Mizuno

Best Okonomiyaki place in Osaka!!! Please do not miss it! It is totally worth the wait!

Yay my first michelin star restaurant! I was hesistant to try here because of the ridiculous lines Ive always seen here and I could only assume the food is at michelin star prices but the foodie in me told me to go and pop that michelin cherry.
I was doing a food crawl today for my last day in Osaka so I ordered the yamokonmiyaki or whatever its called but in mini! The mini still costs $ 9 and is a good size so don’t expect it to be tiny. The food came out quickly and very hot. For okonomiyaki, it’s not even close to being my favorite. Chitose will always be my favorite, but it was still good. Didn’t taste like yam but I feel a bit healthier ordering it (if thats possible). Id say the food was alright.
The chefs and servers were nice but busy. Can’t blame. them if they don’t chit chat but no one even attempted to talk to them so maybe they aren’t used to being with friendly customers.
This place is tiny, btw. I can see why there is such a long wait especially when tourists bring groups of 5 with them. I was a lone diner and got in within 10 minutes skipping like 15 people outside and a few groups inside! Yes for solo traveling!
Id say this place is worth trying. It’s not the best but its an experience. Is it worth the wait? No way in hell.

Mizuno seems to be especially populated with tourists, and on the day we went, it was no exception. Expect about a thirty minute wait. There’s plenty of time to view the menu and order before your table is ready. We sat upstairs, so unfortunately, not in front of the bar with the cooks.
Our biggest gripe about this place was that our okonomiyaki was clearly not fresh. They sacrificed quality for efficiency. At first, our server started cooking some okonomiyaki in the middle grill, and we thought it looked good. But then, he brought out our two, already mostly cooked okonomiyaki and mondayaki from the kitchen and placed it on the grill. We thought it was odd, but other reviews were promising, so we dug in.
It did not live up to the hype, and was pricey for «street food.» I thought the mondayaki was better than the okonomiyaki, but it still lacked quality and heartiness. Our cook seemed unenthusiastic and dead inside, so that didn’t help either. If you’re looking for a great meal, go elsewhere.

I didn’t know this place was Michelin rated until I got to the door! I can definitely see why. I got the #1 and #2 which were the yam and mizuno mix. I should’ve gone with the soba one though because those two are very similar. The yam one is special to the wintertime and it’s so good. SO GOOD. They cook all okonomiyakis in front of you and are pretty friendly. There’s a sign that says to refrain from taking pics while they cook but the guy didn’t have problems with is snapping pics. Make sure you eat it immediately or it’ll get too burnt! Highly recommend although the wait made it almost not worth it.

My second try at okonomiyaki but it is nowhere as good as Fukutaro Honten.
We waited in line for about 30 mins on a rainy saturday evening at around 7pm before we could get a seat. A wait staff took our orders while we were in line.
To my disappointment, we were seated on a second floor at a booth. (I was hoping to sit in front of the grill)
Food was OK. I tried the kimchi + spring onion okonomiyaki, it was a little dry and flavourless. The yakisoba was so-​so too.
I wouldnt recommend this place.

Mizuno is an okonomiyaki joint located in Dotonbori. The restaurant is 2 stories but fairly small with a limited amount of tables. We went at 8 PM on a Monday night and waited about 30 minutes.
One thing to note is that when the menu says «or» they really mean «and». We ordered one of the combination okonomiyaki where the English menu listed «pork or shrimp» and thought we had to choose one. The waiter was sort of confused when we kept «choosing» shrimp but finally informed us it had both. This wasn’t the first place in Japan with an English menu that did this so it must be a thing.
As for the combination okonomiaky, it had pork, shrimp, scallops, and egg. Each one is made right in front of you on the grill on each table. It was delicious, not too salty and not too heavy. We also had the yakisoba which was good but pretty standard. It’s made in the kitchen in the back and thrown onto your table grill to serve and keep warm.
Overall the place is pretty affordable. 3 items and a few beers filled us up for about 4000 JPY. I would definitely come back here.

Delicious! We went on a Monday at around 12:00pm, took about 30minutes of waiting in-​line and then another 10 minutes wait inside. You have to order all of your food while in-​line, you can not order more once inside. Be sure to have a beer with this tasty snack. We tried both traditional and sweet (they ask what type of sauce you want on it), sweet was surprisingly better. Service while waiting was friendly but once at our table it was a bit brief and inattentive; they are definitely busy in that place.

As someone who is not a fan of okonomiyaki, I would say Mizuno is a good place to take your okonomiyaki enthusiast friends, and still get some good food in your tummy.
Price-​wise, definitely not the best deal in Osaka, but I did enjoy their yakisoba. Like the okonomiyaki everything is cooked to order. I sampled some of my companion’s okonomiyaki (the pork, seafood, kimchi combo) and it was admittedly pretty good (I’m personally just not a fan of the texture and sweet taste of oknonomiyaki).
Service was ok. The staff was focused on making the food, feeding you and getting you out of there in as efficient a manner as possible.
We went not long after it opened and still waited about 15 – 20 minutes. By the time we left the line was curling around the entrance. Is it worth it? Depends on how much you like okonomiyaki. Personally, I would never wait more than an hour for good yakisoba, so I would have passed up Mizuno had I needed to wait that long. Regardless, it was generally a good experience.

There will be long lines for Mizuno. This is apparently one of the original okonomiyaki places in Osaka-​how can you miss it! It’s tiny (8 seater) and when i got there I was the only one in line so I got to sit inside until a seat at the grill opened up. Shortly thereafter there were quite a few people lined up outside.
Part of it is the fun of watching the staff at Mizuno work. They’re energetic and they really just dump all that food in there. It’s a show! Especially if you get the mizunoyaki which has pretty much any topping you can get.
I first tried okonomiyaki in the states and then a few places in Japan and found that in japan they tend to leave the batter a bit less cooked. Possibly because I was expecting a more savory treat with a hefty serving of vegetables, I found the okonomiyaki a bit difficult to down. It’s a pretty fun experience because it’s cooked right in front of you and continues to cook as you serve yourself little by little. To me it was just a bit too much of a «crazy» combination and the sweetness of the batter and sauces was a bit too cloying for me.
Were I in Osaka again I may give it another shot. But while I was there I enjoyed myself!

You just can’t come to Osaka and not try okonomiyaki. I gave my first okonomiyaki experience in Japan to Mizuno. Went there because of the location and practically all guide books mentioned it. 4 stars only because I haven’t tried any other okonomiyaki joints so I can’t say Mizuno is the best but definitely worth four stars, not to mention, I had this AFTER a full breakfast at the hotel and a bowl of ichiran!
Ordered the 美津の焼 with scallops and one with yakisoba noodles. At first I thought they will be very salty because the amount of sauce they put on the okonomiyaki, but it turned out it was just the right amount. In fact I think the sauce is the star that made the okonomiyaki so tasty.
There’s just something about the ingredients or sauce they used that gave out such umami flavor that I have no words to describe and duplicate at home. They didn’t tasted msg umami, well at least I wasn’t thirsty afterwards.
All in all, well worth the four stars and recommended.

We came here after reading about the okonomiyaki here and seeing the queue in front of the place. The food was «okay», but not worth waiting an hour. We have had the signature yamaimo-​yaki (with yam) and the mizuno-​yaki.

This place is located at the super busy Dotonbori, there is always always a long long of both local people and tourists. The restaurant itself is tiny, maybe with 10 seats?
This is the Osaka style okonomiyaki, they mix everything together. I personally like the Hiroshima style more but hey try this at least once if you go visit Osaka. Don’t forget to order a beer to wash down your sizzling okonomiyaki. Best idea ever!

Gracias a los compañeros de yeld en japón y al google traductor he conocido este sitio que hubiera pasado desapercibido para mi.
Ibamos buscando algo típico, pero no turístico. Quereismos probar las famosas «okonomiyaki» unas especie de crep — pizza con un poco de todo, muy sabrosas, aunque con tantas salsas que camufla algunos sabores. Yonne pedí la de ternera, pero la de marisco también tenía muy pinta.
Me quedé con ganas de probar los «yakisoba» (noodles)
El sitio, es tipo tepanyaki, observas sentado mientras te cocinan.
Es bastante conocido, asi que tuvimos que esperar media hora, segui viviendo gente que no les dejaban pasar a las 21:00.
Me pedí una cerveza negra muy buena, la única negra que hay en carta.
En definitiva, un lugar que me ha encantado y que recomiendo.

My husband and I got to Mizuno about 15min before opening and we were one of the first crowds to be seated. They lead us to an upstairs table.
First thing I noticed, customer service sucked at this place. They got the attitude of being famous and popular… snobby like we are better than everyone and you should feel lucky you are eating here. A guy who made our okonomiyaki upstairs was super unfriendly and made us very uncomfortable. He was particularly unfriendly of all but I did notice pretty much everyone working there was unfriendly, which is sad to see for me as a Japanese, because Japan usually has a really good customer service.
It even says on the wall «No picture of the staffs». I’m sure foreigners would love to take pictures of them making okonomiyaki on a hot plate in front of them but NOOOOOOO! Because the way they make their okonomiyaki is so different and such a secret??? I don’t think so.
Second the food… I did like the modern okonomiyaki. It was really fluffy and all like everyone says. However nothing really stood out enough for me. I have had better okonomiyaki in Japan for sure.
Sorry but I have to agree with a few people on Unilocal saying that this place is overrated.
P. S. I overheard a cashier lady taking a reservation over a phone call and she said there is nothing available for two months and walk-​in is usually about an hour wait (unless you show up before its opening time like we did).

This place is pretty great. It’s right across the street from the park that everyone visits. Honestly, it’s pretty great. Hiroshima okonomiyaki is different than other okonomiyaki because I think they layer everything instead of being all mixed together. It’s actually more fun that way I think. You can get everything in one bite because it’s just all together. The sauce they provide is so great. I actually really enjoyed it. There were a ton of veggies, but also the egg and seafood was delicious.
The people there were super nice too. I mean I don’t speak Japanese (even by the end of the trip), and they were great!
Protip: more okonomiyaki (you should try both versions!)

I do not know why this place closes at 8:30pm! This is especially annoying since whoever Unilocaled this place stated that it opens from 11am-​10pm. Mon-​sun They are quite rude and do not exhibit the friendliness of the Kansai people!!!

It was our last day in Osaka and we couldn’t leave without trying a takoyaki or okonomiyaki. Since we have been wandering around Osaka with our baggage still at our hostel, we spent most of our day eating and snacking prior to dinner. We only had room for one so we decided to get okonomiyaki to get us through the evening!
On our first night in Osaka, we ran into a couple during dinner that expressed a cool spot in Dotonbori for the pancakes. We decided to go to Mizuno, but heeded her warning to come early. We arrived around 5:30−6pm for an early dinner and thankfully, no line yet. The seats were already filled, but it was just a 20 minute wait before a set of seats opened up. It was also the opportune time to review the menu and place an order before we were seated. It was a very breezy experience and there were English menus available!
We settled with the mini okonomiyaki set and the glory of this whole experience is that you’re sitting in front of the grill to watch the action and to eat from the grill. Once they are done making the cabbage battered pancakes, they just slide the finished product to the edge of the bar and you scoop however much you want to eat at a time.
The first is the mini yamaimoyaki, which comes with pork and scallops. Since it was done before we were seated, it seemed like it was a basic pancake. Before they serve, they ask ahead if you would like all the condiments (mustard, sauce, mayo, some green powder, and more of that sweet teriyaki-​like sauce). We like it saucy so we said yes to it all.
Next one up is their house special, mizunoyaki. There’s six ingredients in this one so its a mixed combination of things. I saw pork, scallops, shrimp and a fresh cracked egg on top, but I can’t recall everything. All I know is, that was amazing!
The last of the bunch is a negiyaki with pork and kimchi. It’s primarily made with spring onions, so it was much lighter and thinner in comparison to the previous two, which was perfect since we were almost bursting.
They definitely cater to tourists with translated menus and it’s located in Dotonbori, so lines can get pretty long during dinner rush. We came back to the area after walking around for last minute shopping before heading to Tokyo and there was a line of about four groups waiting to be seated. They even had their ropes set up outside.
Definitely a spot worth checking out if you’re indecisive on where to try okonomiyaki.

Came here around 1115am and there was already a line waiting outside for lunch. We were third in line and waited around 30 min. The restaurant itself is pretty small though there are two stories. We had to preorder our okonomiyaki while we were still waiting in line, so by the time we sat down, our food was ready served.
We had a lot of fun watching the chefs cook the okonomiyaki in front of us. The food was amazing, and we enjoyed it a lot! Will definitely be back!

I was very surprised how good these okonomiyaki were tasty. We tested two different and they were both good. They cooked in front of you and ask what are your ingredients preferences. A highly recommended local restaurant.
Be careful. Quite small and queuing in not an option!

Mizuno was one of those restaurants that had been suggested to us by a New York Times article or highly-​rated restaurant review. Regardless of how we found Mizuno, we surely were thankful we opted to eat early. After 6pm the line at the front of this venue grows and snakes down the undercover mall the restaurant is housed in. By grace of being in Japan, they deal with the demand with efficiency and grace so the wait is minimized as much as possible.
When we arrive there’s maybe 2 or 3 couples ahead of us plus a full restaurant. Keep in mind the space seats 20 at most. We were given menus while in line and then as we became a part of a well-​oiled process we’re shown to a waiting spot in the front of house before being shown to our seats in front of the hot plate. By this point your order has already been taken and by the time you are seated, the chefs are beginning to prepare your meal.
Mizuno is all about okonomiyaki and yakisoba. The chef prepares your order in front of you and it is a beautifully seamless process to watch. If you’re going to have okonomiyaki at any point in your Japanese journey, Osaka is where you’ll want to do
it. Our meals are fast, fresh and unsurprisingly tasty. The sizes are large enough to realistically share between two. Opt for one okonomiyaki and one yakisoba between you.

Definitely one of, if not, the best okonomiyaki I’ve ever had. The place is nice and clean. They have cooks who prepare the food for you right on your table, from batter to the finished product. The cook was super nice and is probably used to tourists so he will try to speak English if you can’t speak Japanese. You can put your baggage in the chair compartment below you. A lot of tourists know about this place so expect to do some waiting.
If you come with a friend, I recommend having one of you to go buy some street food like takoyaki while you wait. Just make sure he or she comes back before it’s your turn, otherwise you’ll be skipped.