Hanamaru Tei (Semba)

Classy Japanese modern traditional ambience and a classic menu.

In addition to its fluffier batter texture and generous helpings of your chosen meat, seafood, or other topping, Hanamaru Tei Okonomiyaki is also notable for its successful melding of the greasy-spatula soul of okonomiyaki with a classier Japanese modern traditional ryotei sit-down dining experience.

Highlights

The Hanamaru Tei space feels built for classy family get-togethers or old school business meals from the entrance to the table, with its emphasis on warm wood decor and tons of traditional touches.

From the geta-bako shoe locker at the entrance that some travelers may recognize as more evocative of traditional onsen hotspring resorts or ryotei fine dining establishments than the usual teppanyaki diner, to its shoes-off policy throughout the restaurant, to its both raised and horikotatstu sunken floor seating, to the pull-down divider roll curtains throughout the restaurant that can instantly divide or combine spaces for privacy or inclusion, a marker of a place built with party size flexibility front of mind.

Hanamaru Tei’s okonomiyaki selection is, perhaps appropriate to the restaurant’s decor and interior design sense, highly orthodox. Rather than emphasizing its own creative twists or signature dishes with the classics as backups, Hanamaru Tei’s focus seems rather to be on spotlighting the classics and letting them speak for themselves. It also offers various non-okonomiyaki teppanyaki offerings.

Where the restaurant’s okonomiyaki really distinguishes itself is in the nice fluffy texture of its batter, which feels a bit less eggy than the norm, and in the unusually generous portions of its meat, seafood, or veggie toppings – which feel especially generous considering its fairly standard pricing.

Notes

Ordering is done via smartphone, by camera-scanning a QR code and accessing a web menu.

Although the menu prices of Hanamaru-tei are fairly standard for okonomiyaki, seating does include the mandatory tsukidashi appetizer as is common in both ryotei-style restaurants and traditional izakaya pubs, which is worth knowing ahead of time for the budget conscious or for those who dislike having an extra item tacked onto their bill even if it’s not something they particularly wanted to eat. This it shares with Teppanyaro and Kyochabana.

Locations

Hanamaru Tei has locations in Semba and Yodoyabashi. The information above refers to its Semba location.

Hanamaru Tei Semba Branch Information

Name in English:
Hanamaru Tei Semba-ten

Name in Japanese:
花まる亭 船場店

English address:
3-3-16 Minamihon-machi, Chuo-ku, Osaka, 541-0054 Japan

Japanese address:
〒541-0054 大阪市中央区南本町3-3-16

Opening hours:
5:00pm-11:30pm (Mon-Fri), 11:30am-2:00pm (Sat and holidays), 5:00pm-10:00pm (Sat, Sun and holidays)
Closed irregularly

Non-smoking area: No

Price:
Gyutama (beef okonomiyaki) ¥980

Nearest Transport:
1 minute walk from Hommachi Station (exit 9) of Osaka Metro Midosuji Line, Chuo Line and Yotsubashi Line

Website: Official Website (Japanese)

Where Is This Restaurant Located?

All of the restaurants in Osaka Okonomiyaki Guide are shown on the following map. They’re also listed on our main Osaka map.

More Information

• Insider’s Guide to Osaka Okonomiyaki Restaurants
• Best Osaka Restaurants

About the author: Angelino Donnachaidh is a translator/interpreter, food lover, history enthusiast, and longtime resident of Osaka, Japan. He is also the author of the middle grade historical fiction illustrated novella Tamiu: A Cat's Tale, the forthcoming YA post-cyberpunk AI heist adventure Brother, and the forthcoming sci-fi samurai epic The Mayhem Protocols. Find him on the web at saica-creative.com/angdonn.

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