Otafuku

Today, P and I checked out Otafuku in the East Village. It's a tiny little place that sells Japanese street vendor food. The only seating available is the bench seen in the picture above. P used to live in Japan and used to survive on okonomiyaki, which is a pancake of sorts, filled with cabbage, scallions, and a filling of your choice. I had shrimp and P chose pork (I think it was bacon). The savory pancake is topped with sauce, bonito flakes, and dried seaweed. It was yummy, but I thought the takoyaki was better.



This was my first takoyaki experience after waiting a few years to try it. I'd first heard of takoyaki from a bonus movie at the end of the second Card Captor Sakura movie and wanted to try them ever since. Takoyaki is a round dumpling the size of a golf ball, and it's stuffed with octopus, ginger, and scallions (you can see them cooking in the picture above). They're also topped with the same sauce and toppings as the okonomiyaki. You can get six takoyaki for $5, or go for a combo takoyaki/okonomiyaki for $8, which is what P and I chose. I also got a yummy apple tea, which didn't have any high fructose corn syrup. Healthy and delicious!