Tenku Bakudanyaki
7100 Elmbridge Way
Richmond, BC
Just like a couple of years ago, there was that small hot dog stand that could: Japadog (check here, here and here). Of course, with every success story, there are their detractors – in the case of Japadog, their prices (slightly higher than other hot dog stands), to paraphrase one of the comments “hot dogs bought from Costco” and location. Those of us who work in Downtown, that is not an issue; however, those who work and live in the suburbs, well, you don’t have that much of an option. So, a new breed of Japanese street vendor showed up in Richmond selling “bakudanyaki“, a supersized version of takoyaki, to quote from Wikipedia “a popular Japanese dumpling made of batter, diced or whole baby octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion, topped with okonomiyaki sauce, green laveraonori), mayonnaise, and katsuobushi (fish shavings) (“, a lot of people were excited and, to paraphrase a fellow blogger, “is this Richmond’s answer to Japadog?”. I guess there is one way to find out: drop by Tenku Bakudanyaki and have one of their offerings.
I will be blunt here: I have a bias against Richmond. To me, it is, literally, a flat piece of land (considering its geological history, that is no surprise), packed with your expected industrial, commercial, agricultural and residential areas. While that is all good (specially considering the density of restaurants in some parts of Richmond), there is no landscape variety. Hilly parks? Nope. Outstanding office buildings? Leave that to Vancouver… And, when it comes to street food, I don’t think I have ever seen a stand at all. So, when I first read about Tenku Bakudanyaki, one thing that stroke me odd was its location: an empty parking lot. In my limited experience with Richmond, if you live outside of the areas with transit, it is quite likely you will be driving. I guess that shouldn’t be a problem then…
They have six plus one offerings: Original, curry, chili mayo, wasabi mayo, mustard mayo and pizza, with the extra one being a ???, i.e., a daily special. The day I went there, the special happened garlic miso. If they are proud enough to make a special version, hey, I might as well go for it. And here it goes…
I was sort of a sunny day so I got a drink as well, in this case, ramune. As for the bakudanyaki, I don’t know. Due to the size, I would not expect the batter to be the same as a takoyaki; however, it was closer to that of a really moist Chinese bun (and then I am not sure if this is a good analogy). As for the filling, it had cabbage, some seafood (shrimp, octopus, cuttlefish?) and egg. It was unlikely I would eat them combined, despite they were mixed together. After all, eating with a chopstick, you can only “grab” that much. But, each individual component was cooked the way it should: cabbage still slightly crunchy, the seafood still with a bite, and the egg was cooked through. I couldn’t taste the miso or the garlic but that did not distract me either. And due to the small size (imagine a tennis ball), you could easily chow a couple of these. While it was good in its own ways, there was something… Lacking: A “wow” factor. Was it because I was there early (I had to wait 10 or so minutes for mine)? To shake this odd feeling I went there again on another day, this time for their basic version.
Unlike my first visit, these were ready to go. But, that meant they were sitting for a while. As a result, the outer layer was a bit overcooked resulting in a soft crust. Now, it wasn’t bad, just different from my first experience. Just like last time, there was that mingle of cabbage, seafood and egg. But, once again, there was no “wow” factor. No matter how I mixed it with the sauce, turn it around, try to have a bite with cabbage and some seafood, to no avail. It was a good snack but still lacking at the same time.
Overall, I won’t say I dislike it but I won’t say I like it either. Probably because I am making a bad comparison with Japadog: whereas we could use a regular hot dog as a baseline, there is no such thing for me in the case of Tenku Bakudanyaki. As a result, I won’t be driving here just to get one but might be an option if I am driving in the area.
 |
 |
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
You summed it up for me Kim. I had the same reaction. I “liked” it, but neither am I going to drive specifically for them. Although I would classify this as a “different food in a strange location”. Therefore, it’s got the curiosity factor. But yes, it didn’t “wow” me. Yet it was decent.
Sherman, actually, Drea has even a better summary for it; however, I am not allowed to use it for “copyright”/”trademark” reasons!
what a very cool food cart!
Despite the fact this the 6th review of Tenku Bakudanyaki I’ve read, I still find it interesting, good review.
As for the food itself, I think you can compare it to regular takoyaki as baseline, I find it has more stuffing than the takoyaki, and for that reason I like it. But as Sherman said I probably won’t drive all the way out there just to get one.
That is a new concept, to me anyway. Looks good, albeit slightly on the soft side, but looks good anyhow! It’s tough finding takoyaki in London, let alone creative versions of it!
It does look more appealing when it is on a plate, just like what Ben and Suanne did LOL
Pearl, to a certain extent, yes; unfortunately, it is in the middle of nowhere…
Jenny, I am not sure if comparing it to a takoyaki will be fair mainly because the ones I have had so far only contains octopus pieces. The extra other ingredients make the bakudanyaki a different beast. However, I might do a comparison to okonomiyaki… I guess next time I have one of these, hehehehe.
Monchichi, you can always drop by Vancouver to have some of these! XD
LPV, sorry, unlike Ben and Suanne, I don’t have kids yet, hence I see no reason to carry a plate in the car! ^_^;;; But, regardless, I would rather show pictures of the food “as is”, i.e., the way they serve it. Otherwise, even McD’s food can look good if they go through a makeover as shown here!
LOL that’s true =P
Definitely a new food concept for me Kim, it sure looks and sounds very interesting.
I MUST TRY THIS!
You must log in to post a comment.
{ 1 trackback }