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Lots of bamboo, lanterns, baloons and other design elements ensure that party atmosphere always reigns at Tanuki. KP Media, photo by Oleksiy Boyko New Japanese restaurant proves to be a great place for sushi fans

, is named after a Japanese raccoon dog and a popular folklore character, whose figurine can be often seen in the restaurants in Japan. In Kyiv, the creature found itself a warm spot right next to German consulate. The last time I was there applying for visa, the building where Tanuki is now located, was still a supermarket.

Walking up the stairs towards the entrance, I and my friend were welcomed and cheered by a doorman in colorful Japanese attire, and once inside a soft sound of gong announced our arrival. The restaurant was really spacious – 200 seats in all, yet I was absolutely right to book a table. Even though I called an hour before our arrival, they had only a few free tables left in VIP rooms, and that’s where hostess showed us. As we walked through the main hall, I observed that while the restaurant was really big, it was smartly divided into many separate areas, so that every visitor could find a snug corner for themselves. There are tables of light wood with metal trays for food standing on them, tube-shaped paper lamps, partitions of really thick bamboo and a few columns in shape of trees, spreading their branches over the ceiling. Naturally, Tanuki statuettes are seen here and there. The entrance to our small VIP hall was partly concealed by a transparent curtain and its walls were painted with common Japanese pictures – birds, panda bears, sakura trees and hieroglyphs.

Once we set down, we were immediately attended to by a smiling and well-mannered waitress, whose pleasant attitude and unobtrusive service didn’t alter throughout the evening. Right after she placed the menus of the table, we were treated to restaurant’s compliment – a free cup of green tea for every visitor, poured out of a teapot with a very long spout. But my acquaintance with Tanuki didn’t fully start until I opened the menu.

An extensive assortment of Japanese food for mid-range prices started with a list of sushi (Hr 8 for salmon), which included 10 kinds of spicy sushi in crunchy soy coating, 15 soups (Hr 19 for a Miso) of various kinds with meat and seafood, about 27 rolls, including “rock n’ roll” with salmon, eel, cucumber, black sesame and avocado (Hr 35), “Geisha Maki” with scallop, tobiko and mayonnaise (Hr 29) and classics like “California,” made with actual crab meat and not with surimi, the way it’s done at some of the cheap sushi places. Apart from traditional cold maki sushi, there were warm fried rolls as well. Cold appetizers included crab salad in omelet (Hr 39) and kimchee – spicy cabbage (Hr 15), and salads like soy sprouts in spicy sauce (Hr 13), tofu with prunes (Hr 19), and lettuce with scallops and marakuja sauce (Hr 35). Besides, there were 12 dishes of rice and Japanese noodles to choose from, and hot dishes such as eggplants fried with vegetables and shitake (Hr 28), chicken in teriyaki sauce (Hr 23), bits of pork with ginger and onions (Hr 39), and smoked eel on rice (Hr 86).

It’s easy to guess, that the choice was hard to make, but in the end we settled on two original soups, a roll for each and spring rolls to share. Our waitress inquired if we wanted our wet towels hot or cold, and also if we preferred our soups or sushi first. Aware of the Japanese tradition of having sushi as an entree, we still chose to start our meal with soups – we’re Ukrainians after all. For drinks we considered house beer Tanuki (Hr 20 for 0,5 liter) – light and unfiltered, plum wine, but once my friend mentioned sake, the waitress insisted that we simply must try it.

Few minutes later we were enjoying warm sake (clearly, a wonderful drink especially for colder weather), and in a while our soups arrived in metal bowls covered with wooden lids, which the waitress lifted before withdrawing. My friend was having some amazing coconut milk-based concoction with shrimp and vegetables (Hr 45). It gave a most unusual palate sensation – it was mild with coconut-and-shrimp flavor and pungent at the same time. My friend loved it, though she suggested one extra shrimp (there were just two) would add to her pleasure. As the waitress later remarked, my order – a shark fins soup (Hr 49) – was the most original soup offered at Tanuki. It was steaming hot with liquid jelly consistency, unusual flavor and thin strips of crab meat and egg floating inside. I was perfectly satisfied with it (despite having burned my tongue in the very beginning), but if asked, I couldn’t exactly define what the shark fin tastes like – I didn’t detect any distinct flavor, and it appeared like a nice rich seafood bouillon to me.

For rolls, I had “Unagi Uramaki” (Hr 51) with eel, avocado, salmon, cucumber and soft cheese – a perfect combination for me, and my friend checked out “Dragon Maki” (Hr 47) with eel, smoked salmon, spicy sauce, covered in dried tuna skin, which was likewise fine. All the ingredients were extremely fresh, well-blended together and masterly rolled – there is not much more you could want from sushi. We then moved on to “Izumi Spring Rolls” (Hr 42) – tasty perch with green onions in crunchy fried pastry, which had do be dipped in soy sauce before eating – another great choice. By the way, as I later found out at Tanuki they make their own soy sauce, instead of using Kikkoman brand like most eateries do.

We finished our sake, and thought that a Japanese dessert would make a great finishing touch to our meal. The sweets selection was likewise considerable, but most of all we were attracted by a sweet “Manila Roll” (Hr 22) and a Philadelphia cheese ice cream (Hr 24). With that we ordered more tea – lemon for me, and jasmine for my friend (Hr 18 for a small teapot).

“Manila Roll” with kiwi, berries and creamy cottage cheese rolled into some soft white pastry, and lying in a pool of raspberry sauce was extremely delicious. As for Philadelphia ice cream, we unanimously pronounced it a real bliss – it tasted just like a cheesecake. As we finished our tea, perfectly satisfied with everything at Tanuki, we decided there was no better place to hold our next Friday night girls’ gathering.



Tanuki (44 Zlatoustivska, 238-7362). Open noon till midnight

English menu: Yes

English-speaking staff: Yes

Average meal: Hr 150