Top marks for flavor. 👌 Top, top marks for texture. 👍🏅👍 That shatteringly crispy batter is almost otherworldly in my world of mostly, tragically, soggy deep-fried stuff. The rice is also top notch 👍👍👍. Top marks for consistency. 👍 They’ve yet to fail to satisfy, except for the one time the robot failed to deliver to the right table and literally started whinging (and even that in itself was cute).

House-blend spicy tuna and Japanese spring onion with grated wasabi. The best of the teacup donburis I had this evening. $2 with a drink. #happyhour

BRIEF: “Sashimi and Spicy Salmon Tartare with the Signature Chirashi Blend.” SOOT’S TAKE: This was a pretty good deal for the incredibly generous serving and variety of sashimi. I was stuffed at the end of this meal. It may or may not also have given me a tummy upset 😐

Also nice 👍

“Tempura Prawn, Red Fish, Squid, Pumpkin and French Beans.” V satisfying brunch! 😋

Tempura Prawn, Anago, Scallop, Red Fish, Pumpkin and French Beans in the seafood tendon + Cold Soba. ALL EXCELLENT. 👍👍👍 Also my first time being served by a 🤖.

Needs more salmon!

Not as great a deal as the first and last meal I had here but still very good for the lack of boar taint, the wise move to add an onsen egg as part of the deal, and 4 bottles of free flowing condiments you could choose from to enhance the meal. Would’ve been further enhanced with a more generous serving of green onion though.

A flavorful bowl of ☑️ Spicy Chicken ☑️ Crunchy Seaweed Karaage ☑️ Juicy Yakitori Sticks ☑️ Creamy Kimchi Omelette ☑️ Korean Pearl Rice At $10, a great value meal that includes a mini side of spicy tofu and a drink.

Satisfying fatty fish lunch of salmon, mackerel (sabar), ikura and maybe tuna(?) atop a mini mountain of rice.

Onsen Egg & Vegetable Tempura On Japanese Rice. This place serves reasonably-priced yet decent tendon, although towards the end, the last few mouthfuls of rice + fried stuff gets to be a bit much.

Spicy miso charred braised Nagano pork belly, marinated ramen egg and Japanese spring onion. $2 with a drink. #happyhour

Pan-seared house-made luncheon meat and marinated ramen egg dressed with truffle soy glaze and Japanese spring onion. $2 with a drink. #happyhour

Comes with a salad of leaves & miso soup; but more importantly, a nice variety of flavorful condiments (3rd pic) which makes this pork dish eminently more edible than it already is i.e. sans 🐗 taint. The onsen egg is the cherry on top, adding a velvety texture to perfectly cooked rice, and for 6.50 USD (w tax + service), it may be the best dining deal I’ve gotten anywhere on the 🔴.

A mix of salmon sashimi, aburi salmon belly, cubed spicy salmon, mentaiko seared salmon sashimi and ikura over Tanuki Raw’s signature mixed rice

Solid dish with sweet and pink rice.

Also a limited time offer and my first time eating at this chain resto. Would be really good for me if the muscle : fat ratio were greater but maybe that’s what this dish is about 🫤

Nowhere at the standard of the tendon at the Orchard Central branch. The tempura batter here just doesn’t cut it. 😕

BRIEF: “Salmon Sashimi on sushi rice.” SOOT’S TAKE: Generous serving of rice, sashimi and condiments. My only beef with this takeaway is the frayed edges of many of the sashimi slices which ruins it a little for me. 😏

Seemed appropriate to dine at this sous vide themed resto after a chat with the cardiologist. They claim to serve healthy yet tasty food in the form of customizable grain bowls + sous vide proteins and they have a great variety of vegetarian sides. I got mine with Furikake Japanese Brown Rice, an Onsen egg, Daikon and Cucumber pickles, sous vide Oyster Blade steak and Wafu salad. I might do it again with a more plant-forward combination next time although I’m not necessarily in a great hurry to do so LOL.

Fatty

Slow-braised US beef short ribs dressed with truffle soy glaze, marinated ramen egg and Japanese spring onion. $2 with a drink. #happyhour

“US wagyu in sweet nippon sauce, topped with onsen egg, fresh spring onions and garlic chips.” This was probably better than pretty good but it stopped short of being really good for the eyelash in my egg (although it was very memorable for that reason). 😑

Generous serving of salmon over a warm bed of rice.

Salmon with sushi rice. Pricey, now that I’ve been ruined by 日本国 🇯🇵 😏

“Grilled Miyazaki and Australian Wagyu with mixed vegetables and Okinawa egg on rice.” They weren’t kidding about the stamina part. The beef was so tough chewing it became a chore, so maybe it was a good thing there was so little of it. Dish was dominated by cabbage ribs which seemed to outnumber even the amount of pearl rice in the bowl. The rice also seemed to be drenched in sauce, which ruined its texture for me. I’m not sure the egg added much to the dish either. Service was pretty sluggish despite the lack of customers. Not a dish I would repeat at $25.50.

Pan-seared US black angus short rib, onsen egg, truffle soy sauce over Tanuki Raw’s signature rice. This was a particularly tough cut of meat with a lot of gristle and that belonged in a pressure cooker :/ The rice was tasty though.

Bowl of rice topped with tempura [shrimp, something else from the sea (eel? fish?) bell pepper and kabocha pumpkin]. It was part of a set that came with soba noodles and turnip greens. I would’ve preferred the tempura to be crispy but they were soggy (possibly from the sauce that soaked through the rice).