JAPANESE RESTAURANTS -- OKONOMIYAKI (SAVORY PANCAKES)
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   Okonomiyaki restaurants (okonomiyaki-ya) serve large, savory pancakes
   made with diced seafood, meat and vegetables. "Okonomiyaki" literally
   means "cook what you like," and customers get to choose their own
   favorite ingredients and then cook up their pancakes right at the
   table. Because the customers choose their own ingredients, Japanese
   sometimes compare okonomiyaki to pizza, although the similarity really
   ends there.
   The okonomiyaki style of cooking originated in Osaka and continues to
   be most popular there, although okonomiyaki-ya can be found throughout
   the country. The restaurants are popular with students on a budget,
   since the food is inexpensive, tasty, quite filling and fun to
   prepare.
    
   The menu will list the main ingredients available; an order of
   okonomiyaki consists of a bowl of pancake-like batter, plus a dish of
   diced vegetables and the main ingredient, such as shrimp or pork. A
   regular order of shrimp okonomiyaki is called ebi-ten (or
   ebi-tamayaki); some restaurants also serve monja-yaki, which is a
   somewhat thinner and more watery pancake.
   
   The waiter or waitress will come by to turn on the grill at your table
   and brush the surface with oil; after that you're on your own. First
   mix together all the ingredients, then pour the mixture onto the grill
   when it's hot enough. You'll find small spatulas for flattening th
   pancake and pushing it into shape, and a larger spatula for turning it
   over. Before and after turning, you can brush the top of the pancake
   with Worcestershire sauce, then you can sprinkle it with aonori (green
   seaweed powder) and katsuo (dried bonito shavings) before eating it. 
   
   It takes a bit of experience to figure out when to flip the pancake
   and when to take it off the grill. Okonomiyaki takes longer to cook
   than you might expect, and the finished product doesn't hold together
   nearly as well as a pancake. You might ask your waiter for advice, or
   else pay close attention to the technique of the people at the next
   table.
   
   Okonomiyaki-ya also serve yakisoba (fried Chinese noodles with
   vegetables), as well as some egg-based dishes that are closer to 
   omelettes than pancakes.

   
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    OKONOMIYAKI SAMPLE MENU
   
   Note: Uppercase letters represent long vowel sounds. (See
   pronunciation guide below.)
   
   -ten
          okonomiyaki-style (i.e. _ebi-ten: shrimp okonomiyaki) with  
          ingredients listed below
   
   -tama-yaki
          okonomiyaki-style (with egg) with ingredients listed below  

   -monja-yaki
          shitamachi (urban Tokyo) style okonomiyaki, slightly thinner
          than usual, with ingredients listed below
   
   modan-yakiokonomiyaki with fried eggs
     
   -yakisoba
          fried Chinese noodles (with okonomiyaki ingredients listedbelow)
   
     * asari -- clams
     * buta -- pork
     * ebi -- shrimp
     * gyU -- beef
     * hotate -- scallops
     * ika -- squid
     * kaki -- oysters (winter)
     * kOn -- corn
     * mikkusu -- mixed (some of the ingredients above)
     * nattO -- skicky, fermented soybeans
     * tako -- octopus
     * ton -- pork
     * yasai -- vegetables

   Teppanyaki

     * teppanyaki -- grilled foods
     * -batA-yaki -- foods grilled in butter (some okonomiyaki items from
     above, plus those listed below)
     * enoki -- slender white mushroomsgeso --
     squid tentacles ika maru-yaki
     -- whole grilled squidjaga(imo) -- potatonasu -- eggplant shiitake --
     Japanese mushrooms--Tofu -- bean curd
     
   Table Condiments

     aonori -- dried seaweed powderkatsuo-bushi -- dried bonito flakess
     Osu -- Worcestershire-like sauce
     + amakuchi- -- sweet sauce+ karakuchi- -- slightly spicy sauce
     * shOyu -- soy sauce
     * (beni) shOga -- pickled ginger (dyed red)