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Tenku Bakudanyaki
Categories: Restaurants Food Stands Restaurants Japanese Food Stands, Japanese [Edit]
8740 Charles StRichmond, BC V6X 1W2
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 3 pm - 10 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
10 reviews for Tenku Bakudanyaki
10 reviews in English
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Review from Sachi M.
12/11/2010 1 Check-in Here
I don't think this is meant to be like a Takoyaki. It seemed to me more like Okonomiyaki (flat) tucked into a small container, though missing the shredded cabbage. But then again, I don't know what a "proper" Bakudanyaki is like... (I just looked it up, and apparently it's a registered trademark of http://www.bakudanyaki... , not a category.)
I asked the lady for her recommendation. She asked me if I like spicy, and when I said no, recommended the Original. She then put the toppings on and gave it to me. I was thinking, "What!! It's not freshly made!??" but it was warm enough that it didn't bother me while I was eating it.
What did bother me was the chunks of potato inside. The texture kept interrupting my enjoyment of the taste. I don't really remember what else was inside, except one small prawn that was pretty good.
The taste level was up there with Cartel Taco, in my local food cart experience. And the ease of eating while standing was by far the best, including how they already had the chopsticks and napkin tucked into the container, so I don't have to look for them. I can't get over the potatoes, though! So this will have to be a 3.Listed in: Food Carts!
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Review from Jacqueline T.
Coquitlam, BC
2 STARS! As I've experienced better NOTIFICATIONS that this place is currently NOT OPEN!
Made me super frustrated actually!
1. The place was super hard to fine (Taxi lot, right across from bridge port station) but it wasn't labelled at all. and the carts has stripped themselves of their names. So they were bare, and just unlabelled carts. You have to walk out and read the fine print that they are currently closed, due to some project..
2. Poor information on the www. or anywhere as a matter of fact. No phone number. No news regarding why its closed. No new date when its going to re-open.
I mean.. talk about customer retention. Are they planning on doing so at all? Grr! Step it up!
I would still like to try these humongo takoyakis! THEY BETTER BE THE BOMB! grumble grumble.. walks away from uneven dirty parking lot.. very unhappily. -
Review from Joanne L.
Richmond, BC
3/22/2010
We saw this place in the newspaper and wanted to try it. At first we could not find it because it was just 3 mobile trailers on a gravel lot. We cautiously walked up to the menu and the chefs all popped out and greeted us, they took the time to explain what they were all about.
The 3 separate trailers served delicious, fresh, real ramen, custom temaki (hand rolled cones), and giant takoyaki dishes. Each allowed your own choice of ingredients, so you can make them to your liking.
We had a piping hot bowl of ramen, with pork-bone soup that the chef used hours to stew, then we bought a soy-wrap temaki with scallop. The filling was generous and ingredients were fresh! Oishi!
The decor and style was very Japanese, it reminded me of the streets in Osaka, where there's standing room only to savour the food. Prices are very reasonable for the quality, it is a must try! They also encourage customers to bring their own containers to be green and not create so much garbage, that's awesome, you get discounted too. Will go back for more!Listed in: First and Definitely Not Last, Neighbourhood Gem
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Review from Janice F.
6/22/2009
It's a food cart! In Richmond!! In the parking lot of a closed-down ghetto club! Props for innovation & marketing - love the little chinese takeout box it comes in and the customized stickers! I tried the wasabi mayo topping, it doesn't really have a 'kick' but it's got a subtle wasabi flavour.
Overall, it's just too much takoyaki for me - the wasabi mayo only lasts for the first half of the ball and then it's just cabbage and mushiness from there on. I also couldn't find the mochi inside :( I wish you could customize the fillings too - ie no quail's egg for me, please. Totally personal preference, but i like the bite-sized normal takoyaki. I wish them the best of luck with their concept though. -
Review from Nadine W.
Vancouver, BC
1/16/2010 2 Check-ins Here
Tried this myself for the first time last week, even though I'd been telling all my friends to check it out. A food cart in the middle of a parking lot in the middle of nowhere! It was a cold wet night, so we ordered and waited in the car for about 10 minutes while the guy in the cart made our bakudanyaki. It was worth the brief wait!
So simple, bakudanyaki is just like an extra large takoyaki, with additional ingredients inside. The only difference is in the toppings that go on top of the ball. It's so tasty and makes a great snack or a mini meal! I can see they're going to be very busy during the Olympics, as the Rihmond Oval is only a block or so away. -
Review from Larry L.
7/11/2009
When they first opened, Wow! Great Idea! Awesome, The Bomb!
The menu at first got a few of us confused thinking we could get just sausage or just egg or just something other than everything in one.
Great concept, but for my brother, who doesn't like squid or stuff, it didn't really appeal to some of us.
A giant All in one takoyaki if you could call it. I had to try every topping and enjoyed most of them. It was until when I had egg shell that bothered me.
No problem. I can overcome this even though it is a pet peeve. Working in the industry it does bug me, that and feathers in my chicken wings..
Now back onto topic since they don't serve wings.
I did have the misfortune of trying out their daily special and to give them credit it was good. Clams and butter and garlic topping on top of the the bakudan. The problem is that I couldn't keep it down and didn't feel well after. It was the end of the day, The clams had probably gone bad. I haven't returned.
To be on the positive, I'm sure that they've gotten things figured out by then and have heard other great reviews about this place. Like I said, I just had the misfortune of having egg shells, and bad clams.
Hopefully their refrigeration is better and considering this was when they were only open less than a month, I'm sure they've got all the bugs worked out. I don't mean to be mean here, but it's what happened to me.
Great concept, great food. Just for me, bad luck. -
Review from Will W.
Burnaby, BC
3/6/2010
First of all, I like takoyaki. This is not takoyaki. It is bakudanyaki, an original (?) creation akin to takoyaki and there's nothing wrong with that. Tastes great if you like takoyaki and that is not an easy taste to find in Vancouver and area.
So where does it go wrong? Location sucks and the price is double what I think it should be. $17 for three baseball sized yakis and one drink is way too much. It's not like we have a table or a warm dry place to sit. No we have our cars which end up smelling like fish flakes. Not even a picnic bench was there when we visited.
It also goes wrong, for me at least, in that I can achieve the same taste at home. In fact, we do. We make takoyaki quite easily. If you don't then maybe this will satisfy that craving. The simple fact is, though, that this kind of operation works better as a market/street snack that you walk by rather than one that you have to drive to.
I'd rate it higher if the price was lower. -
Review from Jonas T.
8/4/2009 5 photos
It's great if you're into takoyaki, but there's only so much one can eat without getting sick of it. $5 is kind of expensive, but it's still worth a try.
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Review from Pork Fried Rice C.
4/24/2009 6 photos
I was drunk one afternoon with some friends from Japan and we started talking about delicacies from different regions in Japan. Osaka came up and takoyaki was theirs. For those of you that don't know what takoyaki is , it's a little ball shaped donut-like dumpling the size of a ping-pong ball that usually contains like pieces of cooked octopus, pickled ginger and green onions. The ball is made from a batter similar to pancake mix. The takoyaki is then topped with okonomiyaki sauce, green laver (aonori), mayonnaise, and katsuobushi (fish shavings).
Then there is BAKUDANYAKI. This is the same concept except that these tasty morsels are the size of a softball !!! How can anyone resist giant sized food !!! MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm
I heard about this place a few weeks ago and stumbled onto something on the internet. We found out it was in Richmond but didn't really get the address ?? Someone said it wasn't a restaurant but in a trailer ...... ????? So blindly off we went and discovered it in the Parking lot of an old club, across the street from the RONA hardware store. LOL !!! We pulled up and laughed our asses off. It was a trailer with a small kitchen setup inside it. The service was friendly and liked the selection of Curry, Chili Mayo, Original, Wasabi Mayo, Mustard Mayo, Pizza, or the special. Each bakudanyaki costs $ 5.00 (tax included). So we ordered and waited anxiously for this unique experience. Now I'm a takoyaki fan and love eating these at night market and Powell street festival, so I was really looking forward to having this monster ball in my mouth......hahaha........ yes I just said that !!!
After about 5 min we get our original bakudanyaki served in a chinese takeout container (very cute). The aroma was great and authentic. The taste was .... good. Good, not great ! It was tasty but to be expected the texture was a bit more mushy than should be. I know that takoyaki is supposed to be a bit mushy inside, but these were a bit more mushy that I like. Maybe they haven't quite perfected the cooking time but all in all a good experience. There was lots of tasty bits inside, but I think I got squid instead of octopus ...... not sure if this was a way to economize, but good nonetheless. After the consensus was that the texture was a bit odd, we all liked the bakudanyaki and thought it was a fantastic idea and had a very marketable product !
Good luck Tenku Bakudanyaki !!!! I will be back to eat the rest of the menu. -
Review from James P.
Vancouver, BC
5/26/2009
this squid balls here are very good... although i find that $5 for one is pretty hefty, but nonetheless it's good... in fact i had two the very day... i had curry and chili mayo... they were both very good...
