today's review is on Tsukiji Gindaco, that famous takoyaki stall at the basement of Ion Shopping Mall. It is known for having long queues so when i saw less than 4 ppl in the queue, i immediately jumped right behind to get my hands on some takoyaki!

first things first, some info on takoyaki that u might or might not know.
Takoyaki literally means fried or grilled octopus and it is a popular Japanese dish made of batter, diced or whole baby octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion, topped with okonomiyaki sauce, ponzu, mayonnaise, green laver (aonori), and katsuobushi (bonito flakes - fish shavings). It is first popularized in Osaka. Yaki is derived from "yaku" which simply means "to fry or grill" in Japanese, and can be found in the names of other Japanese cuisine items such as teriyaki or sukiyaki.

Takoyaki brings back fond memories of my pri and sec sch days, when we wld buy at junction 8 every so often. so needless to say, i was extremely excited to try the takoyaki!

This stall only sells takoyaki with octopus because tako stands for octopus! non of those cheese and ham versions! i really enjoyed the takoyaki because at first bite, it was crisp and brown. The inner fillings that were soft and runny, complemented the crispy exterior. every takoyaki had a nice size tako and they did not overcook the octopus. the takoyaki is then topped with okonomiyaki sauce, mayo and some bonito flakes.
The yakisoba however, failed in comparison. the yakisoba i ordered has a fried egg on top and some meat and cabbage below. the soba noodle was chewy and not overcooked but there was nothing special about it. i felt like it was just soba noodles with egg and tons of okonomiyaki sauce.