Today’s review is NOT a sushi review! Gasp! This blog is titled Sweet, Savory, and Sushi because I’m going to be trying food at all sorts of Japanese restaurants, not just sushi places. Otafuku is a Japanese Okonomiyaki stand right along 9th street, between 2nd and 3rd ave, has no tables (only a small bench out front), and offers only three things on their menu. What is okonomiyaki? I’m glad you asked…
A delicious street food combining pancake batter, veggies, and meat!
Okonomiyaki translates to ‘cooked as you like it,’ and that’s exactly what it is. Starting with some mountain-yam flavored pancake batter and mixed with cabbage, this base can then be combined with anything from steak and cheese to squid and fried eggs to make a delectable dinner pancake! The okonomiyaki, meat and all, is cooked on a flatiron grill, and once it’s brown and crispy, it is topped with a dark, sweet okonomi sauce that tastes like a mix between tonkatsu sauce and eel sauce. Mayonnaise and Bonito flakes are also optionally added to complete this Osaka street special.
While Otafuku’s style of Okonomiyaki was first made in Osaka, Japan, there are many other variations of the food. Hiroshima makes okonomiyaki with mostly grilled cabbage, while Tokyo tends to go heavy on the batter and sauce. There are also other variations on Okonomiyaki. Otafuku also makes Takoyaki, which they also refer to as ‘octopus balls’. Takoyaki are Okonomiyaki batter mixed with octopus and poured into small, orbular molds that cook into small fried balls. The same sauces and toppings are added to the takoyaki, but these slightly bigger than bite-size snacks are easier to share with your friends.
Otafuku, 236 E 9th St, New York, NY
Otafuku, 236 E 9th St, New York, NY, (212) 353-8503
Experience: 16
Food: 17
Bill: 17
Quality: 7
Creativity: 7
Flavor: 8
Service: 7
Total: 79
EXPERIENCE: Otafuku is the literal definition of a hole-in-the-wall. A small entryway that is only labeled in Japanese leads to a booth. Behind this booth is the eatery’s kitchen, where one or two chefs prepare their freshly cooked baked and fried selections. The booth itself seems a little bit worn and dirty, which fits with the street food theme, but I admit has turned me off of dinner there a few times. The food is cooked when you order it (though some of the takoyaki is already prepared), so it can take five to ten minutes of standing out on the street before you actually receive your food. I ordered the beef and squid okonomiyaki, which is served as two smaller pancakes, each with the different topping respectively. The okonomiyaki was served in a plastic take away container that in no way contained the heat of the food, so I had to carry it by the sharp sides of the container. Looking for a place to eat my food was another issue entirely. With no nearby parks, and only a few bench areas within a ten block radius, I am usually tempted to take my dinner home, knowing that it will be slightly colder than it should be. A few times I have attempted to hold the plastic container with one hand while eating the okonomiyaki with the other, but since the only eating utensils that otafuku gives you are chopsticks, this can become rather difficult fairly quickly. Okonomiyaki stalls like this one work so well in Japan because there are so many places to casually sit wherever you go. Without these resting spots throughout manhattan, this kind of eatery can quickly become rather challenging. I gave Otafuku an experience score of 16 for being authentic, reliable, and relatively quick, but still a little bit dirty and inconvenient.
FOOD: The menu at Otafuku offers 3 items: Okonomiyaki (vegetable pancake), Takoyaki (Octopus Pancake Balls), and Yakisoba (Grilled Japanese Noodles). All three menu choices use the same fundamental ingredients, and can come with a variety of toppings and fillings that change the price of the meal depending on the type of meal and topping. For example, cheese takoyaki costs less than octopus takoyaki ($8), but the cheapest takoyaki option is plain batter and cabbage balls ($5). I ordered the Okonomiyaki Combo, which includes to medium-sized pancakes with a topping on each ($9). One of my okonomiyaki had beef on it, and the other had squid. It took about 10 minutes for them to cook my dinner from scratch, and when it was finished I had them top it with sauce, Japanese mayo (which is sweeter and less intense than its American counterpart), and shaved bonito flakes (fish flakes that add a smoky flavor to the food). The okonomiyaki, fresh off the grill, was too hot to eat at first, but when I finally dug in, boy was it tasty. Grilled all the way through, but still gooey, with those Japanese fish flavors mixing with the brown oily grilled goodness of the batter and green crunchy cabbage, I couldn’t help but speed through my first pancake with devilish glee. Now, if you haven’t tried okonomiyaki before, its seaweed, fish, and cabbage flavors may be a shock to someone expecting more earthy flavors. The first time I tried this flavor combination, I admit I didn’t like it very much, and it took having the pancake AFTER a wonderful sushi dinner that I really understood the flavors, and okonomiyaki became one of my favorite foods in the world. The okonomiyaki at Otafuku is perfectly gooey and delicious, but the oiliness of the food was a little bit heavy, and the steak topping was a little bit chewy and flavorless. All of these flavors, good and bad, resulted in my score of 17 for food. The quality and creativity both receive scores of 7 because the food was tasty and authentic, but the menu was fairly limited and some of the toppings were not as fresh as they could have been. The flavor gets a score of 8, however, because Otafuku probably makes the best okonomiyaki outside of Japan itself.
BILL: The costs at Otafuku are fairly reasonable for Lower Manhattan street fair. For $5 you can get the cheapest thing on the menu (octopus-free takoyaki), and they are still very flavorful and filling. The okonomiyaki, which costs up to $9, is also more food than anyone needs in one meal, and some of it could easily be saved in the fridge at home. I wish that the prices for the plain battered okonomiyaki could be cheaper as well, since I don’t want to spend $10 on my favorite street food, and places nearby will serve okonomiyaki of similar quality for $5-6. These prices are reasonable enough to give Otafuku a bill score of 17, and if they had a seating area, I would actually say they are completely justified. The service receives a score of 7 for not being the friendliest staff on the planet, but knowing how to make some mean grilled food. I can’t afford Otafuku everyday, but the cost certainly isn’t the main reason I don’t eat here all the time. Can you blame me for not wanting to stand through my meal every night, though?
So everybody should go to Otafuku at least once, try their food, and see if they like it. If so, St. Mark’s is full of wonderful okonomiyaki to try and compare, and I’ll definitely be reviewing those places as well in the near future. Japanese street food is part of America’s future, so why not get started on a growing trend right now? It’s more nutritious than Burger King, and about 10,000 times better.
