After taking a wrong turn out of downtown on my way to Richmond, I decided to change dinner plans and go for okonomiyaki from Modern Club on Dunbar.
Okonomiyaki, like ramen, is a simple dish but can cause food fanatics to spend hours debating who from where makes it best how. We don’t have that kind of enthusiasm for okonomiyaki in Vancouver. Why? Because there really is only one or two places that serve it. Its a culinary hole that’s waiting to be filled. Modern Club to the rescue? Not so much.
Okonomiyaki that contains noodles fall into the ‘modern’-yaki category. At the Modern Club they serve Osaka style tama(regular), modern(with crunchy soba noodles), and postmodern(cute terminology) (with thicker udon noodles) variations. We tried their regular style shrimp, and the modern style squid (ika).
The portion is on the small side, and though the sauce went well with the crunchy noodles and mayo, its not worth $16. Appetizers are pre-cooked and pulled out of a cooler, and sushi is no better than lunch take outs. It is only worth visiting on Tuesday nights when the special is okonomiyaki for $10.
Its also incredibly easy to make a better version at home. As demonstrated in my favorite youtube cooking show:
I <3 C.W.D.
-Dan
Eat Snap Repeat 
February 24, 2009 at 12:30 am
Guu has okonomiyaki in their menu, though, of course, that’s not even close to be their notable dish. Also, there is Hanabi, a food court stand in Aberdeen. In the case of the later, it might be hit or miss. A couple of years ago, I ordered one and it easily took over 20 minutes (they were preparing the batter “from scratch”). Unfortunately, they ended up burning it on one side. Obviously, not a happy camper…
February 24, 2009 at 12:39 am
I know of a few other izakaya that are supposed to have it on their menu, but again, far from being their highlight dish. Hard to get a sense of the scale of things in your image, but the version I had a few months back (went on the $9.95 special day) was huge. I could barely eat half as it was so filling. Tasty?, well thats an entirely different matter…
February 24, 2009 at 8:58 am
To be clear, I meant to say serve it “properly”.
Shokutsu, looks like you got served a half head of runny cabbage when you went. YUM!
February 24, 2009 at 10:29 am
I went to Modern Club last year.
Didn’t really like it. I’ve never had authentic okonomiyaki before… so maybe okonomiyaki is just not for me. Or perhaps Modern Club’s take on it just isn’t very good. Oh well.
This is a little picky, but I also don’t like how smoky it is in there. They need better ventilation. Like many Korean BBQ places, I don’t really enjoy coming out of a restaurant smelling like a campfire.
February 24, 2009 at 11:43 am
Yeah, sitting at the bar gave me a smoke sauna.
February 24, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Hmm, if you’re looking for some good okonomiyaki and you’re up for a real adventure, try the Lion’s Den on 15th and Kingsway, It’s a very eccentric little hole in the wall that offers Caribbean and Japanese food. It’s operated by a couple (the husband is caribbean and the wife is japanese). The decor is very kitschy with a stuffed lion hanging over you. Don’t look if lions creep you out.
It’s reasonably priced and there were a couple of variations. I had the salmon one and it was quite tasty. I don’t remember any noodles in it though. Be prepared to wait 15 to 20 minutes as there is only one cook or call ahead and she will prepare it in advance. Priced between $10 and $!5.
A good alternative to Moderne Club (overpriced) and the food court in Aberdeen (plainer and smaller version).
February 24, 2009 at 7:00 pm
I love how “modern style” okonomiyaki (which in Japan is MODAN-YAKI, which itself is a Japanization of “modern yaki”) pretty much effectively means replacing vegetables with heavy carbs. That’s modern food for you, I guess!
I linked to that Cooking With Dog on my blog too. ( http://okonomiyakirecipes.nthmost.com ) hee hee Francis!
Thanks for the writeup about Vancouver’s okonomiyaki “scene”. It’s interesting to see how the okonomiyaki meme spreads (or doesn’t) out of Japan. I’ve never met anybody who didn’t like it once they’ve tried it, but so few people have even heard of it in the first place.
–Naomi
March 12, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Since the original owner of Modern Club retired/sold the place it hasn’t been nearly as good.
Prices up/quality down and the new owners want to use heat from the grill to heat the place, they shut the heat off and the grill fan off too resulting a smoky restaurant.
Under the old Management I sat @ the grill many nights and never smelt like I’d been frying for hours.
I know the old owner showed the new ones how to cook the food but that doesn’t mean they learned well, too bad it had an excellent reputation in the neighbourhood.
April 2, 2009 at 9:25 pm
I agree with Bill Barilko, Modern Club used to be better when the old owner was around.
I tried Okonomiyaki at The Clubhouse last night, it was quite good.
September 26, 2009 at 11:09 am
My wife and I and a couple of friends went to Modern Club just before the original owner retired and moved back to Osaka. Since my wife is from Osaka and I have lived there myself, we were looking for a really good Osaka style Okonomiyaki place. We tried it…and wow…it was so good! She definitely knew how to make some good Okonomiyaki. We talked to her and she let us know that she’s moving back to Japan. We we’re disappointed because we wanted to come back when we visit Vancouver (we’re from Edmonton). After seeing these reviews….we may try it one more time, but we also may have to find another place to eat Okonomiyaki. Sad to see such a good place go to waste.
October 6, 2009 at 1:30 am
To Post # 8.
Are you the Bill that used to come in every Wednesday night with exchange students?
Myself also misses my experience working there for 5 years.
Even since I left, have not heard a positive review from friends again.
Hope things are well for you Bill.
August 13, 2014 at 11:30 am
Excellent post however I was wondering if you could write
a litte more on this topic? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit more.
Cheers!