Why Come Here? Sample traditional Japanese snack foods, foodie adventure, cheap eats
Takoyaki
As someone who actively seeks out trying any and all kinds of food, I like to think there are few delicacies I’ve yet to acquire a taste for. Corned beef and organ “meats” come to mind first, but the unusual snacks popular in Japanese Izakayas are generally pretty high on the list. To be clear, I have nothing but love for sushi, or the fancy stuff churned out at places like Soto and Kyo Ya. But a lot of the salty, doughey, bonito-flake topped “snack foods” seem down right weird to me. Perhaps it requires some sort of taste I’ve have failed to fully acquire as a result of not venturing out of the airport on my sole visit to the nation.
Otafuku, which focuses on a mere three of these snacks popular in Osaka, gives me some hope I may appreciate this cuisine some day. The place is a hole in the wall in the East Village that makes your first apartment seem palatial. It’s so small in fact, that only three customers are allowed inside at a time. Apparently the cash register has similar constraints as they were unable to break by $20 for a $9 purchase. As I mentioned, they serve three types of dishes which can only otherwise be found as sides at a handful of Japanese restaurants. They are: 1) takoyaki (a wheat ball filled with octopus and covered in a sauce and bonito flakes) 2) okonomiyaki (a cabbage pancake topped with your choice of meat and 3) a more standard soba noodle dish. While you may not fall in love at first bite, several members of the mostly Japanese crowd did exclaim it to be the city’s best takoyaki. And if you’re feeling adventurous, Combo B contains both the takoyaki and okonomiyaki at the if-I-can’t-eat-this-it’s-no-real-loss price of $9.
Okonomiyaki
Here’s are my thoughts on the dishes:
Takoyaki 
The predominant flavors are the wheat filling (kind of like a liquidy donut) and the sauce, which is sort of a mix of soy, ginger and BBQ flavors. The diced octopus doesn’t really come through. I really enjoyed the first one or two balls but then the wheatiness started to become too much. Bring a friend to share your order with.
Okonomiyaki Think of it as the Japanese hash brown. A fried, sliced cabbage pancake comes in a gingery-soy sauce topped with bonito flakes. Topped with the tasty bbq pork, I could definitely see this as a late night snack.
Otafuku
236 East 9th Street (2nd & 3rd Aves)
New York, NY
