Tanuki Raw (Funan)

Went to Tanuki Raw last week for Happy Hour and ordered their Lychee Martini ($12), Honey Sake ($12), White Wine ($12), Fresh Raw Oysters ($18 for 6 pcs), Salmon Sashimi ($7 for 5 pcs), Lobster Salmon and Salmon Bao ($5 add on), Spam Fries ($16.90), Impossible Meat and Tofu Rice Bowl ($17.90)!😇

All of these are for sharing with 3 pax and the food and drinks were good! Only thing not to my liking is the white wine as its a bit dry😅 Overall ratings 9/10! Would definitely visit again👍🏻

Tender wagyu with short grained rice
Just the right portion for me
Would give a 9/10

Topped with smokey and tender pan-seared short rib and a wobbly onsen egg, this donburi was such a joy from start to finish. The beef was so tender and flavourful that I chewed through each piece one bite and followed it up with a scoop of the savoury rice.

I usually don't even finish all the rice in a donburi but Tanuki Raw's signature mixed rice really did it for me -- I finished every last grain!

If your answer to that question was ‘yes’, then boy does @tanukiraw have the perfect ricebowl for you! The Salmon Kaisen ($16.90++) is the host to an orgy of salmon, and the four participants are slices of salmon sashimi, salmon sashimi but seared with mentaiko that’s also been seared, cubed salmon sashimi tossed in a spicy mayonnaise-based sauce, and blowtorched slices of salmon belly.⠀
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As Tanuki Raw is a sashimi bar, you can rest assured that they take their fishy business dead serious, and the salmon sashimi was immensely fresh. The spicy sauce that coated the salmon cubes weren’t spicy, but it was luxuriously rich & satisfyingly savoury which flavoured the mild tasting fish quite amply. The aburi salmon belly was seductively slick with all the Omega-3 supercharged oil that had been rendered out of the felicitously fatty salmon belly thanks to being competently blowtorched. And of course, the unrivalled umami creaminess of mentaiko on salmon is a proven combo that never fails.⠀
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Tanuki’s signature mixed rice definitely deserves a shout as well. It was remarkably well cooked, and an absolute delight to devour. Unlike many other sashimi donburis, the rice here is most definitely not neglected and has earned its rightful, well deserved place as the cornerstone in this big bowl of fishy fabulousness.

I always roll up real cool on my targets, and @tanukiraw Truffle Winter Roll ($18.90++) is a tremendously tantalising target. The ingredients list is pretty impressive: avocado, cucumber, scallop, white tuna, tempura prawn and snow crab rolled in rice, dressed in truffle oil & scallion dressing.⠀
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The crunch from the tempura prawns & the cucumber are the perfect counterbalance to the softness of the crabmeat, sushi rice, scallops, tuna & avocado. While the roll isn’t particularly large, it is surprisingly satisfying due to the incredibly gratifying chew that the meatiness of the crab & tuna demand of your jaws. Not once did the chewing get dry or annoying thanks to the slick savouriness of the truffle oil and the sprightliness of the scallion dressing. Plus, the creaminess from the avocado & the juicy, fresh scallops lube everything up even more, and enhances the sheer pleasure of this roll. ⠀
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For about twenty bucks, this is a damn good dish to roll with.⠀

Oysters aren’t the only bar bites that you can order at a discount from @tanukiraw along with a happy hour drink, and this lobster salad & salmon bao goes for $5++ apiece with every drink. The usual price is a shocking $16.90++ for a pair. Yes, you read that right: SEVENTEEN DOLLARS A PAIR. Yep, happy hour is definitely a damn decent deal.⠀
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Chopped lobster tossed in mayonnaise along with chunks of mentaiko salmon sashimi are spread into a deep fried mantou, and that’s all she wrote. It’s definitely much more mentaiko salmon than lobster, but there’s salmon aplenty to keep a man’s drink company. While the mouthfeel & texture of the salmon sashimi was splendidly satisfying, the seafood mix was rather bland.⠀
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However, the most glaring deficiency in this dish is the ghastly greasiness of the deep fried mantou. Every bite renders out some of the oil that’s soaking the crispy bun, and it does get distastefully cloying with the mayonnaise that the salmon has been tossed in. Also, you get left with extra greasy fingers.⠀
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If curiosity gets the better of you like it did to me, Tanuki Raw’s Happy Hour discounts are your best friend when it comes to exploring some of their menu. However, I’ll definitely be sticking to the oysters.