Dotombori Akaoni - Osaka

I know this place recommended by Google search Takoyaki in Osaka and there are few shops in Dotombori area. This is the one I chose and it was not disappointed at all! The tase is great. The outside is a little crispy with sauce and inside is very juicy with fresh squid. You can choose many types of Takoyaki here and if you choose the original type, there are three types of sauce you can get!(sweet sauce / picky sauce / salt). I had original Takoyaki with sweet sauce 8 pieces in 500 yen. It's a reasonable price for me. Many Japanese customers are here. You can easily find it from Google Map. The small giant mascot in front is very sweet.

Osaka. Takoyaki. Dotombori. Akaoni. These are the words in a super catchy tune as you near this little takoyaki stand. Akaoni is the red devil, and I don't know why they named it that, but the cheesy jingle sticks in your head like the devil. Dotonbori Akaoni serves takoyaki here that is a little more delicate in flavour, with the dashi playing a central role in its flavour profile. The octopus is a little better unlike other takoyaki vendors, it is fresh and not pre boiled. You can order their regular varieties, slightly crispened on the outside, molten lava on the inside, topped with choice of a 甘口 sweet sauce or ピリ辛 spicy sauce. What I like from here is their ちゃぷちゃぷ (Chapu chapu) takoyaki sitting in dashi broth, a little bit soggy in texture but more depth of flavour as it sits in there, accompanied by a little bit of yuzu zest that brightens up the flavour. Good street food, and a must for the discerning takoyaki connoisseur.

We got half spicy sauce and half original, I would definitely recommend the spicy sauce. Each takoyaki has substantial amount of octopus which is always a plus. The takoyaki are not as crunchy on the outside though and doesn’t taste as fresh.

Another traditional Osaka street food. The special thing about this shop is it uses fish broth to serve. Worth give it a try if you like this typical street food.

I'm bummed out that I didn't like this place more. With such a cute prescence (the music! the stall! the cute mascot! and the many raving reviews I've seen about Dotombori Akaoni, I really wanted to like them. But unfortunately, it was not the case. I will admit that there's a chance that all the good reviews I heard made my expectations too high or maybe, I just don't know what *real* takoyaki tastes like. Thus, I'll just describe my experience: The takoyaki I had were soggy and tasted like they were not fully cooked. There was no crisp ness as described by other reviewers and soon after receiving them and snapping a quick picture, they collapsed from their signature ball like shape into something resembling more like a frisbee. That was in the span of 1 minute. The creaminess I expected was there but the entire thing was creamy and seemed to be derived from the fact that it was undercooked. Again, perhaps I just don't know what takoyaki is supposed to be like but this doesn't seem even close to what I expected. It's really a shame that I didn't like their takoyaki more. I did find one thing I liked though the tune playing outside of their shop! It's the theme of our trip and if not for takoyaki, I recommend going the song, haha!