Japanese Pancake World

To avoid if don’t want to be sick…
Nous y sommes allés entre potes…
On a reçu un plat cramé, indigeste…
On a tous été malade le soir même

The food is delicious but the service can be a bit slow, even when the place isn’t busy. It took us around 45 min to get food from the time we ordered, and around 15 – 20 min just to get drinks from when we sat down even though there was only one other table. The pancakes are huge and high — 1 is definitely enough for two persons to share if neither person is a big eater. The different layers and textures in each pancake make for a unique dining experience — each is a bit crunchy but chewy, salty and umami. It’s hard to compare these to anything else. The okonomiyake pairs great with Sapporo.
I would skip the appetizers and go straight for the pancake. The miso soup we ordered came like warm and had a grainy texture, kind of like it came out of an instant soup packet.

Fantastic! Little joint adjacent to the broader street (I have no clue where I was, I just followed my gf lead) Sure glad we tried this Pancake World. The owners are very friendly, took their time to prepare each of the three different pancakes (yes, you must try all three types!) You are allowed to walk up the steps to watch the master at his art of making these yummy cakes. The place is not too small, very clean and simple décor. We came in for a late lunch around 3:30pm and had a table of four hungry people also waiting for their dishes. It was worth the wait! We also ordered the chicken karaage as appetizers and they were so juicy!!! Even better than the ones in the U.S., no joke.
Impressed!

As good as the food was, I can’t give it more than three stars because of the hour-​and-​a-​half wait. We were warned up front that it would probably take half an hour… and the wait would have basically been fine if at some point the waiter had at least come by to give us an ETA or something. Not like we were in a hurry, but even by relaxed European standards that was a little long.
Anyway, okonomiyaki is great. Try the mountain potato one.

Sooo happy to finally try this place! Different with your usual Japanese restaurant :)
Service was great and friendly! Very helpful too explaining about okonomiyaki if you have never tried them. It took time to make it but so worth it!
Definitely a MUST try!

Wow, I am impressed!
I did not expect to find authentic okonomiyaki in Amsterdam! We discovered this place based on my friend’s recommendation.
Oh boy, it was such a hike to get here. We got lost and when we finally walked into the restaurant, we were turned down the first time because they were all booked for the night. We had to make a reservation and come back the next day! After all of the obstacles, I would say it was worth the trouble.
Their menu is pretty simplistic, they serve japanese pancakes — surprise! right? They serve two different styles of onkonomiyaki– osaka and hiroshima. The difference between the two is the former is made with potatoes and the latter is made with japanese ramen noodle and eggs. I got the hiroshima style onokonomiyaki because I love eggs and I have had the osaka style before in LA so I wanted to try something different. I recommend their classic pork osaka or hiroshima style, depending on your preference.
Although it takes a while for the food to be served, it is worth every minute. The moment you get your dish, you will be in awed. I was so excited to take the first bite. They give you the plum sauce and Japanese mayo so you can dress as much of it as you want on your pancake. When I finally took that first bite… wow, I was speechless. All of my friends were pretty quiet during the meal because we were busy eating away– yest, it is that good!
My favorite part of the meal was watching the chefs cook. You have the opportunity to sit by the kitchen to watch the chefs cook in front of you. You can tell they put a lot of time and effort into creating the perfect pancake! If you want to try something different when you are in Amsterdam, I highly recommend trying this place.

Totally fantastic. Sat and watched them cook our 5 pancakes. We could have eaten 3 but wanted to try more. 2 adults. 2 kids. And we had an amazing meal.

you come to Amsterdam for the japanese food… errr
well, good food is good regardless of where it is.
these are good «pancakes» and about 15 euro for one that can feed 1 hungry and 2 not so hungry people. they have 3 varieties and different ingredients, just pick what sounds good to you, wait 20 minutes, and enjoy

YES!
It is painfully hard to find good okonomiyaki outside of Japan, but Japanese Pancake World did not disappoint!
The cooking process is slow, but it’s fun (or maybe painful if you’re as hungry as I was) to watch. I had the Osaka style butatama pancake, and it was absolutely delicious and tasted very authentic.
Maybe I’m just biased, but I thought these pancakes were much better than the Dutch pancakes I ate elsewhere in Amsterdam. It may seem strange to eat okonomiyaki in Amsterdam, but who cares? Just do it.

Like the land they bike on, Dutch pancakes are very flat. Japanese pancakes on the other hand are like mountains, delicious layers stacked on top of each other. Of note, these are savory pancakes so don’t come here expecting dessert.
I have been here multiple times but please check their website before you go to make sure they are open. The owners spend a great amount of time travelling so it isn’t always open. What is interesting though is that the chef/​owner is German! He learned how to make okonomiyaki from his Japanese wife and went to Japan to hone his craft.
Food: ⁵⁄₅
They serve 2 styles of okonomiyaki, osaka (the most popular pancake with mountain potato purée from osaka) and hiroshima — (multi-​layerd pancake from hiroshima with japanese noodle and egg).
My favorite is the osaka-​style, butatama style (with pork strips, cheese and mushrooms) and super power (with rice cake, corn, cheese and jumbo shrimps).
Now… I must admit that I’ve never eaten an okonomiyaki that I didn’t like and I didn’t have the chance to try the real deal when I was in Osaka so I don’t have anything to judge on, but this is really really tasty and so filling! You’ll leave with your bellies full and a smile on your face.
Service: ³⁄₅
I wonder if it is because this place is closed so often but it seems like their staff is constantly changing, and don’t really know what they are doing. Don’t worry, your food and drinks will come but you may have to wave really hard to get their attention after ordering.
Atmosphere: ⁵⁄₅
Eating is all about engaging all your senses, so grab a seat by the bar and watch your food being cooked in front of you! Plus the technique involved in how the pancake is put together is an art form.
Also, do not come here starving. Cooking takes about 15 – 20 minutes so you will need to wait before you can sink your teeth into that mountain of tastiness.
Value: ⁵⁄₅
The okonomiyaki ranges from € 10 – 20, and the portions are huge. It is deceptively filing because the chef is constantly packing the layers together so you don’t notice it. However, usually half way into the pancake my belly starts telling me I’m full but my brain can’t possibly comprehend how I could not finish such amazing food!

Who eats okonomiyaki (japanese pancake) in Amsterdam? Well, I sure did. It was a random find via Unilocal,and at first, I was a bit skeptical, but the great reviews brought me here. I was able to sit at the table where the main man was cooking. The place gets quite packed, but luckily, we knew exactly what we wanted to order so he let us sit down.
The food took quite a bit of time to cook. I want to say at least about 30 minutes for each dish. Having had a ton of okonomiyaki and horishima yak in Japan, I was a bit surprised. At first, watching the food being made, I was extremely skeptical. I was with a fellow Japanese person, and I myself have seen this being made a thousands of times in Japan, so I was wondering how the steps didn’t make sense.
The key to okonomiyaki is truly in the sauces – the right type of mayo (must be kewpie japanese) and the right konomiyaki sauce (the brown sauce). I thought perhaps, since we’re in Amsterdam, it may be a substitute.
Boy, was I wrong. This stuff tasted LEGIT. Despite the process of it being made was a bit odd, it tasted fantastic. And, more importantly, I was impressed that the mayo tasted authentic (not sure if he actually uses the Japanese mayo since they are expensive and I imagine imports costs to Amsterdam would make it worse) and the okonimiyaki sauce was also authentic. It was no worchester sauce like he may have described to other people.
I got to have a short chat, and we discovered that he went to Japan and learned from a chef who specialized in making these items from each region, including Osaka and Hiroshima. I’m seeing in someone else’s review that he learned from his Japanese wife. I dunno, maybe it’s both?
Kudos and huge claps to this man. Do not underestimate him at all.
I’m giving a solid 4 stars, as I have had better and I can’t say this is the best ever I’ve had. And because of the food preparation process being questionable (hands touching raw pork, then touching fridge doors and other raw vegetables and cheese without washing hands in between) I’m knocking off a star, as it put me in high concern for whether this was safe practice.

When it comes to food, it pays to be willing to try just about everything, I’ve found. So guess what I did when I encountered this little restaurant, promising Japanese Pancakes? Yep, I went in.
The restaurant had opened only minutes earlier, but there were only two tables still free: this place is tiny! After handing me the menu, the waiter quickly returned, already anticipating the bewildered look in my eyes, and explained what needed explaining (read the reviews below for a much better explanation than I can give), and guided me to what turned out to be a nicely balanced choice between adventurousness en (according to the chef) recklessness.
Preparation time is quite long, but sitting by the grill, watching the German (!) chef prepare/​build the pancakes, cup of Japanese rice tea within reach, time passed quickly.
So, to the pancakes: they are quite wonderful. Tasty, crisp and spicy and warming. Filling but not heavy.
And I’m definitely still clueless about chopsticks.
The ice cream desert, was a bit of a letdown, bland and uninspired. However, Monte Pelmo was near & open, so…
I’m definitely looking forward to coming back, expanding my culinary horizons, and graduate to the mountain potato purée pancake.

Jamais je n’aurais pu me douter qu’Amsterdam possédait un restaurant à okonomiyaki. Lorsque nous sommes passés devant ce restaurant ma copine et moi, je lui ai rappelé combien j’avais aimé ce met lors d’un précédent voyage au Japon.
Une fois à l’intérieur, nous avions une table sur le bord de la fenêtre. Par curiosité et surtout par nostalgie, je me suis mis à discuter avec le serveur qui nous a éventuellement invité à venir voir comment le repas était conçu (ce qui est coutume au Japon). Le restaurant étant peu achalandé à ce moment, c’était donc une belle occasion. Après avoir ensuite vu le chef à l’œuvre, un allemand marié à une japonaise, j’ai tout de suite compris son amour du Japon, résultant en intéressantes discussions. De fil en aiguille, le chef nous a invité à nous asseoir devant lui, ce que nous avons fait.
Regarder la conception de l’okonomiyaki en soi est à mi-​chemin entre le spectacle et l’œuvre d’art. Ma copine avait pris la version Osaka (avec beaucoup d’oignons verts) tandis que j’avais pris la version Hiroshima (avec nouilles et pomme de terre) par nostalgie car j’avais jadis découvert le repas dans cette ville. Étonnamment, j’ai trouvé celui de ma copine meilleur que le miens! :)
En bref, c’était aussi bon que dans mes souvenirs du Japon, ce qui est probablement un bon indicateur du niveau de fidélité que le chef tente de respecter. Passer la soirée a discuter avec le chef fut aussi très mémorable.
N’y pensez pas plus longtemps, allez-​y! :)

I was surprised and quite pleased to find a place like this in Amsterdam! I knew Amsterdam was very international, but still was in general suspicious of all the Japanese joints. Then I looked up reviews for this place, and decided I definitely had to go.
They pretty much only serve okonomiyaki, with some appetizers as well. I wanted karaage, but their deep fryer wasn’t in commission at the moment. Sad.
I got the butatama okonomiyaki, Osaka style. Wow, it was amazingly good. As good as any I’ve had in Japan. Although actually, I think I like Hiroshima style okonomiyaki better!
The chef is very friendly, and I chatted with him about Japan and okonomiyaki. I got bored while waiting for the okonomiyaki and started reading the Japanese menu. Yeah, it does take a while. They say about 30 minutes, but that’s probably during peak times. It was more like 20 for me, since the place was pretty empty at 2pm.
The lady before me tried to pay with card but their machine wasn’t working. She tried 8 times before giving up, and the chef gave her complimentary plum wine as consolation. Credit card worked for me though, so no plum wine came my way.

Great find! I looked it up after reading rave reviews on Unilocal and they were spot on. The owner is the chef and both he and support staff were very nice.
Food was good and seemed very authentic although I am not familiar with the original.
It was a tasty and filling meal, and something different. I don’t know if I’ll go back again though, but that is because the food was not really my favourite pallet.
Thumbs up!

So freaking awesome! When we started planning our trip to Amsterdam, my wife had her heart set on trying this place out. I was skeptical, because let’s face it, it sounds completely bizarre. Needless to say, I was completely blown away.
The place is extremely small, so we felt quite fortunate to get a table for four without reservations. The waiter explained the process, the origins and was quite friendly. As for the food, there’s no way to really describe it other than saying you have to try it for yourself.
I had the Osaka style shogayaki special (mountain potato purée pancake with beef, spinach and onion). Not only did I eat every last bite, but then I proceeded to take bites from my wife and daughters plates as well (they’re filling, but I really wanted to try the different styles since we all got different pancakes).
This was easily the best food we had in Amsterdam and completely worth checking out.

This is not the type of restaurant you expect to eat at when you have just four days in Amsterdam. Heck, we got lucky that we even found it-​we stumbled upon it while wandering around the Jordaan area.
First off, it’s tiny. We had to leave our names with them and return after a couple of hours to get a table for four. Secondly, it’s always packed. I love that combination: popular yet intimate.
They make okonomiyaki, which takes about 30 minutes to prepare. Since the wait time is substantial, you’re welcome to watch your pancake being prepared in the open kitchen. I got a green tea milkshake-​which was subtly flavoured and delightful-​as we waited. Then, it finally arrived. A monster of a seafood special Osaka-​style okonomiyaki. I doused it in the accompanying sauce, and it was succulent, filling, and delicious.
After that meal, we had to score some chocolate. You know, just to feel a wee bit more Dutch.

Our friends that moved to amsterdam brought us here.
IT’s kind of a you need to be in the know kind of place (in fact i fear reviewing it, so i get stuck without a table when others figure out how great it is…)
The fella/​cook that runs it is married to a japanese woman who taught him how to make these pancakes, he is a german man who commutes from germany every couple of weeks to cook these wonders for a couple weeks.
You have to watch the website to determine when he’ll be in Amsterdam.
There are a number of interesting and varied toppings/​layers/​flavors!
It’s huge and filling and yummy
Watching the whole process is a treat — so sit by the grill if you can
It is amazing to see all the little containers, pieces that go into this layered thang!
Chat him up, see what he has to say, buy him a glass of plum wine!
Definitely something i have never eaten before and very different from the «normal» amsterdam pancake!

I absolutely adore this place. Oiishii okonomiyaki! Try to sit at the grill with the chef. You’ll go home smelling like food, but you’ll be glad you got to see how the pancakes are made. Be sure to chat up the chef, it’s often the owner!

Okonomiyaki in Amsterdam! Who would’ve thought? I was a bit hesitant to eat here during my recent stay, only because it felt silly to seek out Japanese pancakes when the Dutch pancakes are themselves so incredibly delicious (especially with bacon, don’t even get me started)– but after a few days of luxuriating in all things pork, stroopwafels and lots and lots of beer, a healthy Japanese lunch sounded like just the thing. And it really was.
I had a delightful chat with the Japanese chef, a friendly and charming fellow who recently made Amsterdam his home, who is creating okonomiyaki of all kinds behind the little bar at Japanese Pancake World, traditional and otherwise. We sat at the bar as one would in Tokyo and enjoyed watching him create our excellent lunch. All the traditional fixings, authentically made, and with a little extra oomph from the creative flavors that are thrown together to make the chef’s signature dishes. Excellent and friendly service as well! I would gladly give five stars if not for what felt like high prices for what I would consider very casual fare… all in all, a great experience and a surprisingly wonderful taste of home away from home.

Japanese Pancake World?
You might be asking yourself, «wtf is that??»
«Did someone flatten an animé convention and fry it on a grill?»
«Is this like all Pokemon squeezed into a ball and then stomped on?»
Well folks, let me clear the confusion… it’s difficult to describe a Japanese pancake, otherwise known as Okonomiyaki, but I will tell you they are daaaaaa-​yaaaaaamn good! Since this place ONLY serves Okonomiyaki, allow me to explain…
«O-​konomi» translates to something like «the way you like it» or «to your own taste»
«Yaki» means pan-​grilled
So put those together and you get whatever your little heart desires cooked on a big pan!
And what better way to mold a bunch of wonderful crap together than in the form of a huge fatty boom boom pancake!
Of course there are some kinky ass peeps out there so when I say «O-​konomi» don’t expect sweaty used jock straps or babies in your pancakes, mmmmkrrrr!
Instead, you can expect lekker dings like crispy slabs of bacon (bacon belongs in everything), beef, veggies, seafood, etc. Unlike the local sister to Okonomiyaki, the Panenkoeken, you won’t find any sweets other than the black sesame icecream or Choya plum wine.
At the end of end of the night and three Okonomiyakis later, the new chef (who will become the permanent one) came over to offer us some free sake. If you ever learn anything from my reviews, it’s to NEVER refuse free booze — GOT IT?! I noticed he was Japanese so we switch over to samurai language and the dude turned out to be super cool! He goes by Kita-​san and let me tell you, the dude has a passion for cooking and makes a damn good okonomiyaki. He believes that specializing in something allows you to make the best of its kind and he ain’t kidding — that’s fo’ sho!!!
Nihongo ga dekiru kata — Chef ga nihonjin na no de, nihongo demo zenzen daijoubu desu!
Butayaki ga osusume na no de, zehi tameshitemite kudasai!!!
So going here for the first time to pop your okonomi-​cherry??? I recommend getting the butayaki… either Osaka style or Hiroshima style. It’s very common over in Japan and it is suuuuuper yummy here! Oh and don’t forget to check out their website since their menu is seasonal! Aaaand last but not least, don’t forget to lube up your okonomiyaki by applying ample amounts of the brown okonomiyaki sauce on it!
ITADAKIMASU!!! (eet smakelijk)

Beim Bummel durch das Jordaan-​Viertel sind wir am Schaukasten der Pancake World hängengeblieben (clevere Idee!).
Also Visitenkärtchen mitgenommen und am nächsten Abend dort unser Glück versucht. Glück gehabt dann auch dahingehend, dass wir nicht nur die letzten beiden Plätze ergattern konnten (der Laden ist nicht groß) sondern sich diese auch quasi Auge in Auge mit den Köchen direkt an der Teppan-​Platte befanden. So konnten wir das making of (nicht nur) unserer Pfannkuchen live verfolgen, während langsam das Wasser im Munde zusammenlief.
Überraschung: hinter der Pancake World steckt nicht etwa ein Sohn Nippons sondern ein waschechter Schwabe, dessen japanische Ehefrau ihn auf diese in Europa bisher wohl einzigartige Restaurantidee brachte und nein, es handelt sich nicht um auf-​japanisch-​getrimmte Versionen holländischer Pfannkuchen sondern tatsächlich um original Küche aus dem Reich der aufgehenden Sonne.
Unsere Osaka-​Style-​Pancakes waren sehr lecker, gleiches galt für das japanische Eis zum Nachtisch und den Pflaumenwein, der das Essen begleitete.
Alles in allem ein sehr vergnüglicher Abend, daher: zweifelsfrei 5 Sterne und wir hoffen, dass die Expansionspläné der Pancake World Richtung Deutschland von Erfolg gekrönt sein werden!

Outside of Japan, okonomiyaki are difficult to find. I was astonished to run across this place, and we booked a reservation for that night. It’s a small restaurant, modern, and easy to get to from the Westmarket tram stop.
When ordering, we were informed it would take about 30 minutes for the okonomiyaki to be ready. We had a small appetizer, and beer. They have a decent selection of Japanese drinks and alcohol, but it isn’t extensive (no shochu, no Orion beer, etc.) What they do have is amazing okonomiyaki in three styles: Osaka, Hiroshima, and Negi. We had the Osaka-​style, in several different flavors, and I was immediately transported right back to Japan. The flavors were excellent, the portion size just right (one is enough for almost anyone, and you won’t be hungry after), and they even got the way the bonito flake topping moves on the top of the okonomiyaki from the heat.
The price was € 25 each, with drinks and tip. And the next time I’m in Amsterdam, I’m coming back.