Right round at Marumaru

The other day, Mabie and I felt like having a little afternoon snack. Our eyes spotted a Marumaru stall at  the top floor of Robinsons Pioneer, and being the takoyaki fan Mabie is, we decided to try it out.

"Maru" is Japanese for "round" - so this means "round round"

Marumaru's "takoyaki" banner

For the uninitiated, takoyaki are Japanese octopus balls. Unlike fishballs or squidballs, which are mostly made of processed meat, takoyaki meat is enveloped in dough, drizzled with Japanese mayo and a brown savory/umami-tasting sauce, and drizzled with shaved bonito flakes (also used on another dish called okonomiyaki) and what looks like finely chopped parsley. Cooking takoyaki is also different; they are steamed instead of fried, and their doughy exterior retains the cooked-in heat much longer than your usual fishball.

Marumaru's takoyaki is a pretty good afternoon snack if you're hungry. The dough is finely textured and their sauces are very flavorful, although like most takoyaki places I've tried it's not a particularly meaty treat. The octopus meat flavor instead permeates the dough, so the taste is subtler and not in-your-face.

You make tusok-tusok the takoyaki to eat it

Be careful with handling your uneaten takoyaki :)

One of the unfortunate things about this particular stall is that even the lady preparing our order was not able to sufficiently explain what takoyaki was to a prospective customer lined up behind us. He was asking her if these were squidballs, but all she could answer was "this is takoyaki" - and subsequently lost his interest. It was a minor shame, considering that Marumaru makes pretty good takoyaki. 

They serve gyoza, too

I heard from Mabie that Marumaru has its stalls within a number of malls by now - she's seen them in Glorietta.