Otafuku (Osaka delights)

You don't need to fly across the Pacific ocean to get a quick taste of Osaka's well-known Okonomiyaki-お好み焼き(cabbage pancake) or Takoyaki-たこ焼き(octopus balls).

Instead, head down to the East village for authentically prepared street food from this tiny take-out joint on 9th street, btw 2nd and 3rd ave. Made of shredded cabbage, ginger, flour, eggs and green onions, Okonomiyaki (a Kansai-based pancake) comes topped with kewpie mayo, brown-okonomiyaki sauce, aonori (green seaweed) and bonito flakes. Try it as Combo B and you'll get a side of Tako-yaki with it.

Takoyaki octopus balls are a well-known street food in the Osaka region. Made on a hot skillet with circular craters, the chef adds batter, ginger, green onions and octupus to the skillet and deftly turns and molds the batter into a ball using chopsticks or a tiny, pointy needle-like object. Once ready and brown on all sides, 6 balls get put into a tray, covered in okonomiyaki sauce and kewpie mayo and topped, once again with aonori and bonito flakes. The hot steam from the takoyaki literally makes the bonito flakes come to life as they slowly sway back and forth as though alive. Be careful not to burn yourself as these have come right off a hot skillet.

Also prepared at Otafuku is yaki-soba, a standard saute of soba noodles, seafood including shrimp and octopus, sometimes meat, cabbage and yakitori sauce. Topped with aonori and a side of ginger. For noodle-lovers, this simple dish fills the stomach and satisfies your craving. The yakitori was tasty and flavourful, but nothing special.

We'd come back for the okonomiyaki and takoyaki, but may leave the noodles to one of the many other options in the city.