Kameya — Restaurant in Nara

Delicious Japanese pizzas

N34°40.919' E135°49.781' A gigantic red lantern marks the entrance to this informal, spirited okonomiyaki (savoury pancakes) restaurant. Japan’s equivalent of the pizza is okonomiyaki, a fun and inexpensive meal that you can often put together yourself. A pancake batter is used to bind shredded cabbage and other vegetables with either fish or meat. Okonomiyaki is coated in a sweet-brown sauce and/or mayonnaise and sprinkled with dried seaweed and flakes of bonito, which twist and curl in the rising heat. Kameya is a busy place, so prepare to wait. Reservations are not accepted.

In Kameya, the chef makes the okonomiyaki and serves it on the griddle in the middle of the table to be finished. Beware, your hair and clothes with smell afterwards of cooking fumes. In March 2018, we ordered okonomiyaki shrimp and egg (¥700) and squid, shrimp, pork and scallop (¥950). Both were delicious. The service was fast with a smile.

Kameya is a well-known restaurant in Nara that serves delicious okonomiyaki....

I must admit that this place made me feel a bit disgusted. We ordered two dishes: vegetarian okonomiyaki and okonomiyaki with udon. The vegetarian one was good, but a bit small.

However, the problem was with the udon one. Despite asking if there's meat or fish in it, and explaining that we're vegetarians so we don't eat fish not meat, we found shrimp inside it. If that would be only one, I would think that maybe it was a mistake, however, there were around 4-5 in total. We weren't able to finish the meal, finding the meat inside the okonomiyaki that was supposed to be vegetarian friendly made us lose our appetite. After telling the staff that we found a shrimp inside, they were surprised, almost like they thought that vegetarian eat shrimp.

Furthermore, we were the only one that didn't receive more water, everyone else received an extra water bottle.

We also, ordered green tea; it turned out to be a very sweet matcha, so it was a...

Had lunch here after coming down from the deer park and watching the mochi show next door. For a tourist-heavy area the prices were more than reasonable for a decently-sized okonomiyaki (800-1000 yen dependent on topping). Besides okonomiyaki they've also got yakisoba and other Japanese street foods at reasonable prices, so you're spoiled for choice. A vegetarian okonomiyaki is also available should you have dietary restrictions.

Food is placed on a grill in the middle of the table, so that gives you the option to potentially mix together multiple dishes while keeping them warm. Portion size was so filling that in the warm and comfortable atmosphere I took a short siesta once I was done with my food.

Staff are patient and have a good understanding of English. If you're looking for food in the area, Restau Kameya is highly...