Stumptown Magazine

Tanuki is a fucking bar, not a damn restaurant. It is a place for heavy drinking and boisterous socialization. Profanities and tales of debauchery still linger in the air from evenings past. The inexpensive small plate menu is only an accent to the ambiance and it goes above and beyond it’s role. Let’s check it out:

I walked through the door into a glowing red dungeon of depravity. I heard The Riza, I saw Japanese Torture Porn, I smelled tasty seafood, and I felt intoxicated. After we ordered our drinks, food started pouring from the one hot plate kitchen. You can order a bunch of small plates or Omakase. Since you have no fucking clue what that means, I will tell you. You give them a set price and they bring out random foods accordingly. I would highly suggest this route. The chef/owner is a crude foul-mouthed lady who sets the tone of her place. She knows what the fuck she is doing and I trust her judgement.     

In the forefront we have  ojingohchae bokke (wokked dried squid in chili kewpie sauce). The squid was almost candied with a nice after heat. It had a hard but chewy texture that stuck to your teeth like caramel corn. It was excellent. Those balls you see are uzura nikkei (spicy cinnamon tea quail eggs). I thought these were quite good but to my unrefined palate they tasted more like sesame oil than cinnamon and tea. The last bowl in this picture is  kimchi (housemade fermented cabbage pickle). This particular kimchi had been aged for a year and I found it to be fucking disgusting. It is somewhat of an acquired taste but to me it smells like my kitchen sink after I don’t clean it for three days. Later in the meal three day old kimchi was served and it was much, much better. We also feasted on the jwipo (seasoned toasted press filefish) which is basically pan fried fish skin. I love me some fish skin and the jwipo did not disappoint.

Here are four netarts with kimchi shave ice. While I do like my oysters unadulterated, I have to say the shave ice added a dimension to the texture and flavor that was very well received. The oysters themselves were top notch.

The hamachi sashimi (sliced raw Kyushu hamachi with true wasabi, nama shoyu, and hajikami ginger) was by far and away the best dish I had at Tanuki. It is layered from top belly to bottom belly thus each slice has a varying grade of fat content. The bottom is higher in fat so that shit is money. Pro tip: tell your dumbass friends it is the other way around so you get all the good stuff while they look like idiots. We also had salmon, ribs, and noodles but I am getting tired of describing all these shitty pictures. What you need to do is find yourself here.