Okonomiyaki in San Jose

Bushido

156 Castro St, Mountain View, CA 94041

Tucked away in Silicon Valley, you'll find Bushido, a trendy izakaya that offers both Kansai and Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, as well as a variety of sauces and toppings. The Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki looks deceptively like Kansai-style but has the noodles and egg baked inside. You can choose between traditional okonomiyaki sauce or their shiodare, a soybean oil flavored with lemon, salt and green onions.

Dan Izakaya

1306 Saratoga Ave, San Jose, CA 95129

Dan's unique okonomiyaki omits the pancake entirely and goes full omelet. Bean sprouts, pot-roast style beef, mushrooms, carrots, onions and cabbage are all baked into an eggy shell and topped with okonomi sauce and mayo. This okonomiyaki feels less heavy than its floury siblings but you'll still feel satisfied afterward.

Fugetsu

2783 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95051

Fugetsu is a well-known okonomiyaki restaurant chain with over 70 locations in Japan, and their first restaurant in the USA just happens to be right here in the Bay Area. During lunchtime they offer three varieties of okonomiyaki, but you can find up to 10 different varieties at dinner. Their okonomiyaki is served already cooked and placed on a mini teppan built right into your table. Okonomiyaki varieties include pork, seafood, kimchi and the dangerously cheesy cheetama pork modan.

Kenta Ramen

1495 Beach Park Blvd, Foster City, CA 94404

Kenta Ramen offers four varieties of Kansai-style okonomiyaki; two vegetarian and two with meat. They even have a pumpkin and corn version of okonomiyaki, which is perfect for getting into the fall spirit. Generous helpings of bonito flakes, okonomi sauce, mayo and aonori round out the savory dish.

Mori Kitchen

1000 S De Anza Blvd, San Jose, CA 95129

Mori Kitchen is perhaps best known for their 5 lb. Ramen Challenge, but their okonomiyaki is noteworthy as well. The flat, deep-fried pancake tastes slightly sweet like cornbread and is topped with savory morsels of bacon, okonomi sauce, aonori, mayo and a generous helping of bonito flakes.

Majikku Ramen

240 Skyline Plaza, Daly City, CA 94015

Just in time for fall, we found another restaurant serving pumpkin okonomiyaki! Majikku Ramen offers several varieties of okonomiyaki and modanyaki, including beef, seafood and vegetarian (pumpkin). Modanyaki includes a fried egg on top and pan-fried noodles.Okonomi sauce, ginger, nori and mayo accompany a large stack of bonito to round out the pancake.