Good eats at the Japan Festival

The rainy forecast wasn't enough to stop us from going to the Brighton Japan Festival today.  The chance of having some real Japanese food was more than enough motivation, and luckily we had just a few scattered showers.  We tried a little bit of everything from....

beef curry....

tempura prawns...

and the festival-est of all Japanese festival foods, takoyaki!

For those of you who are takoyaki newbies, they are "octopus balls"--batter cooked into balls with octopus inside, then covered with sauce, seaweed and mayo. Mmmmm!  The festival will still be going on tomorrow so if you're near Bartholomew Square you should stop by and sample the Japanese fare.

Speaking of takoyaki reminds me of okonomiyaki--similar to takoyaki but with different meats and cooked in the shape of a pancake.  If you're craving this Japanese specialty there are actually TWO okonomiyaki restaurants in London: Abeno in Holborn and Abeno Too near Leicester Square. You have the fun of okonomiyaki being cooked in front of you, and then you get to put on your own toppings.  You have to try it, but get there early because they don't take bookings and there's always a queue!

Itadakimasu!