Address:
Orchard Central, 181 Orchard Road, #02-03, Singapore 238996
Opening timing:
Everyday from 11.30am to 10.30pm
Happy hours everyday from 5pm to 8pm
Website: http://tanukibar.com/
Our honest review:
Location in the city is never a big deal. Almost everyone can get to it, be it with or without a motor vehicle. I tend to confuse Orchard Central with 313@Somerset, often getting myself lost along this stretch. Closest MRT should be Somerset.
We decided to go for their 5pm to 8pm happy hours as we are big fans of fresh oysters. The catch here is you are entitled but limited to half a dozen of their oysters at $2 each for every glass of cocktail. I think most people go for their $2 oysters and their $7 salmon sashimi (5 pieces) as they limit them. We went at 5.15pm and half the bar has already been filled. We were also given a high table outside that oversees the cars driving along Orchard road. The entire bar itself was rather small and could hardly accommodate groups bigger than 4. There were a lot of tables for 2. When we left around 7.15pm, there was a long queue waiting outside.
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| Lychee martini |
The lychee martini was decently priced at $10 during happy hours. I was just shocked by the fact that it looked rather bare when it first came to us. It lacked its appeal for a cocktail. I could not taste any martini at all but more a lychee drink. I'm assuming that they are trying to skim on the alcohol itself though it came with a really nice fruity lychee taste. Considering that they call themselves a bar, I feel that they ought to up their game on their cocktails.
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| Left side are France's Fine De Claire oysters ($2/each) and on the right are Australia's oysters ($4/each) |
$2 fresh oysters are really cheap and we definitely wanted the maximum that we could get. The waiter then also offered another type of oysters costing $4 which were apparently the premium from Australia. I couldn't really remember what breed they were, or maybe he did not even mention it. The oysters were indeed really fresh. My mum, who is an expert in oysters, felt that the Fine De Claire had a sweeter and stronger taster than to the Australian's oysters, however lacking in meatiness and size.
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| Chirashi Don |
The Chirashidon consisted of 6 types of sashimi (two each) together with Ikura, Ebiko and Tamago. I thought it was a rather generous variety and amount of sashimi and that the slices were pretty thick too. What I absolutely enjoyed about this bowl was their sashimi. It was really fresh, juicy and sweet. From that you know the quality of its fishes is really good. Maybe not so much on the scallops and the Ikura, but definitely the rest. Their tamago was really sweet and had a smooth texture to it too. I am not sure if they actually made it themselves as it was kind of too perfect. It was also over a bed of rice infused with furikake which was a plus point to it. Though, I felt the rice was really really dry and really doubt the rice they used was Japanese rice.
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| Salmon and scallop roll |
The salmon and scallop roll had really minimal and tiny pieces of salmon and scallop. The roll itself was not big and I felt this entire dish was really weird. They really are not good for their rolls.
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| Truffle yakiniku |
The meat was rather tender and chewy, but was seriously lacking the seasoning to it. Salt and pepper it, maybe? Yakiniku means grilled meat, but I could barely taste any grill or charred to it. And I tasted zero truffle in it. I feel like they added the word truffle so as to jack up the price. Though, the onsen egg was done perfectly as seen.
Price: A total of about $85. Lychee martini ($10), a dozen of oysters ($2-4/each), Chirashidon ($20) Truffle yakiniku ($18) and Salmon&Scallop roll (~$15). I felt the pricing of it was rather decent except for their truffle yakinnuku and rolls. Everything else was pretty worth the money.
I have a major problem with this place because the rice they used is obviously not Japanese rice. And I find it hard to swallow knowing that it is a Japanese restaurant/bar and does not use Japanese rice. I would most definitely come back for their Chirashidon for their sashimi and more oysters, but hesitant to try on their rolls ever again.
Hint: Their lunch menu is the same, however it is about $4-5 cheaper than the alacarte menu! I was really shocked because I remembered seeing their Chirashidon being about $17 when looking on the site. Little did I know it was for lunch time.
