Octopus and squid star during Tako Tuesdays

There’s Taco Tuesday and Tako Tuesday, and you’ll never confuse the two at Okonomiyaki Chibo, which riffs off the popular Mexican restaurant theme with its own day celebrating a menu of tako, or octopus dishes.

On Tako Tuesdays all tako dishes are 20 percent off. The promotion is slated to run through June 30 but may be continued indefinitely if it proves popular. The menu extends to squid as well; I notice the two cephalopods are often used interchangeably at Asian restaurants around town because of their similar textures.

Tako Tuesday is built around the addition of three dishes, tako gyoza and the inspired teppan takoyaki ($10) and teppan tako tempura ($16). This is the first time I’ve seen the latter two dishes produced on a grill top.

The innovation started with the restaurant’s downsizing from more than 100 seats to fewer than 50 after moving from the Royal Hawaiian Center onto Beach Walk Avenue, next to Bill’s Sydney, last summer. The downsizing included coming up with new dishes and cooking methods to adapt to a smaller kitchen.

Changes including making a few “hidden menu” options official, such as tonpei yaki (pork omelet, now available in a new hidden option that includes cheese) and grilled potatoes with cheese, bacon and onions ($7).

But of course the restaurant’s specialties are okonomiyaki and teppan­yaki, prepared at two teppan tables that dominate the dining room. The restaurant can appear pricey based on luxe teppanyaki combos that include prime New York steak, mixed seafood and half lobster tails ($77), but those aiming for a more casual meal can choose from a roster of more affordable izakaya-style dishes.

If you don’t want to eat with strangers, you’re welcome to sit at tables in the back of the room, but the teppan tables are where the action is and it’s mesmerizing and relaxing to watch the chefs at work, particularly on the okonomiyaki and new tako dishes.

I was in a state of disbelief when told tako tempura would be created at the teppan. Frying the takoyaki was one thing, but tempura requires deep-frying. How would they pull off that trick?

Here pieces of tako are immersed in egg-flour batter, modified to include nori flakes. The pieces are then laid on the grill like drop cookies on a baking sheet, with the chef continuing to build up the amoeba- or paisley-shaped “tempura” by adding more batter as the tako cooks. The edges are crisped, but softer centers are more consistent with Korean jeon or jun (pancake) than tempura. However you choose to describe it, it is delicious, with the nori adding a layer of depth and umami.

Takoyaki pieces here aren’t like the familiar spherical morsels that require constant turning in a takoyaki pan to achieve the desired ball shape and doneness. Small pieces of tako are folded into an egg-flour omelet before being finished with takoyaki sauce, mayonnaise and katsuobushi (dried bonito).

All this is done on the grill top before the sliced takoyaki is transferred to a plate for pristine presentation. Despite the new prep and new shape, the popular street fare tastes just the way it would at the hands of a traditional takoyaki specialist.

The height of the Tako Tuesday experience is nothing more complicated than octopus teppanyaki ($16) — grilled tako sitting over a teppan saute of bean sprouts and served with a yuzu ponzu sauce. Add $7 to include a green salad, rice, miso soup, tsukemono and sherbet. Add $10 for a complete meal that includes fried rice instead of plain white.

If it’s okonomiyaki or yakisoba you’re after, you’ll be getting tender squid in place of octopus. One of Chibo’s specialties is Pu-Monju, a crepe-style okonomiyaki with a center of chopped beef, shrimp, squid and vegetables. Unlike the usual stacked pancake okonomiyaki, this version begins with batter ladled onto the griddle to make a crepe. The fillings are loaded onto the center and the edges folded over before being beautifully finished with a pastry-style design combining okono­miyaki sauce and mayonnaise.

Tako gyoza ($8) makes a nice side dish with Chibo’s distinctive thin, papery wrapper. A little of its extremely salty sauce goes a long way but suits beer drinkers well.

There are plenty of other options if you’re feeling tako overload. These include tofu ($9) or chef’s ($14) salads, seared tenderloin tataki ($11) and sardines sauteed in butter ($7) in a small cast-iron pan on the teppan.

On May 30, the restaurant will celebrate its first anniversary at Beach Walk with lobster okonomiyaki available for $65 for lunch and dinner. The dish will be $77 when added to the regular menu.

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.