I usually have lunch in the city with my little brother at least once a week, so we are constantly on the lookout for new places to try. We both love Japanese food, so we were thrilled to find Okonomi-Ju.

Set under the rail bridge, Okonomi-Ju is a fun if noisy eating experience, and the fact that the food is top notch just makes it even better. The owners are from Osaka, so the must-try on the menu is the Okonomiyaki, a savoury Japanese pancake (sometimes described as a Japanese Pizza) made with flour, egg, dashi stock and cabbage, topped with your choice of pork, seafood, seafood and pork, calamari or tofu as well as Japanese mayonaise and a special house-made Okonomiyaki sauce. We've had a few dismal versions in Melbourne, so we don't hesitate to say that this is the best okonomiyaki that we've had so far here.

The rest of the menu is small, but perfectly formed. The croquettes are made of potatoes and deliciously sweet vegetables like peas and corn, shaggily coated with panko and fried to a delicious golden brown. The more adventurous will want to try the takoyaki, balls of batter-fried octopus which are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside with a deliciously tender piece of octopus in the centre.

I could talk more about how great it is, but I think this is most telling - after we told my partner about the lunch that we'd had there, he insisted that we should have dinner there so that he could try it too. If you call ahead, you can simply swing by to pick your meal up (though parking in the area can be iffy).

I really love Okononomi-Ju - it's fantastic food made and served with pride and passion, and I would dearly love for more people to know about it and try some authentic Japanese street and home-style food!

Approximate cost: $10