I know that any Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki lovers would laugh off at my attempt to try and eat some authentic versions of them in Tokyo. I know that Osaka is the home of these lovely dishes but I didn't get to go to Osaka (this time) and I was not missing a chance to try them on my first ever trip to Japan!

Gindaco is a huge Takoyaki chain available everywhere in Tokyo and from my research this seemed to be the go-to place for Takoyaki fans outside of Osaka. We grabbed ours from a food court at the Skytree shopping mall. You'll find them in many food courts, which is where I'd recommend any newbies like me try them - I'm sure I would have made a mess if I tried to eat these yummy dough-balls outside at a stall!

There are also loads of different flavours, all in Japanese, so if you're feeling adventurous you could point to a random picture but for our first time we went for the original. I was something like 500/600 JPY for the set of 8, so it's a nice cheery-cheap meal or snack!

Fukutaro 福太郎

There are quite a few do-it-yourself Okonomiyaki places in Tokyo - I intentionally avoided those! I wanted my cabbage pancakes cooked through properly and I know that if I had to make it I would not be able to flip it without it breaking apart!

Of course we had Yakisoba too, I love fried noodles. This was the pork and kimchi yakisoba.

Fukutaro actually specialized in Spring Onion/Green Onion pancake, Negiyaki - there is no way I would have achieved that yummy crunchy outside, so glad the chefs cooked these for us!

For both pancakes, we opted for the 'mixed versions'. I can't wait to give these a try in Osaka one day!