Takoyaki - Sushi B, Willis St, Wellington

Its probably fair to say that I don't buy into the crazed fandom that seems to go with sushi outlets in Wellington.  A few year's back, Midland Sushi was the most popular and CBD business folk would dutifully queue outside waiting to assemble their own favourite sushi selection.

That changed when Sushi B opened on Woodward St, I went a couple of times when it had first opened, before the crowds moved across the street from Midland.  The sushi is good, sure, but some part of my personality rejects things that are too popular - if you have to queue for it, it can't be that good.

I preferred to wander past the queue, further up Woodward St, to the Kazu affiliated Lunch House Miso & Wasabi.  No,  you don't get to select your own sushi there, but its good quality - something I associate with everything Kazu affiliated - and most importantly you don't have to queue.

At some point, Sushi B expanded their empire and opened an outlet on Willis St, just south of Wholly Bagels.  So I suppose you could place it as part of the precinct of good food extending out of Bond St.  I didn't get excited about this development until I noticed in the window some hot plates with golf-ball sized divots scooped out of them.

This meant Takoyaki, and not just any Takoyaki, but freshly made & done properly with no deep frying.  I was intrigued, so I went and got some recently.  And then I was disappointed.

I think the first point is that Sushi B isn't a dine in place, so you have to take it away.  For around $5 or so you get 6, it comes with the usual garnishments, though instead of bonito shavings its more like bonito powder.  But I think the takeaway packaging might be a problem.

If you inspect the photo I took closely you can see that the balls have gotten squished.  Or rather, they haven't - there was no pressure on them from above that squashed them down, but my guess is that placed hot into a sealed container they steamed and the crisp outside couldn't maintain its structure.  This meant that instead of getting a crispy outside to bite through into the gooey middle, the whole thing was basically a gooey mess.

Biting into the middle revealed the second disappointment, these were supposedly octopus Takoyaki - Sushi B do a vegetarian option - but they were severely lacking in octopus.  Some of them only had one small piece, so really I had paid for soggy balls of batter.

I'm really sad about it, I wanted these to be so great because I figured they just had to be if they were being made fresh and handed to the customer straight off the hot plate.  But, they really weren't great, and Kazu still reigns supreme for Takoyaki in Wellington.