A small food truck that serves Japanese food, Zendako specializes in takoyaki, a ball-shaped dish filled with octopus. Zendako is nearby other famous Portland food trucks like Number One Bento, which I hear gets great reviews.
We got regular takoyaki with benito flakes and mayonnaise on top. It was not great. Clearly precooked, the takoyaki took one minute to prepare and was cold and slightly soggy. The benito flakes on top tried to hide that fact, and failed.
Traditionally, takoyaki is served hot and fresh, but this takoyaki was the complete opposite. For a food truck that claims to be “America’s favorite takoyaki”, it is anything but. For this reason, I give Zendako two and a half smileu faces. 🙂 🙂 1/2
After a dissatisfactory meal, we decided to switch gears to Pine Street Market, which was a little like the Denver Central Market we went to a couple weeks prior. You can visit that post here: http://www.sophisti-kids.com/2017/06/05/denver-central-market-denver-co/
Marukin Ramen is supposedly the best thing at Pine Street, and their spicy ramen was almost as good the IPPUDO Ramen we had in New York. I had the tonkotsu red, which was made with spicy pork broth and topped with mushrooms, spinach, and a soft boiled egg. The tonkotsu red is supposed to be less greasy than the other ramens, so that’s why our server recommended it to us.
For a more full description of their other locations and daily menu changes, visit http://www.marukinramen.com/
In retrospect with takoyaki and ramen back to back, Marukin was definitely the superior restaurant. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 1/2
Cheers, and see you next time!
Anya