Abeno

Abeno are critically-acclaimed Okonomi-yaki Restaurants, born in Osaka, nurtured in London.

ABENO 'OKONOMI-YAKI'

Welcome to the website of Abeno and Abeno Too, Europe's only specialist 'Okonomi-yaki' restaurants.

The first Abeno was established in 1993 in the now defunct Yaohan Plaza Shopping Centre in Colindale, north London by two emigres, one from Bridlington, East Yorkshire (not important), the other from Abeno-ku in Osaka.

Osaka is important because it is the culinary hot-pot of Japan and also the home of the Kansai-style of Okonomi-yaki.

Since 1993, Abeno has striven to recreate an authentic Kansai okonomi-yaki experience in London by sourcing only the best ingredients (all our meat and lots of other ingredients are organic) and staff teams.

Every single team member is important to each of us.

http://www.abeno.co.uk

Abeno too: flippin' pancakes. [Review] | London Eater

In addition to their flagship flat doughs, they’ve expanded their menu over the years to include bento lunch deals in the form of curry chicken with rice and green tea ice cream, just to give you an example.

So my grill man started by showing me the uncooked ingredients of the Tokyo mix of pork, squid and chicken along with their special dough recipe all mixed in a stainless steel pot before he dumped it onto the hotplate and flattened it to let it cook in front of me.

Taste wise, it’s ok – the dough base is floury and tasted like a cross between a pancake and a pizza.

If the pancakes were in the £5-£8 bracket, then it’d make for a great lunch spot but for the £10-12 crowd, it’s punching above it’s weight and you might do better with a visit to Misato for rice or Baozi Inn for noodles.

Verdict: The pancakes taste like a cross between pizza and pancake with your choice of grilled meat or vegs and lots of japanese mayo.

Abeno review - piping hot Japanese okonomiyaki prepared on your ...

Tokyo Mix okonomiyaki ingredients before mixing them up Okonomiyaki all meshed up and cookin' on the hotplate With mayo and sweet sauce... viola!

After showing us the ingredients, she proceeded to mix them up with a ladle before pouring the mix onto our table's piping hot metal plate.

As the ingredients were not marinated, the taste of an okonomiyaki came from the mayonnaise, Japanese sweet sauce and seaweed added generously on the it.

Abeno is a great place for an afternoon snack and the having your food prepared on your table sure makes for good conversation.

Address: 47 Museum Street, London WC1A 1LY Tel: 020 7405 3211 Nearest Tube station: Russell Square Ratings (out of 5 *) Price: below £15 pp Taste: *** Service: *** Ambience: ** Suitable for: a light afternoon snack Abeno review - piping hot Japanese okonomiyaki prepared on your table's hotplate in London

LondonCity.com | For All Your London Visitor Needs

With its bold menu, this restaurant will give you a great experience in Japanese cuisine.

The little restaurant is known for its great food, talented chefs and its sweet-natured staff.

Abeno is a popular Japanese restaurant situated right by the British Museum, and is one of the few places in Europe who serves okonomiyaki, a traditional Japanese dish created centuries ago in Osaka, that’s made at your table!

If money is a bit tight, then Feng Sushi is a great place to get great food at very reasonable prices.

Feng Sushi has multiple restaurants in London, and is also situated in Belvedere Road, Chelsea, Hamstead, Kensington Church Street and Stoney Street, so choose the one closest to you and enjoy.

Abeno Japanese Restaurant, 47 Museum Street, Bloomsbury ...

review of London Japanese restaurant Abeno by Andy Hayler in ...

This restaurant, just yards from The British Museum, opened in 1999.

It specialises in okonomiyaki, the Japanese savoury pancake cooked on a large steel hot-plate.

There are two main styles of this dish: Kansai and Hiroshima.

In the Hiroshima version the ingredients are introduced in layers on to a grilled pancake rather than mixed together.

The okonomiyaki ranged in price, depending on the ingredients, mostly from £10.50 to £18.50, with a couple of pricier specials.

London 2012: the best cafes and restaurants on the tourist trail ...

If you fancy something heartier, L'Arco (79 Buckingham Palace Road, 020-7834 1151, larco.co.uk), a family-run Italian restaurant, is much closer and has a delicious, big-hearted menu with lots of choice outside the pizza and pasta remit (starters from around £6, pizza and pasta £8, meat and fish £12).

Here, as well as popular bars and restaurants such as the ever-brilliant Moro (020-7833 8336, moro.co.uk) there is a lunchtime food market from noon-3pm Monday-Friday where you can eat anything from Ghanaian street food to crepes, Bangladeshi lunchboxes and salt-beef sandwiches from about £5.

Everyone needs a drink after being in Harrods for too long, and the bar at A-list restaurant Zuma (5 Raphael Street, 020-7584 1010, zumarestaurant.com) is the perfect place to sit with a cocktail and watch the movie stars and supermodels flock into the restaurant.

Then there's Zucca (184 Bermondsey Street, 020-7378 6809, zuccalondon.com), acclaimed chef Sam Harris's hugely popular modern Italian restaurant, offering terrific, unfussily presented food that won't warp your credit card (starters around £5, mains £15).

The area around the British Library and Kings Cross is dominated by chain eateries and greasy kebab shops, but in the smaller streets there are some gems, like Sichuan restaurant Chilli Cool (15 Leigh Street, 020-7383 3135, chillicool.com).

Abeno | Restaurants in Bloomsbury, London

Abeno Too | Restaurants in Covent Garden, London

Getting your hands on Osaka’s most famous street food, okonomiyaki, has got much easier in London over the past couple of years.

But for our money this stalwart (and sister restaurant Abeno by the British Museum) are still the best for the full experience.

As well as the ample range of okonomiyaki fillings – anything from pork, squid and kimchi to pork, bacon, cheese and salmon – stir-fried noodles (yaki-soba) and noodles wrapped in omelette (om-soba) also make popular choices.

Highlights of a recent visit included perfectly tender chunks of squid in a Tokyo-mix okonomiyaki, plus a cooling summer special of simmered, chilled baby aubergine with dashi and ginger.

It’s no wonder the small cluster of tables and counter-side seats are often packed.

Abeno Okonomi-Yaki Japanese Restaurant, London | Japanese ...

We wanted to have a different japanese experience, not just the usual sushi but something different.

So a couple of friends with japanese connections recommended Abeno.

The place is quite small and can be quite smoky, but you'll try something different.

You might have to wait a bit for your food but just order some starters and you'll be OK.

A must if you want to try something different and don't worry about smelly clothes...

At the Abeno restaurant in London - YouTube