Osaka Soul

Tried this for the first time last night and I’m hooked! The Gojira mix with kimchi, bacon, and shrimp was delicious. Looking forward to trying more from the menu.

I stumbled upon this place and I’m so very happy. I’ve never had an okonomiyaki before and I’m so glad that I tried them out! I got the Gojira mix and it was perfect! The kimchi and shrimp are great together. I didn’t think I would like bacon in the mix but I was pleasantly surprised that it melded so well together! Apparently they moved locations, but I can’t wait to try out the other options!

When I first heard that this place sells «japanese pizzas,» I was extremely intrigued. I’ve never even heard of the concept, so naturally, I was excited to try it. I ordered the Ninja mix, which is a kimchi and shrimp combination. The pizza already came ready in a to-​go box, so I appreciated the thoughtfulness as the meal was too big to finish (and I’m sure I’m not the only person who feels that way). It was full of flavor and the ingredients seemed fresh enough. The salmon skin on the top of the pizza was a nice touch too!
I took off one star basically because overall, it didn’t blow my mind. The unagi sauce/​teriyaki sauce, I’m not really sure which, was a little too much for me after a while. Half way through the meal, I started to get pretty thirsty because of the salty flavor of the sauce. Also, although I understand there was only one guy working the tiny trailer, it still took quite a long time to get our food. We probably waited for about 15 minutes for two «pizzas.» Maybe the ingredients take a while to fully cook through???

Yum. Perfect place to savor new tasty treats and still enjoy friendly atmosphere of old Austin.

I have to be honest. I really did not like their food. Like, I really, actively disliked it.
However, take my two-​star rating with a grain of salt, because I’ve never had okonomiyaki before. So this is by no means me saying that their okonomiyaki is bad. For all I know, it’s the best ever, and I just hate the stuff.
Little things: It’s a bit pricy for a trailer at first glance, but the portions are quite large. Staff seemed friendly, and the area around it is nice (although outdoors means smokers and South First means crazies sometimes). So, um, maybe try them? I honestly have no idea if I just don’t like okonomiyaki or if I don’t like Osaka Soul.

My wife and I tried okonomiyaki for the first time about a year ago in London. We were blown away by it, and when we got back to Austin I was disappointed to find that there didn’t seem to be anywhere to get it locally. Since then, this trailer has opened to fill the pancake-​sized hole in my heart.
While not quite at the level of what I had before, Osaka Soul is remarkably good. We tried the Bonsai (kimchi and mushroom) and Ninja (kimchi and shrimp); it’s not really clear from the menu, but you get a lot more than that in/​on your pancake. The portion size was just right, and the fillings and fish flakes were delicious. The sauces were also good, but there was too much of them for our tastes; we scraped a little off so they wouldn’t overwhelm the fillings. The food takes a while, but it is well worth the wait. I’m looking forward to trying the Japanese sodas, and also to coming by on the weekend when apparently a greater number of fillings are available. I hope that this trailer prospers enough to eventually start offering a wider selection, but what they have leaves little room for complaint.

The worst trailer that I’ve been to! I could only taste the sauce and the soggy pancake.

Woohoo! Okonomiyaki in Austin! Not exactly the experience you would get in Japan, but the food comes pretty close.
Good for a snack to share with friends, but difficult to eat as a meal.

I love this place. Japanese food so close to my house!
I never had okonomiyaki when I went to Japan so here was my chance! I love the korean version and I like that they have one with kimchi. They’ve got a ton of great options and mix-​ins available and the price is pretty great considering you get a HUGEEE pancake.
The owner was super nice and everything comes out in about 10 minutes.
Please go here and support this business! I want it to be there for a long time!

This is a hard review to write and I really struggled over whether to give this place 3 or 4 stars.
First, a description of what the offering, okonomiyaki, is. It is a Japanese pancake, apparently a street food. It is basically a pancake dough, stirred together with your choice of Kim Chee, grilled shrimp, mushrooms and/​or bacon. You can get any combo of the above. After the ingredients are stirred together, it is cooked on a griddle like a giant pancake, about ¾″ to 1″ thick, then topped with a wasabi mayo, a teriyaki sauce, some crunchy bits that I thought were sesame seeds at first, but then I realized they were something else that kind looked like sesame seeds, but provided a nice texture addition. You could also have bonito flakes on it. I also tasted some very nice fresh ginger and green onion in the mix as well. This was my first experience with okonomiyaki.
I have to say that I did not care for it. I felt that there were just too many competing flavors that did not combine well. I also did not realize that this was really was quite a doughy pancake. While I love Asian food and am generally an adventurous eater, I’m not crazy about Asian bread products. I especially don’t care for Asian pancakes, such as Korean pancakes and Chinese green onion pancakes, so this is just a personal preference of mine. I chose the kim chee, bacon and mushroom. The flavor combo or wasabi, teryaki, fishy flavor and bacon just came out kind of muddy and salty and oddly bland to me, though. The flavors just weren’t complimentary in terms of flavor palette; they seemed to sort of cancel each other out, although the high point was the fresh ginger. I was wishing for more kimchee, for more spice/​crisp veggie/​kimchee to cut the bread and savory heaviness feel.
That said, I have to say that this dish was beautiful and it was cooked perfectly. The bacon was crisp and perfect and the pancake was not even a little bit greasy, as is my problem with most Asian pancake foods. The sauces were drizzled on the top in a really pretty way. Apparently, this is a common street food that is well liked in Japan and it was executed with precision and care.
So, have you ever seen a dog show on TV? You get to the best of breed part and all these different dog breeds are competing against one another. Personally, I always root for the hound, because I like hounds. But, in a dog show, each dog is measured up to the standards of perfection of their particular breed, not against one another. So, lets say that this dish is a Pekinese. I don’t really care for Pekinese dogs. I think they are ugly. I prefer a nice big working hound dog. But, often, no matter how ugly, the Pekinese will often win over that gorgeous big hound dog because it is the best example of a perfect Pekinese — and lots of people just LOVE a Pekinese.
So, see, this is why Osaka Soul gets four stars from me, although I probably won’t go back.

My fiancé and I went here the last time we visited Austin and it was great! Although the wait was a bit long (about 10 min) even though we were the only ones there, and there was a little too much okonomiyaki? sauce on mine, but thats personal preference it was still great!
The only thing I would like to see different is a bigger drink selection. I dont drink carbonated drinks, but wanted something sweet to drink (tea would have been nice), but had to settle for the only non-​carbonated drink they had (bottled water).
I will definitely come back for more!

This place is pretty awesome. I used to live in Japan and ate okonomiyaki all the time. Since leaving Japan, I hadn’t been able to find it anywhere … until now. Well worth a try for the first-​timer or an okonomiyaki enthusiast. Nice folks work there too.

Yum yum yum! What a big bang of delicious coming out of such a small trailer.
This is my first experience with okonomiyaki, but I must say it was a good one. I’m falling in love with Japanese «street» food. Love Balls was where it started, and Osaka Soul is the obvious next step. There are many similar flavors going on (they both are Japanese-​style street food, after all) but the okonomiyaki is much heartier. The pancake hides all of the wonderful fillings underneath it, and is topped with little tempura crisps, japanese mayo, okonomi (I think) sauce, and bonito flakes (if you wish). I went with the Bonsai Mix (seasonal mushrooms with kimchi) which I expect was just as tasty as anything with bacon (which my dining partner had). Every single bite was just as tasty as the last, and I couldn’t even finish the whole thing! For $ 6.50, I consider that a deal!
Do be prepared to wait for your order. Each okonomiyaki is made from scratch to order, so this is not fast trailer food. But don’t let this deter you from ordering, it is well worth the wait.
I ONLY took away 1-​star (I wish I could take just ½ star) because they are not making their own housemade kimchi. They are using a traditional store-​bought Japanese kimchi (which DOES have fish paste). I believe a housemade kimchi would take this dish to a whole new level (and easily make this trailer vegetarian friendly).

When you’re looking for your unusual trail park cuisine or looking to try something new and experiment, this is the place to go.
For those who have never had okonomiyaki before, most people describe it as a Japanese pizza. A better way to describe it would be a Japanese savory pancake, made with rich batter with toppings cooked into it, and then a savory salty and sweet sauce on top. It’s definitely worth trying if you never have.
For those who have had okonomiyaki before, this place is the best it gets in Austin. I have been craving it for months since moving here, and am pleased to say it definitely fulfilled my craving. The Gojira Mix (shrimp, smoked bacon and kimchi) even had bonito shavings on top, which I was pleasantly surprised to see. The sauce was spot on the the batter was well crisped on the outside and still slight doughy and warm on the inside. Definitely can compare to some of the okonomiyaki I had in Japan when I lived there.
I really hope that people give this place a shot so that way it sticks around. My girlfriend tried it, and was skeptical at first, but after the first bite, ate the entire thing.
The guy was very friendly, the portions were good, a great price, and the wait time was only about 10 minutes. I would recommend the Gojira Mix if that sounds good to you. If you’re just wanting to try it the first time, get the One Topping Mix (choice between shrimp, smoked bacon, mushrooms, or kimchi) and try it with whatever you feel most comfortable.
Be adventurous!
I’d love if they had a few more «toppings» (give me octopus and I’ll be thrilled), but for what they had, considering it’s a trailer, and considering it’s the only place in Austin to serve okonomiyaki as far as I know, I’m all for it.

Super delicious, definitely filled the okonomiyaki sized hole in my soul. It tastes authentically Japanese, loads of umami flavor and perfect toppings. I fed a bit to a coworker who’d never had okomomiyaki, and she loved it too.
I’d recommend for any fan of ethnic cuisine, or someone just looking for something different than a taco. And I say that as a great lover of tacos.

Weird and tasty! Japanese pizza is delicious, and worth a try for those looking for something truly unique. Go for the bacon and kimchee your first time.