I’ve never been too enamoured with Takoyaki. The first time I tried these Japanese octopus balls was at a buffet and they had been lukewarm, soggy and thoroughly unremarkable. Later, when I tried the Takoyaki van close to our school I was similarly unimpressed with the results. I’d waited 20 minutes in line and had spent most of that time in a state of nervous suspicion that the Korean lady behind/next to me was in the process of bunking the queue. When I finally got my Takoyaki the results weren’t great. It was limp, almost devoid of octopus and drenched in that weird Korean mustard so beloved of toast stands throughout the city.