I’ve been awol from the blogosphere as of late due to a flurry of business and personal travel. Last week saw me in Atlanta, LA, NYC and Toronto! With all that travel comes all sorts of interesting dining.
I’d always heard Toronto had a culturally diverse dining scene so I set out in search of something unique and ethnic. In the Yorkville neighborhood I stumbled upon Okonomi House Restaurant. To most, Japanese food means sushi, hibachi, or maybe izakaya, but not so at Okonomi House.
“Okonomi” is Japanese for “favorite,” and the favorite here is a stuffed pancake of sorts – Okonomiyaki. There are a variety of choices including bacon, seafood and veggies. I opted for the pork. It’s an eggy pancake with crispy edges, a sweet barbecue-like sauce and a dollop of a mayo sauce.
One is is more than enough, and much like I do with traditional omelets, I ran out of steam before I was done. There’s just something about all that egg that fills me up rather quickly. Not to say it wasn’t good though – I enjoyed the unusual combination of flavors and left plenty full for less than $10 USD. If I had it again, I might ask them to go a little easier on the bbq sauce so I could distinguish the other ingredients more.
This strikes me like an interesting recipe to try at home, too. Quick dinner, eh? (yes, I’m getting into the Canuck spirit!) Lo and behold, I’ve found an entire site dedicated to the okonomiyaki. Get the recipe here.
The restaurant is also a perfect spot for a solo diner. In fact there were three others flying solo while I was there. I was bummed that I didn’t get to try one of Toronto’s more renowned spots like Black Hoof or Note Bene, but there’s always next time…
Okonomi House Restaurant
23 Charles St W
Toronto, ON M4Y
Fantastic recipe.its great that Japanese food is also available in this restaurant.
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