Tanuki Raw re-opens at Orchard Central with new food items

Tanuki Raw is well-known for its Happy Hour cocktails, oysters and sashimi. With the re-opening at Orchard Central, this restaurant and bar has literally moved to a higher level, as well as, taken the food offerings to new heights.

Dining out has taken on too much seriousness; whether it’s the decorum, cuisine boundaries, or ambience, there is too much focus on everything except for whether or not the food is good. Hence, Tanuki Raw decided to strip away rules, boundaries, and preconceptions of how various flavours go together in the search to create tasty, fun, flavourful food in a relaxed environment.

In addition to its signature truffle yakiniku donburi, Tanuki Raw has introduced new rice bowls and unique creations that are first-of-its-kind in Singapore. There are three flavours of savoury donuts such as the Uni Donut ($21.90), the Foie Gras Donut ($18.90) and the Spicy Salmon Donut ($12.90).

We tried the Uni Donut, which consisted of Japanese sea urchin, sour cream, and onsen egg on top of a Tanuki-style pull-apart donut made with a blend of Tanuki’s spice mix, buckwheat and scallions drizzled with a burnt leek and soy dressing and topped with crispy bonito flakes and toasted seaweed. This is indeed a very unique dish and we love the uni.

There are also three flavours of Herumetto new on the menu – Duck Confit Herumetto ($13), Spicy Salmon Herumetto ($12) and Negitoro Herumetto ($14). The Negitoro Herumetto includes spicy fatty tuna, avocado, tomato, onions and lettuce stuffed inside house-made crunchy taco shells made of seaweed, topped with umami cheese and spring onion. The seaweed taco shells gave the overall dish a crunchy texture while the spicy fatty tuna was well complemented by the avocado and cheese.

The Mini Salted Duck Egg Char Siew Sliders ($15.90) is another new item. YES, you read it right! Salted Egg!!! Thick-cut Tanuki-style char siew was stacked between tomatoes, fresh greens, umami gruyere and the in-house made katsu-crusted brown butter buns with a generous dollop of tangy oko sauce. The char siew (more like pork belly) has a good balance of fats and lean meat, giving a tender and chewy texture. Simply delightful! The salted egg tasted more towards a sweeter side, kind of like savouring 流沙包 (salted egg custard buns).

Besides the above, we also had the WHAM! Fries ($11.90). Imagine umami gruyere melted over sweet potato fries topped with marshmallows, Tanuki spice mix, mozzarella and sour cream. We’re pretty everyone’s skeptical the moment they see marshmallows with fries but this new item is highly recommended by Tanuki Raw. It was a total mix of sweet and savoury in a dish. Well, it was quite strange for us in the beginning but who can resist those addictive sweet potato fries right?!

After so many sides, we only had stomach space for one donburi so we decided on Foie Gras Truffle Yakiniku Donburi ($23). This hits all the right spots! A generous portion of perfectly pan-seared foie gras, accompanied by tender and flavourful US Black Angus short rib with an oozy onsen egg, mixed with truffle soy and black garlic brown butter over Tanuki’s signature rice. It’s kind of impossible to stop at one bowl. If only our stomach could be expanded …

Tanuki Raw is a great spot for gatherings with friends after work. You can choose to sit cozily indoors or enjoy the night breeze dining alfresco. You can even sit at the bar and observe the skillful bartenders create interesting cocktails. Their new menu offers a mash-up of Japanese-inspired cuisine with the playfulness of American street food and global influences. A one-time visit is definitely not enough!

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