O ta Fuku?

EATERY:

Otafuku

LOCATION:

236 E 9th St, New York 10003 Btwn 2nd & 3rd Ave

REVIEWS:

I stubble into Otafuka not knowing anything about it, the aroma and the cute decor drew me in. Once I stepped into the snack shop it felt like a narrow alley in Tokyo, it only holds 2 patrons at a time- literally. The menu is limited they have these snacks called Takoyake meaning “fried or baked octopus”, some edamame beans, and some soft drinks. So I went for the Takoyake, which are fried, octopus dumpling shaped into round balls, “Making takoyaki requires a takoyaki pan, a special frying pan made of cast iron with hemispherical molds.” (wiki) And in the batter are diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion, with that batter it’s baked it was topped with tonkatsu sauce, mayonnaise and fish shaving/ katsuobushi. I thought it was okay, the flavor was too intense for my taste, the tonkatse sauce over powered the Takoyake, besides that the center batter was this sticky, goopy, gooey consistency almost seemed it wasn’t cooked all the way. I didn’t care for it, but I thought on a drunken night in the East Village would cure your night hunger.

RANTS & RAVES:

One order will set you back $5- cheap! It was very filling but didn’t feel it like a meal; it’s the kind of full that feels a little nauseas really could have used a beer to wash it down. Also once you order you have to wait outside for about 5 minutes, there is a bench but usally full of ppl, so your either stuck eating standing outside or having it togo.

TAGS:

Japanese Cheap East Village New York