Okonomiyaki Meets Pizza: The Signature Dish at Fujimura Shoten Explained

A little while back, a guest who’d visited us for the first time leaned over the counter mid-meal and asked, “What is this thing, exactly?” She was pointing at the Uso-tsuki Pizza — half eaten, already fought over by her group — with a look somewhere between confusion and pure delight. I told her the short version: it’s made with okonomiyaki batter, finished with a torch, and it’s not really a pizza at all. She laughed. “That explains the name,” she said. Uso-tsuki — “the liar.”

That moment sums up this dish better than I ever could in a menu description. It’s Fujimura here, and today I want to properly walk you through what makes our Uso-tsuki Pizza the dish that guests talk about most — and why, after 13 years, it still disappears from the teppan faster than almost anything else we make.

こんな方におすすめ

• ✅ Those curious about what the Uso-tsuki Pizza actually is and why everyone orders it
• ✅ Anyone looking for a fun, casual teppan restaurant near Matsui Yamate Station
• ✅ Groups planning a girls’ night out or a relaxed dinner in Kyotanabe
• ✅ Food lovers who enjoy watching their meal come together right in front of them
• ✅ Guests who want something genuinely unique — not just another izakaya menu

1. The Concept: Why Call It a “Liar”?

The name Uso-tsuki Pizza was never meant to be mysterious — it’s just honest about what the dish is. It looks like a pizza. It behaves like a pizza. It arrives at the table with the kind of energy a pizza brings to a group. But the base isn’t dough. It’s okonomiyaki batter, made the way we make all our teppan dishes here: with attention to texture, timing, and the way heat moves across a thick iron griddle.

The idea came from thinking about what people actually want when they sit down at a teppan bar. They want something interactive. Something they can share. Something that arrives hot and creates a moment at the table. Okonomiyaki already does that — it’s communal, it’s satisfying, it smells incredible when it hits the iron. So the question became: what happens if we take that foundation and build something entirely new on top of it?

The answer was the Uso-tsuki Pizza. And the “liar” part? It’s a nod to the fact that it promises you one thing and delivers something better.

2. The Technique: Teppan Heat + Cooking Torch

What separates this dish from a standard okonomiyaki — or from any conventional pizza, for that matter — is the way it’s cooked. Our iron griddle runs at over 200°C, and at roughly 25mm thick, it holds that heat evenly across the entire surface. When the batter goes down, it doesn’t just cook — it develops a crust from the bottom up, sealed by immediate contact with the hot iron.

But the top is where things get interesting. Once the toppings are layered on and the batter has set, we finish the dish with a cooking torch. That direct flame does something that oven heat never quite achieves in a table setting — it caramelizes the surface in seconds, adding a slight char to the cheese and toppings while the inside stays soft and layered with flavor. Guests sitting at the counter can watch the whole process. The flame, the sizzle, the smell. It’s part of the experience.

After 33 years working with iron and fire, I still think there’s no better way to bring a dish like this to life than doing it right in front of the people who are about to eat it.

✓ ここまでのポイント

• The Uso-tsuki Pizza gets its name from the playful gap between its pizza-like appearance and its okonomiyaki batter base
• It’s cooked on a 200°C+ iron griddle and finished tableside with a cooking torch — the live element is part of the dish
• The open kitchen means guests watch every step, making it a centerpiece of the teppan bar experience

3. Why It Works: The Reason Guests Fight Over the Last Slice

There’s a practical reason the Uso-tsuki Pizza gets ordered by almost every table — and reordered by many. The okonomiyaki base gives it a softness and depth that pizza dough simply doesn’t have. It absorbs the fat from the toppings differently, creating a texture that’s simultaneously crisp at the edge, tender in the middle, and rich throughout.

We use locally sourced vegetables from the Kyotanabe and surrounding areas — Kumiyama, Yawata, Ujitawara — which means the toppings change with the season and the availability of what’s genuinely good right now. That’s not a marketing line; it’s just how we cook. The vegetables on your Uso-tsuki Pizza tonight are the same ones I picked based on what looked best this week.

The dish also works in the context of how people eat here. At Fujimura Shoten, there’s no time limit. Guests come in, settle in, and order across the evening. The Uso-tsuki Pizza lands on the table and immediately becomes the talking point — and then it’s gone. So people order another round. It fits naturally into a long, relaxed dinner with drinks, which is exactly what we designed this space for.

“The Uso-tsuki Pizza disappears before you know it — everyone fights over it.”

Regular guest, 30s

“Everything we ordered was delicious. Great value for the quality.”

Guest, 40s female

4. How It Fits Into the Full Teppan Experience

The Uso-tsuki Pizza doesn’t exist in isolation — it’s part of a menu built around the idea that teppan cooking should be approachable, shareable, and genuinely satisfying without being intimidating. Alongside it, we serve things like Beef Harami Steak, Bagna Cauda made with local vegetables, Teppan Dashi Rolled Omelette, Ajillo, and our course menus with all-you-can-drink options running up to three hours.

When we have Kumamoto Aka-gyu on the menu — a breed of wagyu that makes up just 2% of wagyu distribution nationally — or Kagoshima’s Chami-ton pork, or A5-grade Hida Wagyu, those proteins take center stage. But the Uso-tsuki Pizza is always there beside them, holding its own. It’s become one of those dishes that people come back specifically to eat again. First-time guests order it once out of curiosity. Regulars order it because they know.

We keep dinner pricing between ¥3,000 and ¥6,000 per person because this is a neighborhood restaurant. People in Kyotanabe and the surrounding residential areas — Matsui Yamate, Yawata, Hirakata — should be able to come here on a regular Tuesday evening, not just for a special occasion. The Uso-tsuki Pizza is part of that philosophy: something genuinely special that doesn’t require a special reason to order.

5. Come See It Made in Front of You

The best way to understand the Uso-tsuki Pizza is to watch it being made. The batter going down on a hot iron griddle, the toppings layered on, the torch coming out at the end. We have 18 seats in total, and the counter spots give you a front-row view of the whole process. Groups, couples, solo guests — the open kitchen works for everyone, and the dish reads differently depending on who you’re sharing it with.

If you have any food allergies or ingredients you’d like us to avoid, please let us know when you make your reservation and we’ll make sure to accommodate you. For groups of up to 20, we can also arrange private hire — the Uso-tsuki Pizza makes a reliable crowd-pleaser at farewell parties, welcome dinners, and celebration meals.

Come Visit Us at Fujimura Shoten in Kyotanabe

We’re open Wednesday through Monday from 17:00 to 23:00 (last order at 22:00), just a 6-minute walk from Matsui Yamate Station. Tuesdays are our only regular closing day, so most evenings — including holidays and the days around them — we’ll be here.

If you’d like to stop by and try the Uso-tsuki Pizza for yourself, we’d be genuinely glad to have you. Reservations can be made by phone at 0774-64-1164, or you can make a reservation online. Walk-ins are always welcome too, though booking ahead on weekends is a good idea.

We’ll be waiting for you — with the teppan hot and the torch ready.