#aucklandeats: It's Korean Fusion with Japan's Takoyaki!

Yooa & Tako | 1 Elliott Street, CBD, Auckland 1010

For a quick pick me up in Auckland CBD, don’t overlook Elliot Street! There’s now a Korean-owned food stall, Yooa & Tako specialising in a street food favourite of mine, Takoyaki. This is a ball-shaped snack made out of batter filled with diced octopus and topped with a savoury takoyaki sauce, kewpie mayo and dried bonito flakes 🐙 I haven’t found any restaurant that specialises in this popular street food and definitely not one that adds different flavour combinations too…until now!

Instagram | @yooatako

Though you can get the original Takoyaki, there are also five others too choose from, each with their unique flavour combinations. Trying out one wasn’t an option, instead I went for four- Original, Spicy Tako, Kimocheese Tako and Negimayo. Out of the four, my favourite one was definitely the Kimocheese. Instead of just topping the Takoyaki with stretchy mozzarella like I thought it would, it’s actually topped with cheese sauce. The cheese sauce added so much depth and flavour to the octopus filling. The Negimayo Takoyaki is quite a popular flavour combo in Japan with a mix of spring onions and Kewpie mayo. The pungency that you get from spring onions balanced out the subtly sweet flavours of Takoyaki and the Kewpie mayo. Definitely added a ton of flavour!

You’d be surprised at how filling Takoyaki is! With 8 pieces in each serving, these protein-filled balls are a meal in itself. With so much food left, I shared the rest with HIKOCO HQ to try. Overall, Spicy Tako was the HQ’s favourite. It wasn’t too spicy, so if you can’t handle spice, this isn’t going to set your tongue on fire 🔥 Instead the spiciness mostly comes from the Spicy Tako sauce so it wasn’t too overpowering where you can’t taste the octopus filling. 

Instagram | @yooatako

Yooa & Tako only just started as market stalls a few months ago and now have a permanent spot at Elliot Street so definitely go check it out! They’re currently adding more menu items, so you won’t be just getting Takoyaki. Fusioning Korean and Japanese cuisine together, they’ve got Takoyaki on top of super spicy Korean Samyang ramen noodles too 🐙🍜 If that isn't enough, finish it off with something sweet, maybe the Korean classic street food, bungeo-ppang (붕어빵), a red bean filled pastry, which you can find at Yooa & Tako too!

Instagram | @yooatako

The HIKOCO team has been talking about these Takoyaki balls, it’s only a must that we go back. But next time, it won’t just be Takoyaki being ordered, but the other menu items that they are slowly adding on. Oh, plus we can’t say no when there’s a 10% OFF discount code 😂

That’s right, lucky for our Beauties they are offering 10% OFF all purchases on their menu. Come into HIKOCO Queen Street to grab a Yooa & Tako coupon card and get yourself to their stall to curb your hunger quick, this discount is only available for a limited time!