Takoyaken Takoyaki: “Lasang Binabalikan, Takoyaking Pinipilahan”

As Japanese cuisine invades the Philippines, Takoyaki doesn’t come far in fulfilling the cravings of Filipinos. The heat of these Japanese balls may be scorching at first bite. We still can’t get enough of these mouthwatering octopus appetizers. That’s why more and more Takoyaki shops are sprouting in street corners.

Takoyaken Takoyaki grabbed this opportunity to build a franchise business, offering affordable Takoyaki food stalls not just in Metro Manila, but also in far provinces like in where I live. Takoyaken Takoyaki recently opened a branch in a food park in our town, selling different flavors of Takoyakis.

Octobits | Bacon

For the Bacon Takoyaki, I almost didn’t felt the bacon in even one of the four balls. It was delicious. However, there is a problem with the proportions. It’s overloaded with vegetables and flour batter to the point that the main filling becomes missing. The same goes with Octobits. Although the flavor of the batter is delectable, I find each balls small. The sauce is more on savory side. It would be good if there’s a hint of sweetness into it. For customers, I recommend to add cheese.

Tuna Melt Cheese

Since it’s a Takoyaki, I’m expecting the Tuna Melt Cheese and their other flavors, apart from Octobits, to still have diced octopus in them. I found out that it was purely tuna, cheese and vegetables. The tuna used was sour and the melted cheese has only mild saltiness. I wasn’t able to appreciate the Tuna Melt Cheese because of the abundance of veggies and batter. Its round shape wasn’t even firm and it visually looks flat inside the box. It’s a good thing that the sauce and bonito flakes are saver.

Karaage

Aside from Takoyaki, there are also other Japanese snacks in Takoyaken so I didn’t miss ordering Karaage. I was surprised at how soft these chicken bites are. The strands of the chicken are totally thin, like as if I’m eating commercialized chicken nuggets. I even had doubts if this is really chicken because it’s too flavorful for a chicken. I wish it has more though because three pieces isn’t enough for me. It’s much incomplete without the shredded cabbage on the side. The sauce used is good.

Kani Shoyu Ramen

Their ramen is like a do-it-yourself noodle soup. There’s a chart where we can choose which toppings and which broth we want to put into our ramen bowl. I tried the Kani Shoyu and it simply tastes like how you see it – noodles with crabs sticks. The noodles is like the one we use for mami, a Filipino noodle soup. The broth was okay but it didn’t felt like I’m sipping ramen soup. The egg wasn’t even a tamago for ramen. It was at least heart-warming.

Okonomifries

Uhm! I think, for it to pass as an Okonomifries, they should have transformed the fries into fritters instead so it would resemble the Japanese savory pancake. The dish simply looks like fries with Okonomiyaki or Takoyaki toppings. Nevertheless, it’s my first time to try fries and bonito flakes pair and I’m amazed on how delectable it was. The Okonomiyaki sauce and Kewpie upgraded the usual snack. They also picked the right choice of fries.