Chinchikurin — Restaurant in Carrollton

TLDR: Pretty good, do recommend, chopsticks are a little weird, takoyaki is fried, okonomiyaki is delicious, tsukemen is served cold, but that's on purpose.

We came in on a random Saturday afternoon, not realizing it was their grand opening. It was busy but not too busy, a good sign. Despite them being located in a new business park, and only a handful of other shops being open at the time, parking was a little difficult to come by. Be sure to circle around the buildings and not just the main parking lot.

We checked in and were seated promptly. Caution, the tables along the windows receive the brunt of their overhead AC, so they can get a little cold.

We ordered the mentaiko takoyaki as an appetizer, the Hiroshima okonomiyaki as our main, and the Hiroshima tsukemen as another main.

Starting off, the takoyaki came out quickly. These were only ok to us. They were the deep fried version and there wasn't too much mentaiko flavor to them. Plenty of green onions but the octopus was a little overcooked as well. All in all, they were alright.

Our okonomiyaki came out only a few minutes after our takoyaki. We've had okonomiyaki a couple of times in Osaka and knew that this would be different. We ordered ours with a fried egg topping and crispy noodles. The initial flavor was good and reminded us of japan. Don't skip on the sauce and mayo at the table as these really tie the flavors together. The differing textures of all the layers provide an excellent mouth feel. By the end of it, we decided that we enjoyed it as much as the osaka version, but for different reasons.

Finally, our Hiroshima style tsukemen came out only a few minutes after our okonomiyaki, so that sat on the table while we were finishing up our first main. This is fine since the tsukemen is cold already...so make sure you're aware of that. Typically, I enjoy a nice thick tsukemen broth that really clings to the noodles. I was skeptical when this broth came out as it was pretty thin, but it was packed full of umami. We went with a level 1 spice level since my wife and I were splitting it. She thinks she will probably be comfortable at a level 2 now. Level 4 will be no problem for me. The broth had a nice bonito flavor and aroma to it as well. The noodles were bouncy with a good chew. The beef was super tender and delicious. The staff also provided a side dish of chili oil for myself since I wanted a bit more heat.

All in all, very enjoyable and delicious. We will be coming back to try their other okonomiyaki dishes.

I give it 4.5 stars. Docking points for the weird texture of the chopsticks (sorry but that really gets me) and for the, what felt like,...

Chinchikurin is a new restaurant in Carrollton specializing in Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki and Japanese comfort food. The appetizers were the best part of the meal—takoyaki, fried oysters, and karaage were all crispy, flavorful, and well-prepared. However, the Hiroshima okonomiyaki felt a bit strange to us due to the crispy noodles underneath, which gave it an unexpected texture.

For the noodle dishes, the soupless spicy tan tan men started off promising with well-seasoned minced meat on top, but as we ate, the aftertaste became unpleasant. The oiliness left a harsh sensation in the throat, making it difficult to enjoy. The tan tan ramen was also overly salty, which overpowered the other flavors.

Service was the biggest disappointment. The receptionist (or manager) at the front was disorganized and inflexible. They insisted that all guests be present before seating, which is understandable, but even after our full group arrived, we still had to wait 20 minutes. Meanwhile, the two guests ahead of us were given a table for four, but when it was our turn, we were told there were no more tables for four and had to wait for others to finish eating, despite smaller tables still being available.

Once seated, the service didn’t improve. The staff took orders from another table before us, even though we had arrived first and had already called them over, saying we were ready. They also forgot simple requests, like spoons, which we needed to eat the minced meat in our noodles. We had to ask multiple times, yet they still didn’t bring them. Worse, when we tried to ask again, they barely listened and instead leaned over to the next table to collect a tip.

Overall, while the appetizers were enjoyable, the main dishes were inconsistent, and the poor service left a bad impression. With better management and more attentive staff, this place has potential, but for now, it’s not worth the frustration.

Just a heads-up—the kitchen is open, so expect strong food smells throughout...

I visited this restaurant because of its viral popularity on social media and the fact that it’s the first in Texas to serve okonomiyaki. Unfortunately, I found it overpriced and a huge disappointment.

Food - We ordered the "beef tongue," which cost $16.00 for just SIX pieces—that’s $2.67 per piece. How is that even reasonable? The beef was extremely salty, and I had to keep drinking water. Also, what was the excessive amount of raw, chopped green onions for? Decoration? We also ordered the "loaded Kaisen (pork)" okonomiyaki, which included shrimp and squid, plus an extra topping of cheese. It took about 16 minutes to arrive. When I received the order, I was confused because I couldn’t see any cheese. I asked the server if the chef might have missed it, and she said the cheese was added in the middle. I cut open the okonomiyaki and found a tiny, super thin layer of cheese (see photo). We paid an extra $3 for that? It's definitely not worth it. As for the pork, we could barely taste it—it was a small, thin layer and easy to miss. Additionally, the sauce wasn’t spread evenly, resulting in some bites being bland while others were overly coated. This dish cost around $22–23, which felt excessive for the quality and portion.

Price - definitely overpriced considering the quantity and quality of the food.

Atmosphere - the restaurant is quite small and gets extremely packed on weekends. Dining in during busy times might not be ideal, as it can be very loud. I could not hear the music playing in the background or even the server talking to us.

Service - I visited on a Friday evening, and the place was packed. There were only three servers who were constantly running around. It was difficult to get their attention.

Overall - if you’ve never tried the okonomiyaki and want to experience it, give it a shot—you might enjoy it. But if you're going just because of the hype, you may end up...