Solid 3.5 stars... one of the better Taiyaki I've had in Ontario. The waffle is pretty close to the ones I've had in Asia.
I've had a few taiyaki around the world and my current favourite has to be in a Taiwan night market. It's supposed to be a tempered sweet crispy waffle that is light and airy just creating the perfect crunchy case over sweet molten custard in the middle. Kevin taiyaki is just hiding inside PAT Korean supermarket and it's right by the door. You can probably smell the baked waffle before actually seeing the little counter. Just a warning to those who are not familiar with Asian supermarkets... the conditions can be a little haphazard and well, 'hole in a wall-ish' but don't let that stop you from trying it.
Kevin's taiyaki are super hot and made on the same grill and moulds as I saw in Asia. They often just make huge batches and usually never last very long as many people pop in quickly to grab one for a snack. These are really affordable... $2 or $2.25 with tax built in. There's a deal where you can grab 5 for $9. Oh quick note, it's cash only here.
I ordered a custard one and it was nice and hot. The exterior was crispy and had a nice brown to it. It smells really nice. Just a warning to anyone who's never had one before... even though you can hold it, the custard inside is SUPER hot. When I took my first bite, I had that nice satisfying crunch then had a good mouthful of hot custard. I always like eating the head first ... just cause as a kid, I always imagined the fish complaining i'm eating him as I polish off the treat. If I eat the head first, he can't talk... right? Please tell me this is what other kids did too!
It comes soo close to the good ones.. what's missing? Well, they have the dough exterior right but the inside is a bit too wet doughy... perhaps they have their mould super hot and it cooks the outside too fast compared to the inside? or maybe these were held for a while on the mould and the custard made the dough a bit soggier. The custard was really thick but it didnt have the wonderful sweet eggy taste I've had in Asia. This was generic super light sweet. It should be closer to the taste of the molten egg yolk but less sweet. Perhaps the red bean one would have better flavour?
Don't get me wrong... this is probably the best I've had in Ontario and arguably in Canada. It's quite good but my Asian memories and this decent version makes me miss them even more from Taiwan.