Tanuki

Let’s see…
— Upon walking inside we were greeted by a thick rancid smell and were immediately asked for IDs with a bad attitude
— There’s a long list of rules; no parties of more than four, no more than one credit card per group, etc…
— The drink menus were sort of thrown on the table and were nearly unreadable in the horrible lighting
— I couldn’t hear what anyone was saying over the awful music
— Upon finding out that I had no choice over food and no clue what it would be, I notified them that I had a peanut allergy. I was told, with a nasty condescending tone and eye rolling, that my allergy would NOT be accommodated.
This really is the Soup Nazi establishment of Portland. The only reason I could think of that people go here is because Portlanders seem to think filthy, dark, abusive restaurants are hip and cool.

As one of the other reviewers said, «If you get this place, you really get it.» It’s basically a dive bar where the owner happens to be an incredible cook. Plan on drinking and enjoying the distinctly un-​fussed over atmosphere. Eat your heart out, Weiden+Kennedy. It’s nice and dark with what I can only call animated Japanese soft core porn on the television above the bar. We had lovely, strong cocktails and Japanese beer and jello shots and were basically in heaven.
There was also sablefish on tamago, a perfectly cooked pork belly and golden beet dish, a crispy elk something-​or-​other, and an amazing boozy frozen dessert. It’s super dark in here, to the point of not really being able to tell what you’re eating, but everything was superb so I didn’t care. This is not the place for Instagram photos of your perfectly tweezered entrée.
Just when I thought the evening couldn’t get better, Janice came out of the kitchen with a beaver puppet (at least I think it was a beaver… or some other marmot) and regaled the guests with a little puppet show. I think I just found my new favorite place in Portland.
If you have control issues, think you are a snowflake, have lots of dietary restrictions, and/​or need to be fawned over and have your ego stroked as part of a dining and drinking experience, you probably shouldn’t go here. Seriously, just don’t go here because then you might be tempted to leave a sad one-​star review on Unilocal,and that’s just not fair to this place. The owner delivers what she promises, and it’s perfect.

If you get this place, you really get it. If you have a chip on your shoulder, feel entitled, are the child of a helicopter parent you may wish to stay home. YOU WILL BE CARDED AT THE DOOR! EVEN GRANDMA!
You go for the omakase and the extensive truly awesome sake list. Hands down the best sake collection in town, the owner Janice is your guide through a wonderland of delights for the senses and you will always find something new! The sake is a MUST!!!
I won’t lie for some people the movies can be a bit shocking. But guess what. It’s part of the sexy ambiance and keeps the snooty factor down. Frankly, I just don’t do snooty well. I love good food and down to earth people I can talk to.
She also runs nightly cocktail specials and some bar nosh.
Just be sure to check the attitude at the door. And open your mind. You will love this place.

A very unique atmosphere. We went early and heeded all the warnings about the experience. The server was very informative and polite.
It is very dark and definitely hard to see what you’re eating. There was a Japanese horror film on. There are a lot of scary or startling decorations. The space is definitely divey.
You pick the food based on price level. You can stop the food after ordering a high level but you cannot add more food, so they suggest that you go with the higher level. We went for $ 25 per person and there was a lot of food. They start with some ambient snacks and appetizers. They bring a lot of dishes all at once, which I am not a fan of, but at least it wasn’t hot food, so you don’t really have to worry about things getting cold. The food was overall fine, but nothing was especially memorable for me. The stewed meat was the main course and it was not tender. I can’t say that I really liked any particular dish, but you will definitely be full.
It was a unique experience, but I don’t think I would go back.

Really enjoyed the food & atmosphere here.
My husband lived in Tokyo for a few years and said this place really reminded him of Tokyo. There’s loads of places where you tell them how much you want to spend, then you feast away!
You do get inundated with plates of food straight away — I actually love this because then you don’t get filled up on the first few dishes that come out. You see all your food and can ration the stomach space. (Note: Wear your eating clothes). We got around 10 plates of food to share between 2 — not HUGE servings but I was definitely very content.
As long as you’re prepared for what this place offers, its a really fantastic experience. Eating dinner while watching an awesome blood thirsting, near-​comedic Japanese zombie movie — love it!
If it’s not your thing, I mean… just don’t come here. There’s really no need to fuss about it.

Amazing food. Borderline ridiculous rules. Dark and dingy.
Try the squid jerky. And the pickled fish and the fish sauce caramel corn.
Definitely don’t do anything to upset the owner.

In recent years, there’s been an influx of fusion foods around Portland, which in turn has homogenized a large portion of the Portland food scene. Tanuki is a standout in terms of fusion foods, as a large portion of the meal is served all at once, allowing you to explore a breadth of flavors simultaneously. Some of the more main-​dish type plates will come shortly after. I recommend coming in early, as I tried to go around 8:30 once on a Thursday and they were closed, since their hours aren’t set in stone.

Brought my friend here for her birthday and chose the $ 25 omasake meal. Omg, the food never stopped coming! Best deal in town for omasake! A few (certainly not all) of the dishes included beef cheeks, jellyfish, octopus, crab leg, mussels, Mac and cheese, puff pastry, asparagus, kimchi, etc, etc. We were so stuffed we basically had to be carted out of the divvy dark intimate restaurant. Definitely an unique experience!

I really wanted to love this place. Came with two of my Japanese friends who were visiting. The food was great and yummy bar food, but the pacing was just awful. I felt like I was being forced to shovel the food down my face as fast as possible with no possible way to take a breather before the next seven plates were placed down on the table. Barely even understood what i was eating because i was literally racing to keep up the pace.
Better paced courses or maybe a larger table would be nice. Four people at a table the size of a chessboard and 10+ plates on the table at a time plus drinks made this meal not as enjoyable as it could have been. It was an experience for sure, but I’m not sure if i would make the effort to come back.

This Portland version of Seinfeld’s soup Nazi is absurd. The my way or the highway shtick has been tried before with the predictable results.
1. The unmarked disturbingly filthy front entrance should be your first indication to run away.
2. Inside is not better; I am surprised the board of health has not shut this joint down.
3. Once inside you are met by a decidedly miserable individual who demands your ID.
At this point I left since I was not carrying my ID and of course I could easily have been mistaken for an under aged patron. Given that I am 59 years old have gray hair, wrinkled skin and a generally broken down old body it is easy to understand their demands for my ID.

The very definition of an over-​hyped Portland dining spot. You feel unwelcome when you walk in every single time. It’s like trying to get into a night club. They don’t say «hello» or «welcome», just «I’m gonna need to see everyone’s ID». Then they do this little dance where they have to go back into the Kitchen to confer with the man behind the curtain about whether you’re going to get a seat. Finally, if you’re lucky, you’ll get your name on the list and they’ll call you to tell you your table is ready.
But then you get there and you order the $ 30 omakase, and there are 10 dishes on your table within 2 minutes. No exaggeration. There’s like a hot trout and caramel popcorn and pickled jellyfish and a bunch of other shit just vomited into your table immediately with absolutely no pacing, like «eat this and get the fuck out.» I want to come and drink and enjoy myself. Instead I’m overwhelmed immediately and done in 45 minutes.
If you want awesome Izakaya then go to Biwa. If you want to feel like a schmuck who isn’t cool enough to eat in a dirty storage closet that smells like a fucking foot, then you can TRY to eat a Tanuki. Have your IDA ready and a backup plan though,

Pretty goofy place. Totally unassuming from outside. Inside seems to be another world. Crazy Japanese movies that range from soft porn to gore-​horror. Very dark lighting, kind of messy and chaotic, but somehow charming. Omakase maxes out @$ 30/​head and is a great value. This is a great place for folks who are a little more adventurous in the eating department. Two of our dishes were extremely salty and made me beg for another beer (I believe this was intentional). Outside of that, I really enjoyed the experience and food. I would go back and would recommend (but definitely with a heads up… This place could really throw somebody who wasn’y open minded).

I have only ever had the omakase here (plus Taiwan Beer and sake) (wait that one time I had whiskey, too), and I always ordered at $ 20– because even that is huge, and I have only ever had a five-​star meal, by anyone’s reckoning. And I have only ever been glad they only served the miso at the end.
Because I have never gone there for breakfast. So stop freaking out about the misoshiru, people, please.
Everything is as flavorful as it should be for a drinking-​and-​eating mix, which is the point of an izakaya-​influenced place. I don’t want seaweed leaking out what little sad marinade someone managed to drizzle over it three days ago if I’m enjoying a beer (s) alongside, just as baseball fans don’t generally wish they could have a Red Delicious apple instead when the hot dog or peanut guy comes around.
If you think the place smells like hyenas, then you think kimchi smells like hyenas, which of course it does, as does fermentation in general. You might then take it upon yourself to research not only what goes into traditional Asian food, as well as Asian-​influenced food, but what murk, indeed, lies behind your dry-​aged American steak and your (amazingly delicious) Country Ham, to boot. And for the love of God, don’t drink Belgian ales, I beg you. Also, really, lay off the miso, please. (Really, no, please don’t read about it!)
The hamachi is spot-​on, the jellyfish is just as it should be, the crab was not once overcooked, and everything, every time I have been here, has been seasoned appropriately for this sort of venue — NB: with the sort of seasonings I would expect, desire, and anticipate delectating in — and no wackadoo superfluous mahlab or galangal I would find jarring.
Tanuki serves great food in an unpretentious atmosphere. You can buy booze of all sorts to go, and in Oregon that engenders some liquor-​law restrictions about all sorts of things. If you need greater freedom, Idaho is, as ever, achingly close.

I love this place. Period. The juxtaposition is stupefying. In an industry where there are countless options available about what to serve, how to serve it and the atmosphere to serve it in, this lady has one of the most incredible and original visions that I have had the pleasure of experiencing. Her food is world class and served up with direct and friendly staff in an atmosphere that transcends the predictable pretensions that are normally associated with this quality of food. Tanuki has transcended the restaurant cliché. I was well informed about what I was walking into and still left blown away, having had one of the best meals of my life, served in an atmosphere that is both aggressively fun and radically casual!
Or maybe I just love her food and the dark, loud, dive atmosphere. But, I mean, come on, Korean BBQ duck confit with blood spurting, campy horror on the tv overhead!

Dear Chef/​OwnerJanis:
I don’t know if you’re aware, but your kimchi mac n cheese could save lives… it’s THAT good. I was so excited when it came out last night towards the latter part of our meal — like I got GIDDY. And lemme tell you: I rarely get frickin giddy.
Dear everyone else, here’s a list of the fabulous foods we were served, $ 20 omakase style:
— pickled shrimp
— snow crab claws and mussels
— trout with a nori butter sauce (ZOMG)
— bacon, blue cheese, and kimchi buns
— hamachi (melty in your mouthy)
— veggies/​kimchi in some sweet, delicious, sauce
— octopus, jellyfish, and seaweed
–pork cheeks with root veggies
— kimchi mac n cheese
I don’t remember if there were more plates that showed up… I only remember plates and me eating off the plates and not talking bc I was too busy shoving food down my gullet.
This place is awesome. The chef is a genius, the staff rad. Everyone should go here. EVERYONE.

Fucking.
Genius.
I grow weary of the cavalier use of certain words: Hero. Brilliant. Epic. And yes, genius.
But seriously, y’all, the Chef Behind the Curtain at this killer little sake bar is either a true culinary genius, or we stumbled in on a particularly awesome night.
I live in the ‘hood and have been here to drink a number of times, but haven’t ever taken advantage of the food menu. What can I say? I usually like booze more than food. Don’t get me wrong: the booze most certainly doesn’t disappoint, and I recommend taking full advantage of their killer sake menu.
But seriously, people, the hype is legit: the squid jerky is other worldly. It’s like molasses, squid and an angel had a baby. If you don’t order this you hate happiness.
In fact, we liked it so much that my dinner mates and I got squid tattoos on our forearms ten minutes after leaving. We’re not here to fuck around, son.
And yes, I’m serious.
Oh, and a quick shout out to our server, Mia, who prompted us to yell our thank yous to Chef Janice in the kitchen, and who reminded us that there’s still kick ass servers in this city.
All around: ⁶⁄₅ stars. Tattoo worthy.

If you’re looking to dine a little differently, you’ve definitely come to the right place. To get seated, you’ll have to be at least 21 years old. You’ll be dining in the dark, so apologies, you won’t be able to Instagram your delicious food! If you’re seated towards the TV, you can catch glimpse of Japanese porn (yes, you read that right!).
— Beware! Once you walk into the restaurant, you’ll be hit with a very strong seafood odor. Think Asian supermarkets. Yuck! You’ll get used the smell, but it does get in your clothes…
— Omakase options: $ 15 – 30. We weren’t too hungry, but we went with the $ 20 omakase, and it was good enough! (I was so stuffed after dinner!)
— Besides the small dishes (kimchi, popcorn, and edamame), we had a total of ten different dishes. Totally worth it!
— Jellyfish, baked salmon, octopus, buns, pork with artichoke, mussels, crab claws, hamachi mix wrapped with seaweed (my fave!), pork belly, and more.
— Lots of sake options, so order a bottle to enjoy with your meal.
It was definitely a (fun) different experience!

I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE LIKE THIS PLACE. It is right by my house. I could frequent it with ease should I want to. But I do not want to. We tried the most expensive tasting menu they had to offer, expecting it to be at least pretty good. We were told to «get ready to be fed!» They proceeded to bring out lukewarm, sort of cold, semi-​hot dishes with no rhyme or reason to them. Midway though the meal they served us a sausage wrapped in not much better then a pop open crescent roll. I’ve rarely had an oyster served to me that I simply had to friggin’ gag down… but damnit they made it happen. The whole place smelled of old meat (my husband is a butcher, he KNOWS what old meat smells like) and bathroom in need of new plumbing. They have annoying Japanese cartoons on the tv (with sound), and bad way-​too-​loud music playing.
Just poorly executed unplesant food and drink consumption.

Every time I come to Tanuki I have a great meal. You have to know this is an experience, not merely an ordinary dinner with friends. The Asian horror/​porn movie on the tv, some garage rock playing behind you, the boxes of sake in the dark corner, it all adds up to a sometimes intense, always delicious experience.
I love the hamachi with nori sheets, the monkfish liver, the smoked beef was outstanding. The bar snacks that come at the beginning of the meal are vibrant Japanese and Korean flavors: wakame, jellyfish, and octopus salad. Dishes have crunchy lotus root and ginkgo nuts in them. The food is made with love and you can taste it.
There is only one kind of restaurant like this in town, just appreciate that.
Pro-​tips:
1. Don’t act like a self-​entitled dick. Its her bar and thats the way it is
2. Bring cash for your dinner and your drinks. They don’t split checks and definitely not on multiple credit cards, so don’t piss Janice off by asking to complicate the payment part of your evening
3. Don’t take photos of your food. Its dark inside, and flashes from your iphone is distracting
4. Don’t be a shitty vegan or ask for your orders to be modified
5. Order sake, eat your food and enjoy it for what it is
6. Order a bottle of sake to go. Its competitively priced and a great deal as a takeaway

The last question our waitress asked us was «did you have fun?» which was exactly what this place was about. Come here for the experience. If you’re expecting awe inspiring food, you’ll be disappointed.
We find that often times foodies (like ourselves) like to be b* slapped by the chef, told what to eat, eat it in a place with no ambiance (or negative ambiance given the gruesome Japanese horror flick they had playing in the background) and come out of it raving they’ve found the next best «it» place. Tanuki is kinda that place.
For between $ 15 – 30 a person (you get to decide how much you want to spend although we’re not sure how much rhyme or reason there is to the different price points), they will simply give you food. Unfortunately, the food is fairly variable (we give it 3.5 stars) with some great like the home-​made bacon stuffed croissant pastry and the crab and corn in chili oil, and others sound like they would be good, and some just eh. Combined with the happy hour pricing (or even not) for drinks, it’s all a good deal. If we lived here, we’d probably come back regularly for the $ 15 dinner with lots of Sapporo and soju margaritas.