Hassei — Restaurant in Hiroshima

TL:DR; just brilliant in all aspects they have vegetarian options too. If you are ok Hiroshima you need to visit.

Now the whole review. Hold your hats this is long

We walked in and the vibe was great. I really wanted to sit at the counter and watch them make the okonomiyaki but there was no place so we sat at the back till a couple who was done but ambling cleared out. We ordered in the meanwhile.

They understood English and when we said we wanted to sit at the counter and they waited when prepping the food and planned in such a way that it would be ready when we got to the counter.

The food was just amazing. We're vegetarians and not only did we have options but they were great. The chef explained the sauces. They even had a veg okonomiyaki sauce. We had the hassei special and a cheese and rice cake teppanyaki. The food was soo good!!!

Now another couple at the counter had apparently just gotten married and the waiter ran out found desserts from a close by shop and brought them a tray full of desserts. What a nice thing to do. The couple was all excited and shared the desserts with us and another lady who joined us at the table. There is no tipping culture in Japan which meant the waiter did this out of the goodness of his heart. ❤️❤️❤️ The whole staff got a picture with the couple and it was just adorable!

Honestly this was the first time I've been sad that tipping is not allowed. Very few people go above and beyond and this was one of the places that did so.

If you are in Hiroshima go to hassei! You won't be disappointed, food wise or...

I was excited to give Hassei a try after hearing they offer gluten free okonomiyaki, which I hadn't come by yet in Japan as a Celiac.

The atmosphere is a small, boisterous, and welcoming. There are people all over laughing, chatting, and drinking. I loved the atmosphere from the second we walked in.

We ordered 2 GF okonomiyaki as well as the grilled corn with butter. The corn was as expected...corn HAHA it was delicious for being just corn and butter. The okonomiyaki was delicious and I was happy to be able to get a taste of Japan...

However, the issue arose minutes after eating. I was glutened. I am unsure how they go about avoiding/limiting cross-contamination, but I wish I looked further into it. I am not saying that if you are GF due to a sensitivity, or even Celiac, that this place is not safe for you, I am simply sharing my experience. If someone with Celiac had been glutened here and written about it, I feel I would have been more cautious in my approach, which is what I am hoping it sharing this!

Approach with caution, even if you are excited to try the GF...

The short: English menu, good value/not very expensive, great food and staff, cozy sorroundings.

The long: Really great place with really good okonomiyaki. Even if you don't sit at the counter, most (maybe all? Not sure while I'm writing this) tables have their own big hotplate so you can get the real experience of cutting your food directly from the grill. The only reason this is a 4 star review rather than 5 is because our hotplate was perhaps a tad too hot. Parts of our food burned onto the hotplate rather quickly, and the crepe like batter at the bottom of our food got very hard and tough to cut through halfway into our meal.

Still, maybe our table was set to a bit too hot of a setting, but regardless the food tasted great and the staff was friendly and attentive. All the walls were also covered in drawings and messages from previous customers, and newcomers can add their own touch to the walls, which is cool. I definitely...