Rai Rai Ken + Curry Ya + Otafuku — Restaurant in New York

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG.

^^^ This should pretty much be my entire review and it should be read out loud as an 11 year old "belieber" would deliver it (You don't know what a "belieber" is? AWESOME, let's be friends!)

If you've ever bitten into something and the flavor explosion in your mouth has made you exclaim, "OMGOSH!! THIS TASTES LIKE LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!" then you've probably already been here.

So as per a friend's recommendation I decided go on a Japanese culinary adventure with one of my best friends in tow prior to catching up for happy hour.

I generally really enjoy anything and everything octopus, squid, calamari or just seafood related and was told that I would love octopus filled takoyaki. Being that I'm occasionally 12 going on 20-something I kept referring to them as "octopus balls" and smirking - but I will NEVER smirk again at takoyaki, especially from Otafuku, as they deserve the utmost respect .

According to our wise friends over at Wikipedia, TakoYaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-basedbatter and cooked in a special takoyaki pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus,tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion.

Takoyaki are brushed with takoyaki sauce, a sauce similar to Worcestershire sauce, and mayonnaise. The takoyaki is then sprinkled with green laver (aonori - dried up seaweed) and shavings of dried bonito (katsuobushi - ie. Smoked Fish flakes!!!). The bonito flakes kind of remind me of like smoky bacon tissue paper...weirdly addicting though :).

The outer shell of these puppies is not too thick, but still strong enough to hold the fillings together and in place - but also soft enough to absorb all the amazingness that was brushed on, poured, shaken and drizzled on.

Takoyakis are made in a special grill pan and then brushed with a sweet Japanese BBQ-like sauce, drizzled with an amazing homemade mayonnaise (that was to me reminiscent of a light herbal infused mayo or aioli) and then the bonito fish flakes were dumped on top and viola - amazingness is born.

The filling is gooey and with a much more generous filling of octopus (tentacles too!) inside plus some interesting other ingredients like pickled red ginger, scallion, tempura flakes and other yummy things which create a super hot and gooey literal explosion in your mouth. - think "When Harry Met Sally" moment...total foodgasm ;-).

I would be super wary about eating and walking with these because of how hot/gooey they are, but I just think food is better consumed and appreciated when standing (or sitting) still with an incredulous look on your face because I couldn't believe how happy my taste buds were.

Otafuku's menu is comprised mostly of takoyakis with all sorts of fantastic fillings like shrimp, pork, beef, squid, cheese, plain - etc and Okonomiyaki which is a Japanese type pizza concoction based with cabbage, scallion, seafood and then drizzled with similar sauces as the takoyaki are.

Takoyaki's were invented in Osaka, Japan in 1953 by a street vendor and Otafuku prides themselves in serving the real thing and providing us lucky New Yorkers with a really authentic experience - especially with Karl (one of the chefs) really knowing the history of the foods Otafuku sells - he can even go through what the different variations of taoiyaki balls are throughout different towns in Japan - thanks to him I learned that the Tokyo method is my favorite.

I seriously can't wait to come back here to try new things on their menu (although I did try the pork okonomiyaki and it was DELISH, but I'll really be coming back for more [octopus] balls - also it's cash only (won't accept $100 bill or higher, but if that's what your rolling around with message me and I'll break your bill :P). There are ATMs nearby - just come...

I've heard good things about Otafuku, but happened there will make me stay away for good.

I had ordered one combination dish, and even repeating it for good measure as there seemed to be a language gap (hey, I'm Asian-American and English is my second language too - I understand it's common.)

When I came back to pick up the food (there is a long wait sometimes), I found that there was an extra dish that I didn't order.

Obviously I explained that I did not order the $5 dish, and asked for a refund. Not expecting any issues, I expected to get the refund and be on my way.

However the cashier not only refused to give me a refund, but actually started to swear under the breath and to the others behind the counter. Little did he know that I speak conversational Japanese and can hear and understand the swear words. Needless to say, it was a childish if not downright rude.

I challenged him why he was refusing the refund, and why he was swearing at a customer. Obviously startled that I understood what he was saying, he got pretty defensive and started to wave the receipt at my face, saying it was my fault.

Of course, I would imagine if the order was not taken correctly in the first place, it would not be written down correctly in the receipt. To my dismay the cashier didn't seem to understand this concept.

Unfortunately, after a heated argument, he topped it all off by literally throwing the cash for the entire order on the counter, and grabbed the food away, saying "I'm not selling you food anymore."

I understand there may be mistakes. But, any restaurant small or large should refund for the food if mistake has been made. What's not acceptable is swearing AT the customer (he should have realized that customers may speak and understand Japanese too), or throwing money back, and generally making what should have been a quick and easy process into something very unpleasant.

So, not sure if the owners know, but whomever they hired just took rudeness to a whole different level, and turned a customer into someone who'd spend a portion of his day writing a negative review on this site. Congratulations.

Too all going to Otafuku: REPEAT your order, CHECK to make sure the order is correct, and don't think that they'll give you any money back even if they didn't take the...

TL; DR Classic Japanese Curry is AMAZING, limited seating available, Good Service, $10 minimum per person.

My love of japanese curry knows no bounds, I made a day trip up to NY from DC on a Saturday because I wanted their classic japanese curry.

I've been here a handful of time and each time, I'm luck enough to have a seat at the table. This particular location seats maybe 12 people max (might be over estimating). The restaurant is like a bar setup, except instead of them mixing your drinks, they are making delicious curry and salads behind the counter!

The servers and cooks are always so nice and welcoming! There is just something about this place that is so warm and comforting. Anytime of the day is a great time to have curry in my opinion, even on a hot mid summers afternoon.

The food is ready in minutes after ordering and they have pickled radish and pickled shallots to accompany the curry. The rice is shaped like a foot ball and the curry is served in a gravy dipper or small cast iron pot, depending on the time you dine in (lunch or dinner)!

I personally like to pour all the curry onto my plate and submerge the rice in curry. My bestie likes to take a scoop of rice and dip it in the curry. No matter how you eat the curry and rice, it will taste amazingly delicious every time!

The beef is super tender but not mushy and has the curry flavor all throughout the meat! After each bite of curry and rice I eat a pickled radish or pickled shallot to cleanse my palate for the next bite of curry and rice!

From my observation, no matter what curry someone ordered, they all used the same base curry to start!

If I lived in NY, I would probably eat here for dinner everyday but get a different item every time!

BEWARE: EACH PERSON has to order their own dish, each person has to spend a minimum of $10.

Whenever I find myself in Manhattan, I am stopping by to get...