Abeno Too

I love my sister, and my sister loves okonomiyaki. Right, now that was a mouthful! I’m not terribly adventurous with eating out. I have my firm favourites that I go to over and over again… terribly boring, but as they say, if it ain’t broke! My sister, on the other hand, has been to pretty much every single restaurant in London… okay, well Soho, but still, girl knows her restaurants!

Japanese food is a favourite of mine. Most of my favourite restaurants are Japanese, and sushi is my go-to for a quick and easy lunch! Sushi, ramen, yakitori, udon... that's as far as my Japanese vocabulary goes. So when my sister suggested we meet at an okonomiyaki place I looked at her and said: “Okonomi-what?!” I soon discovered okonomiyaki is a type of Japanese pancake that is sometimes referred to as ‘Japanese Pizza’… though I don’t think I’ll be making quick comparisons between the two…

'Japanese Pizza'.... maybe, not!

Abeno Too is in Soho, and we met on a rainy London night. The restaurant itself is cozy with hot plates dotted around the bar-style seating at the centre of the restaurant, where we sat. Choosing what to eat was easy, especially seeing as the heavy presence of bacon/pork rendered most of the choices obsolete for me. We decided to share a Super Deluxe Sapporo mix and order a few sides to go with it: a Hiyayakko, and a special that I can’t remember the name of. It was mocchi and cheese wrapped in an omelette… sounds weird, but actually tasted quite good!

 Mocchi and cheese-filled omelette!

Hiyayakko!

The okonomiyaki itself was absolutely beautiful! Especially with the toppings! My sister and I love bonito flakes, so savoured every bite of our bonito flake covered pancake…

Beautiful and wispy bonito flakes!

After stuffing ourselves to the brim, we decided to stuff ourselves even more and ordered a Winter Hotcake to share. The hotcake was absolutely delicious and rounded off our meal perfectly! We left with our bellies full and practically hovering over the hotplate for almost three hours left our cheeks nice and rosy!!

17-18 Great Newport Street

WC2H 7JE

(020) 7379  1160