About Time: You Tried London’s Best Japanese OmeletteBy Angelica Malin

If we’re being finicky, this should read: About Time You Tried Okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki, or Japanese Omelette to the Western ear, is a Japanese speciality served mainly in Hiroshima and Kansai. You may have seen it popping up at stalls like Brick Lane’s Sunday Upmarket. The delicious, spicy omelette, luckily for us, has now got a permanent home in Brixton Village Market.

Okan is the home of the Osaka-style omelette in Brixton. With only 20 covers, the tiny restaurant serves some of the best Japanese food in London, and at top speed. That said, the secret’s out, which may mean you’re waiting a while for a table in the cold. The menu’s small: choose between Okonomiyaki, Yaki Soba and Yaki Udon, or interestingly, a combination of the two in the Okonomiyaki & Yaki Soba: an omelette stuffed with udon noodles.

With prices starting at £7.20, it’s an unusual and filling meal – unlike anything you’re likely to experience elsewhere in London. Good date food, we say. We went for the ‘Okan Special’ (£8.25), which includes kimchi, sweetcorn, prawn and squid – the cabbage-based omelette is complemented by the rich, spicy pickle and the Japanese mayo and brown sauce make it a delicious mouthful.

You can pimp it up with pork, bacon, chicken or tofu, too. Order a cold beer and watch Brixtonites go by. That’s enough words for now, bring on the photos.

Okan, Unit 39, Brixton Village Market, SW9 8PS. Open from 12 noon onwards, Wed-Sun. No reservations, cash only.