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2011-08-10
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We were informed about this brand new Okonomi Yaki place during its brand new opening stage, and were ultra keen to try out this new Okonomiyaki Ya as it shall bring back happy memories of our past adventures in J-Land! Despite the presence of some hot plates for customers sitting infront of the few selectable tables which came with, well, a warming teppan - it turns out the Teppanyaki or Konomiyaki dish selections were to be cooked by the Japanese chef anyway, he who used to work for
We were informed about this brand new Okonomi Yaki place during its brand new opening stage, and were ultra keen to try out this new Okonomiyaki Ya as it shall bring back happy memories of our past adventures in J-Land! Despite the presence of some hot plates for customers sitting infront of the few selectable tables which came with, well, a warming teppan - it turns out the Teppanyaki or Konomiyaki dish selections were to be cooked by the Japanese chef anyway, he who used to work for another Konomiya shop in Causeway Bay just a street away. Those who've eaten a lot of Okonomiyaki or Self Cooked Teppanyaki, or Monjya Yaki in Japan before will understand that half of the shops over there in J-Land either offer Teppanyaki or Okonomiyaki to be cooked by the customers themselves, as it is all part of the whole fun deal. Not so here, I'm afraid to say! .
I do understand that the Chef might not trust us fully as a competent cook, but then why do they even bother teasing us by offering a Teppan in front of our table? We've all been to Japan before and cooked our own decent albeit not amazing Okonomiyaki or Teppan meals before, right? ... .
大阪焼き -The Osakan-styled Okonomiyaki pancake arrived first tonight. This is filled with both Pork, as well as our additionally added Beef Tendons at an additional price, which is said to be a signature offering here! The mayonnaise and okonomiyaki sweet sauce were fairly generic in the end, and were both FLAT in both looks and taste rather than 3 dimensional as will be expected from a great Okonomiyaki House in Japan ... The Pancake itself was overly flat and not nearly fluffy enough, even rather dense. And according to a fellow friend who used to lived in Osaka for a few year who had also agreed but probably a bit too polite to point out the truth, the Pork Bacon here should have been fried separately first on the hot place before pouring onto the batter, which apparently is not done correctly here to give it more of a proper teppan grilled flavour and crispy edge texture. Tonight - it was just barely cooked on top of the dough mix and combined with the rest of the overly wet dough. A little dis-encouraging if not disappointing. ~ 6.5/10
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The Seaweed Flakes and the Dusted Bonito Flakes were quite average standards if it is from a true Japanese Okonomiyaki-Ya house. Instead of high quality shaved Bonito Flakes, these come with just Bonito Dusts, which truly robbs us of a truly authentic Japanese experience. The dried 青のり flakes were also of the lower classed commercial quality as well. The sauce, the bonito and the seaweed altogether combined weren't exactly representative of a higher quality Konomiyaki shop. So wasn't the texture of the product outcome. .
オムそば -This Omelette plus Yaki-Soba noodles was done alright well. The same problem existed nevertheless as the sauce was fairly generic in taste rather than rather 3 Dimensional.... The Yaki-Soba was under seasoned in the sauce base, and doesn't have nearly enough 天かす or 揚げ玉 tempura batter crisps. Nor has it enough meat slices. The egg omelette covering was cooked ok-well but arrived a little rough. I'd expected better to be frank. This was of average standards I think! ~ 6.5/10
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Beer was served from the Can at a grossly inflated price compared to 7-11. The Calpis drink was said to be pretty good, as it should as it is pretty much a diluted drink. ******************************
I am going to be sorry to say this. This is as average as an Okonomiyaki Ya as it could become. One could find much better Konomiyaki at anywhere else and at every corner of the touristy spots in both Osaka or even Tokyo. This is probably at the lower end of what I would expect to find over there - and as said we are used to cooking better quality by ourselves and with better ingredients and cooking methods. Why should we bother coming here to pay for a premium price for mediocrity quality, if there is better to be found! That remains to be my final question...
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