Tsuruhashi Fugetsu MyeongdongOsaka Okonomiyaki, Grilled in Front of You

Cooked in front of you

I went once around the Covid period on a sudden craving and found it temporarily closed. It is open and running normally now.

Every table has a built-in hot plate and the staff cook on it in front of you. You do not have to flip anything yourself.

The photos show the sequence.

1. The batter and shredded cabbage land on the plate in a tall mound
2. It gets pressed down and shaped into a round
3. Sauce and mayonnaise go on, finished with bonito flakes

The thing buried under bonito flakes at the top of the photo is a rolled omelette we ordered alongside.

What it looks like

On the iron griddle, finely shredded cabbage is piled high like a small mountain, with pink pieces of meat showing between the strands. This is the stage before the batter is added, the first step of the cooking done in front of you. Behind the griddle stand a bottle of Asahi Super Dry and a glass printed with the same brand, with a griddle spatula at the right. A vent runs along one corner of the griddle.

Menu words

• Okonomiyaki is an Osaka-style savory pancake of cabbage, batter, and meat or seafood cooked on a griddle and brushed with sauce
• A teppan is a thick iron griddle on which food is cooked in front of guests

A daytime beer, and the Osaka original

Okonomiyaki and a beer at lunch on a day off puts me in a genuinely good mood.

That is the most accurate sentence I can write about this place. You do not come here for high gastronomy. This is the kind of food that goes with a daytime drink — okonomiyaki is closer to a good beer snack than a serious meal. Add a bottle of Asahi and the picture is complete.

The head restaurant is, of course, in Osaka, and I have eaten at it. It is not identical. But it does taste close. For an overseas branch, I think they hold the standard well.

The brand traces back to "Fugetsu", opened in Tenma, Osaka in 1950; the branch later opened by Tsuruhashi Station became the name it carries today.

Before you go — the break, and the queue

It sits in the middle of Myeongdong, on the 2nd floor of the Haeam Building. You have to go up from street level, so do not walk past looking for a ground-floor entrance.

1. There is a mid-afternoon break, 2:30 to 5:00 PM. Turning up for a late lunch is an easy way to waste the trip
2. There is a queue. A line forms from the 11:30 AM opening. Booking through CatchTable is the better plan

If the wait looks too long, walking on toward Namdaemun Market gets you to Maknae Hoejip, a weekday-lunch-only sashimi set that works as a backup plan.

For international visitors

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savoury pancake. It is Japanese rather than Korean food, but it is an easy, comfortable meal in the middle of Myeongdong, so it is worth noting.

• Not spicy at all. Safe if you cannot eat chili
• You cut it with a small spatula, not chopsticks, and move each piece to your plate
• The hot plate is very hot. Watch the seating if you have children with you
• It is a wheat-flour batter. Not suitable if you avoid gluten
• Bonito flakes and the sauce contain fish and seafood. Ask before ordering if you are vegetarian
• Menu names stay Japanese — okonomiyaki, yakisoba
• Asahi is on the beer list

Go if

• ✅ You want a beer in the daytime and something easy to go with it
• ✅ You need a straightforward meal during a Myeongdong day
• ✅ You are curious how it compares to the Osaka original
• ✅ You cannot eat spicy food — this place is safe
• ⚠️ Break 2:30 to 5:00 PM — a late lunch will not work
• ⚠️ The wait is long. Book ahead
• ⚠️ It is not exactly the same as the Osaka original