Okonomiyaki is one of Hiroshima’s most well-known dishes. You can choose from ingredients such as pork belly meat, squid, shrimps, and cheese, and these are then grilled together with large piles of cabbage, soba (or udon) noodles, all sandwiched in a crepe-like dough. Although there are more than one thousand shops specializing in okonomiyaki in Hiroshima City alone, the sheer busyness of Nagaya makes it stand out from the crowd. While it is conveniently located near new and old sightseeing spots such as Hiroshima Peace Park and Hiroshima Orizuru Tower, the real reason for the shop’s popularity is of course the deliciousness of their okonomiyaki. They make no compromises at all with their ingredients, such as the custom-ordered original sauce, which contains a large amount of tomatoes and provides a light aftertaste, and the fresh noodles they procure from a local noodle factory. Effort is also put into scrutinizing where the vegetables they use are sourced from. The shop’s okonomiyaki are grilled slowly and thoroughly meaning the tastiness of the ingredients spreads throughout the dough, meaning customers can enjoy them to the last bite without ever tiring of the flavor. In addition to “Nagatayaki” (the shop’s specialty), “sutamina-yaki” (which is popular with foreign customers), and the simple “nikutama” (with meat and eggs), the shop also has a wide range of vegetarian dishes without meat and eggs. (This information is as of November 2017)