65: Tako Tao

Saturday was an exceptionally hot day. I was craving some rootbeer and Carol was craving some takoyaki (of course both of us were also secretly wanting free air-conditioning. How kiasu), so One Utama was the solution!

After a couple of mugs of rootbeer (okay, two) we headed down to Tako Tao, opposite Cold Storage in the new wing. Carol, japanofile extraordinaire has been telling me about this place since before February, so my guess was it might be a good place to try.

We sat down by the counter and placed our order. Carol wanted it to be authentic (8 arms worth of authencity), so we ordered a box of tako okonomiyaki (or Japanese pancake) and two boxes of tako takoyaki (is that name redundant?). I have to tell you that both of us are no gluttons. The other box of takoyaki was to bribe Cassy later.

The layout of the store was quite bare. With takoyaki pans in front and a bubble tea making area at the back (Taiwanese and Japanese? You don't say). Oh, and that's my plastic back of tapau-ed goodies there (has my English gotten worse?). The varities of takoyaki and okonomiyaki for sale were tako, baby tako, unagi, and sausage & cheese.

The sad part about the whole thing was that the takoyaki is pre-made beforehand, and only reheated when you order, making it loose its freshness and some cool takoyaki making showmanship. Isn't the whole counter-top design aimed at showing how they make the takoyaki?

That rant aside, my plan of sitting there long enough until they were forced to make more takoyaki paid off. Seeing how the tako and baby tako varieties of takoyaki had run out, the guy at the counter did his thing.

Now with this step-by-step guide shot by myself, you now can make your own takoyaki!*

First, pour in the batter.

Add in your choice of filling.

Top it up with copious amounts of cabbage or lettuce. The more the better. Go crazy, you dog you.

Seal it up with more batter.

Separate them evenly.

With enormous skill, flip em! My other peeve with this shop is that they never did the "roll" motion on their takoyaki in its current "hole", but instead pour batter into another "hole" and then transfer the takoyaki over, giving the takoyaki a horrendous, alien-like oval shape when it's done. But whatever you do, for god's sake don't puncture them with those two sticks of death... Oh? They're called chopsticks now? Right.

Repeat again and again and again until reaching the desired amount to feast on....

Enough of the science (or not) behind takoyaki. Its time to eat!

The takoyaki arrived in cute little boat like boxes.

When we opened them, the aroma of the steam, sauce and bonito flakes filled out nostrils.

Sometimes, things like these look too good to eat. But I will, for the sake of writing this. *chomp*

Taste-wise, it was pretty normal, but its hard to define what normal really is, with only knowing two shops selling takoyaki; one in Jusco and one in this shop. Both taste similar, save the one at Jusco actually doing the "roll" technique thing. Minus points for authenticity, but the octopus was had a nice chewy texture to it, without being hard to swallow.

Next up was the okonomiyaki. Batter is poured into a small pan (authentically, its supposed to be one of those teppans, but after the slow service and looking at my poor takoyaki slowly become carbon, I've already given up at this point). Then, octopus and faux crab sticks are added in. Right at then end, a egg is cracked on top and the whole thing is seasoned with the sauces, mayo, bonito flakes and seaweed shavings.

Personally, I think maybe it is seasoned too heavily, making it a tad salty (but nothing a cuppa bubble tea can't wash down, aye?), but eating okonomiyaki is really fun. Its more like a pizza than a pancake, because they cut it into 8 segments before serving it to you. I honestly have an affinity to okonomiyaki, so it was like eating small pieces of sunshine. Haha.

Prices of takoyaki vary from RM4 to RM4.50 depending on the fillings, and the okonomiyaki is priced at RM8. Overall, not too bad and quite affordable (for something like that). As I have said, I wish the service side was better, but both of us left satisfied.

* tako pan not included