Manga Tour Day 8, Pt. 3: Hiroshima Okonomiyaki With a Side of Gundam

The last stop on our Pop Japan Travel / Mind Over Manga tour was probably one of the highlights of our trip: Hiroshima style okonomiyaki at Okonomiyaki Sankanou, a small pub/restaurant run by a diehard Gundam / anime / manga / pro-wresting / baseball fan named Kazu.

Located just a block and a half from the JR Hiroshima Station, Okonomiyaki Sankanou is tiny -- just 8 seats total in a space smaller than most American bedrooms, and most of it is taken up by a teppan grill. But this hole-in-the-wall spot deserves a stop on any otaku's pilgrimage to Japan. Why? Because it offers a taste of genuine Hiroshima hospitality, served up with a heaping helping of geeky fun.

Our guide Ben found this spot on WikiTravel. While it was everyone's first visit to this restaurant, Kazu greeted us like we were old friends, giving us gatchapon toys as souvenirs and explaining the finer points of cheering for the hometown heroes, the Hiroshima Carp. True to the WikiTravel description, Kazu speaks excellent English and is fluent in the universal language of otaku, especially all things Gundam.

The tiny space is decorated from wall to wall with an assortment of sports and anime / manga memorabilia, including tiny Gundam figures, J-Pop pin-up girls, pro wrestling posters and a poster of the Hiroshima Carp team (including one team member's face covered by a Kinnikuman sticker, because the offending player turned free agent and left the team, much to Kazu's displeasure). And if you're ready to talk Gundam, Kazu is your guy -- he and fellow Gundam fan Matt got into an animated discussion about the relative merits of Mobile Suit Gundam 00, the latest entry in this mecha series. We also watched a few innings of the Carp vs. Nagoya Dragons game, talked about pro wrestling and even got to try on a wrestling mask that Kazu had stashed behind the counter.

As Kazu fried up seven servings of okonomiyaki, Hiroshima style, he explained that his shop has been open for a year and a half, and has already attracted Gundam fans from Sweden, Canada and Poland. But he's more than just a Gundam guy. He also loves One Piece, Kinnikuman (a.k.a. Ultimate Muscle), Maison Ikkoku and he strives to make okonomiyaki that would make Ranma 1/2's spatula-wielding chef Ukyo proud, which he certainly does.

I've mentioned that Kazu serves Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, so it's worth explaining exactly what that means. Compared to Osaka-style okonomiyaki (which is basically cabbage, ginger and onion mixed in a batter, fried as a savory pancake with meat, and served with sauce, mayo and shaved fish on top), preparing Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki requires preparing several layers of ingredients, and a certain degree of spatula-flipping skill to pull it all together.

First, a thin layer of batter is spread on the grill, followed by a heaping handful of shredded cabbage. Next, a whole raw egg and two slices of bacon are laid on top of the heap while yakisoba noodles are fried with sauce on the side. The pancake/cabbage/bacon combo is then flipped onto the noodles, and cooked for bit. Then the whole layered pancake is slathered with savory, spicy or sweet sauce, given a shake of dried nori (seaweed) and sesame seeds and served hot off the grill with a small spatula to cut into bite-sized pieces. It's absolutely yummy and not as doughy/heavy as Osaka-style. Each style has its diehard fans, so if you're an Osaka okonomiyaki fan, chime in with your fave spot! If you'd like to try your own taste test, here are recipes for Osaka-style okonomiyaki and Hiroshima okonomiyaki from About.com's Japanese food guide.

The whole meal cost us about 500 yen ($4.80) each -- with a cold draft beer, the total came out to 900 yen ($8.75) -- which was a total bargain, considering how delicious it was, and how much fun we had.

If you'd like to visit Okonomiyaki Sankanou for yourself, here's the address: Sankanou (三冠王), 11-2 Ōsuga, Higashi-ku, Hiroshimashi, Hiroshima-ken, Ph: 732-0821. It was about a block and a half walk from the train station from the nearby Lawson convenience store, so it's easy to find if you're in traveling through the area. Also, visit Kazu's blog for the scoop on his latest finds.

And that pretty much wraps up my journey to Japan -- we returned to Osaka for a last night, then spent our last day on trains and planes to get from Osaka to Tokyo to Narita Airport and back to Los Angeles. Big thanks go out to everyone who traveled with me on the Pop Japan Travel / Mind Over Manga tour for being such great travel companions and a dooomo arigato to our guides, Ben and Masa who made the entire journey so much fun (even with the constant clouds and rain). Did I have fun? You betcha! So much so that I'm thinking of doing it again next year! I'll be posting my full photo gallery with even more pictures and commentary from the trip, so stay tuned for that as I get back to my regularly scheduled manga reviews, interviews and news coverage.

Image credit: © Deb Aoki