Have you ever heard of Takoyaki?
Takoyaki is a local specialty in Osaka that has been popular for many many years now.

This snack is usually made from a dough that contains vegetables such as red ginger, cabbage and green onion and, most importantly, octopus.
It’s one of the most attractive foods in Osaka and many tourists come here every year to to try this local delicacy.

Beloved by locals and easy to spot even from far away: “丸幸水産”(Maruko-Suisan) is a Takoyaki shop in Fuse, Higashi-Osaka. This shop has been around for 15 years and is the spot if you want to interact with locals. It’s also just one minute by foot from SEKAI HOTEL Fuse.

 

The Restaurant

When walking around Fuse, you cannot miss Maroko-Suisan because of its bright yellow sign.

Another unique feature is the owner with his characteristical smile. Because of his charming smile and personality, you can spot regular customers visiting the store all the time to have small talk with him, just like in the picture.

What is also really rare about Maroku-Suisan is the fact that you can eat in. Most Takoyaki shops you will see in Osaka do not have an eating space, so it’s really nice to be able to sit down and eat in peace. The shop offers table seats for up to 10 people. Enough to enjoy some Takoyaki with your friends!

 

Loved by all Generations

As mentioned before, Takoyaki is an incredibly popular food in the Kansai region. No matter the age, everyone loves Takoyaki. That’s why you can often see children coming to Maruko-Suisan, but also salarymen or  married couples. And they all seem to be enjoying fun conversations with the owner while waiting for their Takoyaki.

 

Special Sauces and Selected Ingredients

At Maruko-Suisan, you can choose from a variety of 5 sauces, including regular Takoyaki sauce, Takoyaki sauce with mayonnaise, mustard, soy sauce, and ponzu (a kind of soy sauce with citrus flavor).

The most popular one is soy sauce. What’s surprising is that the Takoyaki has soy sauce inside of the dough, instead of as a topping.
According to the owner, the popular Takoyaki are also sometimes used as baby food or as a present for family members who are in the hospital.

The owner is also really peculiar about the ingredients he uses. He always makes sure to support local farms, by for example purchasing his green onions at a farm in Kyoto. These green onions are specially grown in Kujo, Kyoto and are therefore called Kujo green onion.

Another example for the owner’s peculiarity is the octopus. Most Takoyaki shops use frozen octopus for their Takoyaki, but this shop only uses fresh octopus! The owner boils this fresh, raw octopus in the pot pictured below and after that, tightens it in iced water. This process gives the octopus a better quality and makes it fresher than frozen Tako.

The broth the owner uses is also really aromatic, which makes the Takoyaki smell especially good when they’re being grilled.

Flipping around the Takoyaki quickly is an important skill

 

Kind-hearted Owner

The owner’s wife and his little son often visit the shop and on this day too they came, with his son carrying balloons.

The owner often does balloon art for children that are visiting his shop. Therefore on this day too, he started demonstrating balloon art for the children passing by.
As there are a lot of regular customers, the owner can tell you some really heart-warming stories. For example, many children who frequented the shop when they were kids  often come back after they become adults and visit this shop with their kids.
Others come to buy Maruko-Suisan’s Takoyaki to use them as food offerings to their deceased parents who loved his Takoyaki, by placing them in their household altar (In Buddhism, there is a custom of offering food to deceased family members at the household altar. Buddhist families usually have a small altar in their home).
You can see that this shop is loved by all kinds of local people in Fuse across all generations. It has a lot of history.

 

High Visual Impact

If you wait for a few minutes, the owner will present you with these delicious Takoyaki:

You might be wondering where the Takoyaki are, but they are just hidden under the green onions. The reason is that I ordered my favorite: Green Onion Takoyaki.

I myself was surprised by how much onion the owner gave me. Apparently ,he gives everyone such a generous amount of onions.

If you like green onion, you will surely love this one! The creamy Takoyaki dough and the fresh green onions are a great combination and the octopus is really juicy too. Even if you order a lot of Takoyaki at once, they’ll be gone before you even realize, because they are so addicting.

Make sure to try this addictingly delicious Takoyaki and talk to the friendly owner at Maruko-Suisan!

INFORMATION

丸幸水産（Maruko-Suisan）

Adress

1-17-7 Ajiro, Higashi-osaka, Osaka

TEL

06-6721-2006

Opening hours

11:30-20:00

Close

Thursday

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