狸 tanuki cafe & dining — Restaurant in Nozawaonsen

I love the food and service at Tanuki but I’m giving it a low rating as there were certain things one expects from a high end restaurant which Tanuki did not meet.

The food is great, delicious in fact.

The portions though are really small. One does not expect to pay top $$ for two people and walk away hungry and have to buy a meal elsewhere.

There are no sides one can order with the main meal and again the portion is small. We were told the menu is set and would be enough but in all seriousness for a high end restaurant to not have sides to go with its meal is shameful.

I ordered beef cheek and no where do I recall on the menu it saying it came with rice. The rice took up most of the plate.

My husband and I both commented we needed to order 2 starters and mains in order to just have had enough food. (We are both quite slim and don’t eat that much).

We also had the pleasure of seeing the people who had been dining next to us also having meals elsewhere afterwards. (Sarcasm dripping).

To have walked away from a nice restaurant still hungry does not say much about it.

Since eating here I’ve spoken to several people who all said the same thing, they had to eat elsewhere afterwards.

It’s not value for money and it’s certainly not satisfying. If you have a family to feed, then definitely forget about going here. You’ll be out of pocket. Want to impress your significant other then you definitely will but again order two starters and mains each and pretend you want to share. Otherwise your date will be very pissed off from hunger.

We stopped at mains and didn’t bother ordering desserts as we saw what came out of the kitchen and again it’s not worth the hassle and most certainly not worth waiting around to book this place.

There are much nicer restaurants around which are high end and you do not walk out with $$ down, hungry.

Tanuki was a disappointment. It’s not...

Please beware that some employees at this establishment may be discriminatory.

We came here for breakfast on Sunday Dec 24 at 7:30. Me and my husband are Asian but visibly non-Japanese. The lady server told us all the seats were reserved but we can get take out (only coffee and tea are on the take out menu).

While waiting for the tea to be made, two Caucasian customers walked in beside us. From the conversation, they stated that they did not have a reservation but wanted a table for breakfast. The same server grabbed them a menu and started to sit them down on one of the empty tables which she had told me was reserved.

I pointed out to her that just 5 min ago she told me they were full due to reservations. She seemed startled and then apologized to the Caucasian couple to say that they were actually full and can’t sit them down.

Why did you start sitting them down when not only 5 min ago you said these are for reserved customers only, and only change your tune when called out?

Edit: the shop’s reply is either misunderstanding my review or an attempt to obfuscate the situation. The Caucasian couple after us evidently did not have lodging there as they were turn away by the server, but ONLY after I called the server out on the...

The food and service were alright, but the price was way higher than what they offered. The cheapest option was 4,800yen for 1 starter and 1 main plate. Reserved the place for 2 in advance and couldn't see dinner (official) menu due to website error, so I could only see menu posted by other people, which is definitely NOT what they have for dinner. Once I got there and saw the menu, either I had to pay 4,800yen at least or pay the cancellation fees for 1,000yen per person. Well... So we stayed. What I got: The free snack was a palm-sized bowl of Edamame (Japanese green beans) The starter was a salmon cucumber with cream to eat with crackers - priced 1,800yen in receipt The main was