Tanuki Sushi and Sake Bar

This is one of our regular hangouts and is always a safe bet in Auckland. I love to get the sashimi platter, edamame, tofu steak, and a cold draft Asahi! The overall decoration sticks to a traditional Japanese theme, with dark wooden tables, ornate hanging umbrellas, and glimmering goldfish wallpaper.

Tanuki’s (upstairs) not the cave downstairs in which I love was very busy Saturday night but we managed to get a table given we said we would only be a little over an hour. You must try the Cheese sticks which are hot, gooey and yummy. The shared platter was a little scant to share, you definitely want it to yourself. The steak the boys got was cooked perfectly and well presented. There’s a good selection of Saki and not to bad choice of wine. Apparently they do take reservations so I would make one before hoping to get in here or more preferably Tanuki’s Cave for a Friday or Saturday night.

We were planning on getting a table downstairs at Tanuki’s Cave for a mates birthday and were sitting in the Sake bar waiting for the group to arrive when we decided just to grab a table and settle in.
Highlights are the deep fried soft shell crab (crunchy, crispy and delish), the broccoli with seasame dressing (your going to want to keep the plate with the left over sauce to dip other things in) and the Salmon served with Scallops.
I found the larger plates a great size to share around the group of four of us.

A very different environment and eating style to the Tanuki’s Caves next door but the food is just as good. Tidy setting and friendly waiters.
Food are proper meal sizes rather than skewers in the caves. There is a specials menu which I’m assuming changes monthly. Lots of choice in meals. Portions are slightly on the small side but are beautifully presented and actually quite fulling.

Was great to FINALLY get to this place, after reading so many reviews on Unilocal about Tanuki’s Cave (right next door and presumably all under the same ownership), and I love Japanese dining, so it was on my to-​do-​to-​dine-​list for a while!
We ate here last Thurs night with a group of about nine of us, we had a great position with plenty of space but cosy enough for privacy. The bar in front was full capacity with diners ranging from middles aged women to young couples and everything in between. According to the menu Tanuki serve ‘Japanese Pub meal’s’, a first for me.
Everything tasted delicious, very fresh and ‘clean’ if that makes sense. Hubby wasn’t all that impressed though, barely any food to fill the belly and with a hefty price tag to boot. However, this could also be because he was talking so much he didn’t see the rest of us gouging ourself with the food! First in first serve buddy! (actually I wasn’t really that harsh, I ended piling food onto his plate for him and told him to eat more as I knew he was going to miss out otherwise!). I particularly liked the miso infused eggplant dish. Much of he meat we ordered was raw, which have some people cringing, but rest assure that it was very, very fresh.
Strange bathrooms though! You can find a ‘men’s only’ bathroom and a women’s and men’s shared bathroom, did I miss the ‘girl’s only’ one???

I’m genuinely surprised I’m the first person reviewing this place — does everyone go to Tanuki’s Cave instead? Maybe I missed the memo…
I am a big fan of Tanuki’s (right next door to the entrance to Tanuki’s Cave). As with all my other reviews of Japanese places, I should probably point out that we only ever order a series of small things, rather than main dishes, so i have absolutely no idea what their chicken teriyaki etc is like. But, based on how well they do small plates, it’s likely to be good.
Highlights are the deep fried eggplant with miso glaze, the broccoli with seasame dressing and the prawn with mayonaise. The only dud item we’ve ordered was the pork belly (that’ll teach us from straying from the small plates for once in our lives) — a bit too fatty for our liking. But it’s all delicious, hot, and served quickly, particularly if you are there on a quiet night (seriously, on a quiet tuesday it took about five minutes for three of our dishes to appear).
The staff are lovely and you feel well looked after. Great for a group of people, particularly before a show or movie.