We ate so much amazing food in Japan that it would be difficult to catalogue every single bite we took to eat. So, here are some of our faves!!
OSAKA
Takoyaki is a must-have when you visit Osaka and if you visit Dotonburi, you will plenty of places selling the street food! We ate at a fair few but if we had to choose, we would choose the one with the giant octopus above it. The literal meaning of takoyaki is ‘grilled octopus’ and they are basically fried balls of egg and flour filled with octopus, pickled ginger and spring onion. Drizzled with takoyaki sauce, mayo and bonito flakes at the end, they are the street snack that dreams are made of. Watch your mouths though as they are really hot!!!
Mizuno – We opted for this place as our favourite okonomiyaki in Osaka. Okonomiyaki in Osaka is basically shredded cabbage mixed up with a flour based batter as well as a choice of other fillings such as pork, shrimp etc. It’s cooked on a griddle in front of you and topped with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise and bonito flakes and is just divine. At Mizuno, they do have a speciality where they use yam flour instead so we tried one and it was amazing!!! Filling wise, we opted for scallops and pork and I would highly recommend it. Inside, the restaurant isn’t very big but the turnover is quite fast which is good because this family run joint is extremely popular and you will have to queue. Please do though as it is totally worth it!!!
MIYAJIMA
This area of Japan is the place to have oysters! We tried them fried and grilled with the latter being far superior! We also had amazing fishcakes on sticks in the shape of maple leaves – a symbol of Hiroshima. Street food is wonderful here!
HIROSHIMA
Yocchan – There was only one thing we could have in Hiroshima and that was okonomiyaki. It differs from the Osaka one slightly as the ingredients are more layered than mixed together. We had a recommendation for where to go and it was conveniently at the train station and full of locals. We had had a long day and had walked for miles so this was the perfect meal to have with a cold beer!
KOBE
Nagatahonshou – We learned about this place from one of our Air Bnb hosts.