Singapore Food Log: Tanuki Raw, Orchard Central
I have included Tanuki Raw in my to-eat-list for I don’t know how long but finally after a long wait (and partly due to my own laziness), I managed to make bae to bring me there. We reached Tanuki Raw after our movie date with Skyscraper (which is unbelievable and yet very entertaining movie, but then again which movie is believable nowadays) at 7PM on Saturday evening and there is a queue line forming in front of the restaurant. Oh no.
Thankfully, even though the restaurant looks pretty small from outside, there are many seats available inside the restaurant. We just needed to wait for around 15 minutes and the waiter assigned us two seats at the bar area. I enjoy sitting at the bar area because I can see how the bartender making cocktail and if you loves to enjoy your alcohol intake (SGD 10) with fresh oysters (SGD 2 for limited 6 pieces per drink order), you may want to grab the happy hours deal (5PM - 8PM daily).
A lot of people comes to Tanuki Raw to enjoy the happy hour only but I came with different mission: to eat the famous Truffle Yakiniku. Regular Truffle Yakiniku costs 18 SGD however, with just additional 5 SGD you will get a piece of pan-seared foie gras which literally just melts in your mouth. Fresh truffles will cost you additional 7 SGD so since my cheapskate standard has reached its limit, I gave this a pass.
It seems that Tanuki Raw loves to play around with its menu because they have the “New Kids on the Block” section on its menu featuring the latest creation that the restaurant chefs made. Bae opted for the yuzu pepper katsu don and Tanuki Raw was so generous on the katsu pieces. However, I personally feel that the star of the dish is the yuzu sauce. The problem is I love my truffle yakiniku bowl so much, my tastebud is overpowered by it so I could not taste the yuzu pepper katsu don properly. However, bae seems to enjoy it just fine so all is well I suppose.
Water is provided for free so if you don’t feel like ordering any drink, you’ll survive. The restaurant can be a bit too noisy to have a good chat though. We literally could hear the whole conversation that our neighbours were having (especially after their alcohol orders have been consumed). So Tanuki Raw is not a place where you can have a quiet conversation unless you manage to get the al fresco seats, maybe. But I kinda doubt it will be less noisy out there.
I would love to go to Tanuki Raw during lunch hours to enjoy their lunch deals starting from 12 SGD++. Should I go there tomorrow?