It’s Bank Holiday weekend – and down on the South Bank there’s a street food festival which includes takoyaki from Japanese street food specialists Yumi. I went along on Friday to try it out and see how it measured up to the takoyaki you get in Japan.
Tako is octopus and yaki means grilled or fried. Takoyaki is a speciality of Osaka where pieces of octopus are dipped in batter and grilled in special pans with small indentations so they come out as little balls you can pop in your mouth (but watch out, they’re hot!).
At the Yumi stall they were serving what they called ‘samurai balls’ – a choice of octopus, cheese or prawn ‘takoyaki’ – plus gyoza, which are Japanese dumplings.
I tried all three kinds of samurai balls. My verdict? Not as good as you get in Osaka (well, you wouldn’t expect them to be) and prawn and cheese are not strictly takoyaki, but the seaweed and shaved bonito give them an authentic flavour of Japan. If you’ve never tried them, a stroll down the South Bank this afternoon could be your chance.
If you fancy a drink to wash down your takoyaki there’s a variety of stalls, including a craft beer stall and Fever Tree’s Ultimate Gin and Tonic bar.
And for something sweet to follow, the Arabica Food & Spice Company next door to Yumi serves Levantine pastries from the Eastern Mediterranean, using recipes from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Israel.
I had a stroll round some of the other stalls and was attracted by the huge bubbling pans of paella on the Jamon Jamon stall. Each pan was a metre in diameter – a truly impressive sight.
Further on, the Polish Deli offered a range of traditional cured sausages, including ostrich (didn’t know that was a Polish tradition).
The sausages on the grill looked delicious.
I was also attracted by the savoury strudel at Karantania (Karantania was apparently an ancient state in Central Europe, roughly where Slovenia and Austria are now).
The Real Street Food Festival is at Queen’s Walk, which is the bit of the South Bank just next to Hungerford Bridge. It’s open from 12-8pm today (Sunday 25th) and from 12 to 6 pm on Bank Holiday Monday. If you miss it, there’s a winter festival planned for 1-3 November.
mmm…delicious. I wasn’t feeling hungry when I started reading this, but I am now!
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Well, you’ve got time to get down there and try some!
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Reading this just before lunch made me really hungry, I was going to cook something but I might travel to the South Bank instead!
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Well, why not? I’m quite tempted to go back and try some of the other food on offer – it all looked great!
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Wow that looks like such a fun day out. The Yumi offerings look gorgeous but I’d go crazy for the Mediterranean pastries!
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Yes, it was really hard not trying everything I saw! But I was there for the takoyaki so I stuck to that.
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Thanks for sharing these delicious-looking pictures. Wish I could fit in a trip to the South Bank tomorrow! Is there anywhere in London where you can get more authentic takoyaki or were these the next best you’ve tried outside Japan?
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I’m still researching it so I’ll let you know. But I’m told you can get takoyaki on Saturdays in the Brunswick Centre in Bloomsbury.
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Shucks! I was at the Royal Festival Hall on both Saturday and Sunday and had lunch at the market both days, but didn’t see the Yumi stall. Tried some chaat from the Indian street food stall, but it was a little dry and lacked sourness and heat. The savoury strudel are certainly filling! 🙂
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Oh no! Yumi was sandwiched in between two other stalls so I suppose it was easy to miss. Still, the strudel must have made up for it. 🙂
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GREAT timing!! Just got back from Osaka and am having some serious octopus ball withdrawal :p it was the one thing every said we had to try – my mouth is watering just looking at your pictures!
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I’ll be interested to hear what you think of them given your recent experience of the genuine article!
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Wow! So sad I’m missing this. I love street food festivals! BTW, if you have a chance to look at Martha Stewart magazine this month, you can check out her stunning collection of Japanese knives and cookware. Apparently she’s got at least one of everything from this famous store — it helps to be a billionaire! I covet some of the hammered copperware.
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Thanks. I’m planning to do a post about the Japanese knife shop in London some time.
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It is lunch time here now… and you made me very hungry! Glad to see you are enjoying the weather and the bank holiday, I miss strolling on the Thames!
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Thanks – it’s good to see Jessica’s wardrobe back in action.
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