Buki

OH, BALLS: A boat of fish-flake-topped takoyaki.

Takoyaki is like the corn dog of Japan—a savory snack for streetside stalls and festivals. But Japan being Japan, the little fried flour balls are generally filled not with pork but chewy octopus, then covered with a heaping pile of seaweed and the same bonito fish flakes sold in American pet stores as cat treats.

Buki food cart opened at the new Tidbit pod in August, serving takoyaki that its Taiwanese-born chef encountered while living in Japan, smothered in Japanese mayo and takoyaki sauce, which is a bit like a thickened Worcestershire sauce. The traditional octopus balls, which are crisp outside and warmly gloopy on the inside—and wildly fishy from the bonito—are $7 for eight pingpong-sized snacks. Your utensil is a curled piece of bamboo that acts as a toothpick. The cart also offers a "bara" octopus dish, with soft steamed octopus served with a ginger scallion sauce.

The octopus is the best, but less adventurous eaters may want to try the "Western blend" with sausage and cheese, and a jalapeño-cheese option called the Bomber that's topped with bacon instead of fish. A spicy version fills the balls with kimchee and uses spicy mayo. All are a fun parade of textures, not quite a meal but a satisfying snack with a beer from the Scout cart. For dessert, you can order little fish-shaped cookies called taiyaki—filled with bean paste, chocolate or Nutella.

But that Scout beer is essential, and don't order hungry. The takoyaki is cooked slowly in a special pan, and for more than two orders the wait may be about 20 minutes; the cart doesn't have the capacity to keep multiple orders going simultaneously. So don't treat Buki as a restaurant; treat Tidbit as a street fair. Buki is your food concession.

  1. Order this: Octopus takoyaki ($7) or octopus with dipping sauce.

EAT: Buki, 2880 SE Division St. (Tidbit Food Farm and Garden pod), 360-931-1541. Noon-9 pm Wednesday-Thursday, noon-10 pm Friday-Sunday.

WWeek 2015

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