skewer things) and many more. there were a lot of stalls selling similar stuff, so better do your research and find out which one you want to try since you only have one stomach.

mini yamaimo-yaki

anyway.. it was still raining for a bit, so we thought we might find a stall that we could sit inside to eat. we wanted to try another takoyaki, but not another kyo-chabana. 3 most popular okonomiyaki in dotonbori and namba area were chibo, mizuno and chitose. i've tried to pin all the places that we wanted to see or eat at in the google maps, but somehow it got confused that day. we didn't find out that chibo was nearby even though it was the one we wanted to try. so we went to mizuno instead. we also didn't know that mizuno was a michelin restaurant, not until we got inside.

mini modern-yaki

it was easy to find. from kinryu ramen on the right side, walk straight for a bit then turn right. you would see mizuno on your left. there was a short queue outside, so we waited and got handed the menu, but it was in japanese. we asked for the english menu and they had english menu. there were a lot of choices, but since we were hoping we could eat some more on the street, we decided to choose a set menu. i was not sure whether or not you could share a single okonomiyaki, but if we were to eat separate two okonomiyaki, i didn't think we could finish them all. so we decided to get the menu that has two mini okonomiyaki. you can see their menu here. and this is their website. our pick offered mini yamaimo-yaki (with two toppings, pork loin and scallops) and mini-mix modern-yaki (with 6 toppings and noodles).

the restaurant has 2 floors, the first floor has a big semicircular counter with hot surface on top with a chef behind it. and there were several chairs facing the counter. it was quite crowded and the alley was not that big, so you couldn't walk pass behind the chairs when there was another person walking the opposite way. there were no waiting place beside the cashier. the stair was quite steep and narrow too. there was a sofa at the top of the stair so some could wait outside. the seating arrangement on the second floor was different. it has several sofa chair facing each other with a table in between the chairs. the table has a cooking surface, but it was not on all the time. the seats were enough for 2-4 people. once you have made your choice, the waiter would take your order and then another one would come and prepare the cooking. the chef prepared both of your dishes on the tables in front of us.

since we ordered the mini ones, it was half the size from the one we had at kyo-chabana. it had two toppings, pork loin and scallops, two each placed exactly at quarter apart. the batter was not as thick as kyo chabana and it didn't have much cabbage too. they also put the sauce pretty earlier than the one in kyo chabana. toward the end, the chef asked us whether we like some mustard or mayo on top. we asked for little mustard but normal mayo. it was ready faster than the modern-yaki, since it had fried noodle in the batter. we finished the first one before the second one was even ready.

the first one was delicious. since it didn't have thick batter, it was not as fulfilling as the one from kyo-chabana. and it was the one we hoped for. we didn't want to be super full. for me, i like this one better, but unfortunately, i didn't like the pork loin topping. since the meat was small, it became hard and a bit dry. the other one was delicious as well. it tasted like fried noodles with a bit of batter with sauce and mayonnaise. it had all 6 toppings, but only one each.

though i like this better than the one at kyo chabana, but i couldn't say that this is the best since i haven't tried them all. what i like better from this one was this didn't have thick batter so it was not much to digest and they didn't put tons of sauce as well, so it wasn't too tangy. for me, i like mizuno better than kyo-chabana. price wise, it was probably standard for okonomiyaki. next time i will check chibo out since it was rated better than this one. have you tried all three? which one is your favorite?