Tsuruhashi Fugetsu Tempozan — Restaurant in Osaka

First of all, not sure of the low reviews for the taste, but mine was great among all the okonomiyaki(s) in Japan/Southeast Asia (be it street vendors or high end okonomiyaki restaurants) that I have tried. Probably it suited my taste bud more. Thus the 5 stars.

Was browsing through the different restaurants after my visit from the Osaka aquarium. My family (5A2C) chanced upon it and decided to give it a try. Was looking through at the menu while waiting at the entrance. The ambience felt good with several empty seats. I waited for a while but none of the waiters/waitresses came out to serve or address us despite a few being free. A Japanese couple came and waited a while. After which, one of them became a bit annoyed and called out to one of the servers which then came out and asked us to filled up our names in the waiting list which is empty or rather none in the queue. The rest is history.

Moving on the food, scanned the QR code and pinpoint the food items to the server to make our order as I can’t speak much of the local language. Food was served rather quickly. Ordered the seafood teppanyaki, one modern okonomiyaki and one mixed yakisoba and was served in this order. Pictures depict on how the food turned out and I was surprised by the taste. Not burnt and just right. We have to cook and mix the seafood teppanyaki by ourselves. As for the okonomiyaki, it was cooked and tended by the servers. Yakisoba was cooked in the kitchen and they will just serve it into the hot plate for us to tend to it.

Price was okay as expected in a tourist place.

All in all, it was quite a good experience...

Food is decent for the pricing because it is in a more tourist oriented shopping mall that's right beside the Osaka Kaiyukan.

What i don't understand is, why I, as a foreigner, couldn't order okonomiyaki?

It was after lunch peak hour, my girlfriend and i sat down for a meal and i asked if there is an English menu in broken Japanese. Waitress came over and curtly mentioned the QR code at the bottom of the restaurant menu.

We perused the menu, and once we were ready to order, i raised my hand and said "sumimasen" in order to get her attention. She told her co-worker that she "got it" and proceeded to take our order. I helped my girlfriend order a yakisoba by pointing to the item on their physical menu, while i wanted an okonomiyaki. But when i turn to the page listing all the okonomiyakis, she said no and told me to turn back. Thinking she might not have done taking down the first order, i waited till she was done, and turned the page once again, and she said no again. It's fine, i ended up with another yakisoba.

In the midst of enjoying our meal, a Japanese couple came in and sat down nearby. My ears perked up when i heard the waitress distinctly confirming the order of an okonomiyaki, and my suspicions were confirmed when the waitress did bring over an okonomiyaki.

So i was deprived because i, as a foreigner, might not know how to enjoy pan-grill cabbage and batter?

Not only that, but the waitress was constantly giving me the stare and side eye every time she walks pass to attend to the japanese couple.

So was it wrong of me to request for an English menu to deserve...

A couple of days ago, we went to the Osaka Aquarium. Wow, what a wonderful few hours we spent seeing recreations of many of the world's oceans. Afterward, we went to find one of my favorite Japanese dishes, Okonomiyaki. We lucked out and found one not far away. A family joint that was friendly and welcoming. We split the grill two ways and got 2 different Okonomiyakis and two different Yakisoba noodles. Our chef did all the cooking, and it was nice to warm up with the hot plate and good conversation. It had been years since I had either dish, and it was delicious to eat these Japanese comfort foods. Great...