Imagine my surprise when I saw taiyaki with soft serve ice cream!

This is by Takoyaki Kindako, a small (small!) shop on the Lange Poten, by the Centrum tram stop. Annoyingly I always get the dishes takoyaki and taiyaki mixed up…

Taiyaki is a Japanese sweet treat, where the waffle-like dough is shaped like a fish (but it doesn’t taste like a fish). See also Wikipedia. It is a sweet dough, with the small hint of a crunch around the “tail”. It is made using a mold which you can buy at places like Amazon. It is usually filled with red bean paste although sometimes I have also seen matcha or premium custard. Over here it is also available at stores like Amazing Oriental.

The version above is still filled with red bean paste at the bottom (as mentioned in the fine print at the bottom of the sign), but you can also choose to have vanilla soft serve ice cream, matcha soft serve ice cream, or…both! I think I would go for both myself.

As I said above, I usually get takoyaki and taiyaki confused. Takoyaki (which is what the shop above mainly sells) is pan fried octopus. Yep, you read that right. I was a bit suspicious at first too, but it is quite tasty. More specifically, it is diced octopus covered in dough and then fried in the pan. The only thing you really have to worry about is burning your mouth when you bite into it, as it is notoriously hot every time.

But if you’re not up for the takoyaki, do try the taiyaki!