Okonomiyaki @ Reichan, Hiroshima Station, Hiroshima

 

Dorothy is not in Kansas anymore! Or rather, I am not in Fukuoka for now at least. During the long holidays during Golden Week, my family dropped by to Japan to pay me a visit and I thought it would be a good idea to bring them to somewhere they have not been before. So after some planning, we ended up in Hiroshima for a couple of days. And since we would need to get some lunch by the time we arrive, why not get their top specialty?

Welcome to Hiroshima!

Reichan, is a very famous okonomiyaki spot that is conveniently located in the Ekie shopping and dining side of Hiroshima station. With a history traversing decades since 1957, you know you are in good hands. And if you are not able to find the right place, do not worry, just find the okonomiyaki spot with the longest line. In fact the line was so long that our wait was about 45 minutes. 

The preemptive strike.
Do not worry if you cannot read Japanese, they have an English menu

Lucky for us we were able to look at the menu and get our orders noted before we got our seat. So for a party of 5 we got the seafood pancake, one with kimchi and one with cheese. All okonomiyaki comes with the classic combo of vegetables and pork. It should be noted that the savoury pancakes at this side of the country have noodles inside. And with that the kimchi one had udon while the other two had the classic yellow noodles. 

Incredible line-up!

Once we were seated, our food were served almost immediately. It was also a good idea that we got ourselves a few portions for sharing especially since the size was actually rather big! Each pancake was expertly layered, cramming a mountain of ingredients into a neat and round shape that fits the circumference of the plate that it came in. Despite its rough exterior, the entire thing actually looks rather nice and appetizing, and I mean all 3 of the pancakes. 

You can see pieces of squid popping out!

I got the seafood one first to try, as it was their best seller. Even by picking this thing up, you can see it shedding shrimp and squid like a waterfall of seafood. How did they cram so much food into this disclike shape? And when you look at the cross section of each piece, you can see the layers upon layers of goodies that make up this tasty treat. being a great fan of combined textures, this was some seriously good eating. I strongly recommend adding some spicy okonomiyaki sauce to add a bit of kick, although this thing is already pretty good on its own. 

The kimchi kicker.
You can see the noodles here being thicker and more robust than the rest.

Speaking of kick, the kimchi one was pretty good too. it should be noted that the kimchi is made in-house, which provides a more special taste to the dish. The sweet, spicy and salty profile, alongside the udon noodles, gave even more depth in terms of texture. Mixing it with the pre-existing pork and you get something that could knock your socks off. 

Look at this cross section. 

The first two were quite good and unique on its own, that it made the cheese version looking a bit normal. Well, to an extent it was, as the cheesy topping did not dominate the original structure of noodles, veggies and pork of the existing recipe. However, this did not make this any less enjoyable. So having this was something I really enjoy too. 

Thank you Reichan. Till next time!

The seafood was for 1680 yen, while the cheese stood at  1240 yen and the kimchi for  1340 yen. Considering the quality and effort of the food served, I think this was a reasonable price. And it is also less messy than Okonomimura. Don't get me wrong, I like the concept of having a building just selling savoury pancakes. But the thing is that it can be a bit stuffy, and more specifically you would smell like bacon on the way out, which was what happened to my during my first visit in 2021. Which is fine if you like that smell, but it can be a bit inconvenient if you are doing a lot of travelling like us for this trip. So if you fancy dropping by for some good eating, then the address is as follows: 

〒732-0822 Hiroshima, Minami Ward, Matsubaracho, 1−2 Hiroshima Station ekie1F