Let me start this post by first bombarding you with some sakura!
The sakura season is soooo lovely. Arashiyama Park is one of the best places to go hanami (flower viewing).
You know, admiring sakura can be tiring business. Nah, but waking up early and walking a lot can be. So we went hunting for food. I saw this interesting sign that said "だしたこ" (Dashitako) and knew I had to try it!
Dashitako is tako (octopus) balls in a dashi soup. A close cousin of dashitako is the very familiar takoyaki. This is my first time seeing Dashitako so of course I had to try it!
The cooking process is quite fast and I guess this can be considered to be street food of some sort. There's a bunch of frozen takoyaki that they just refry and put in a bowl of light dashi broth.
In broken Japanese, I asked the stall owner haltingly 食べたあと戻っていいですか, whether I could take the bowl and bring it back after I ate, and she was so kind and let me! :)
This bowl of dashitako was a very comforting bowl of soup in the cool Spring weather. The hot soup warmed my belly and the eggy taste of the dashitako felt like a bowl of egg tofu. Having a solid bowl in my hands while eating the dashitako added to the comfort level of this small meal.
The soft, crumbly texture of the dashitako gave way to the chewy tako/octopus (of course!) inside.
All things considered, this was not a mind-blowing, amazing, life-changing meal. But it is a comforting meal and a good snack, and doesn't take a lot of courage or mental energy to try in a foreign country.
Value
One bowl of Dashitako (4 pieces) for ¥500/SGD6.20.
It's not too expensive, but it's not that cheap either. It's not something I will specially hunt down too since the taste is pretty average. But if you happen to walk past, why not? If you're going to Kyoto, Arashiyama Park will likely be on your to-do list anyway.
Location
Itsuki Chaya 五木茶屋
Arashimaya Park
Nearest station: Arashimaya 嵐山
Kyoto, Japan
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