Ethnic Eats – Sampling the World’s Cuisine Without Leaving Vancouver

There has been much hype on the interwebs (and @BAKUDANYAKI on twitter) about a little van out in Richmond serving up bakudanyaki, a Japanese fritter filled with octopus, squid, cabbage, mochi, egg and sausage. Tenku Bakudanyaki is doing a roaring trade in these fried snacks and there were a number of people hanging out in the parking lot when we got there, some reading or playing catch while they waited for their orders.

Although I couldn’t bring myself to eat the more tentacly parts of the octopus and I never did see any sausage, this was still a pretty filling and decently delicious snack for only $5.

The trouble is, for me, that it’s out in Richmond. A Vancouverite without a car, I get out to our ethnic-eating treasure of a suburb much less frequently than I would like. But I got a map and found the parking lot this van is parked in (don’t worry, there are signs) and placed our orders. My friend and I both had the special, norimiso (seaweed and miso), but it’s available in original, curry, wasabi, chilli, pizza and mustard flavours.

I’ll be back. I’d like to try a couple more flavours. I just wish they’d drive their van into Vancouver once in a while.

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Tenku Bakudanyaki

7100 Elmbridge Way, Richmond