We arrived in Hiroshima in the evening after a great day visiting Himeji Castle and Kokoen Garden. We got ourselves checked in to our hotel before seeking out some grub! Hiroshima has its own special type of okonomiyaki, a Japanese omelette/pancake, made with less batter and with the addition of noodles – and they are incredibly proud of it! 

What better way to spend our opening night in Hiroshima than at Okonomimura: three floors of okonomiyaki stands all serving the Hiroshima brand! We found a floor guide on the ground floor and wondered how on earth to choose between the different vendors! In the end we just had to pick one that had seats and preferably an English menu, although most menus have pictures and they’re pretty much all serving the same thing – hiroshimayaki!

Ours had a clear baseball theme – the Hiroshima Carps are certainly well loved in the area! 

We ordered a classic Hiroshimayaki with green onion and grilled oysters – another regional favourite. The chef cooked up our noodles, cabbage and bean sprouts on the hot plate in front of us and topped it with a thin sheet of batter. He spread okonomiyaki sauce over the top and we were free to add our own mayo. It was so delicious and I loved the balance of vegetables to batter and noodles which made it taste lighter than okonomiyaki usually does. The local grilled oysters were a bit special too!