Okonomiyaku desuka?

Good Okonomiyaki is hard to find in New York City. My usual haunts in Osaka: Fugetsu, just doesn’t exist here, but I bet would do great. For a place reknown for its international gourmet selection, I’m always amazing that finding decent, non-sushi based Japanese food can be tough.

Take last night for example. Jay and I headed to Decibel for a little post-soup dumplings hot sake (yet how they make those is still kinda a mystery. I don’t believe the recipes, it must be magic!). Decibel is a great place for so many reasons. The atmosphere is chill, the music selection is never mainstream and the Japanese sake selection (yes, I know it’s a very gaijin thing to categorize all shouchu, nihonshu and other Japanese liquors in one stereotypical category called sake, but it is easy, and yes, I know the difference) is large and the waiters are always a good opportunity to practice my slowly fleeting Japanese ability. Yet, the microwave Okonomiyaki was something I was not expecting.

While overall flavor was not that bad, the tendency of the dish to get hard within a few moments of cooling (typical of any microwaved food) was not appealing. According to the waiter it was made fresh by their chef and frozen for the night crowd, which I can understand as this place is more of a bar and doesn’t employ a full time chef or anything. But I can recommend that if you want some more real Okonomiyaki, go find a decent restaurant. For everything else, I highly recommend Decibel, in case the mood of this post suggested otherwise.

Okay now, I’ll shut up. No, really. Done.