Taniku Izakaya

Food here is always so good :D Some of the best ramen in town and an amazing sake selection. hand rolls are only $2.5 during happy hour!! and the scallops are amazing. the people are great too :)

We were initially aiming for another restaurant this Friday night, which happened to be Valentine's Day as well, but we couldn't find parking at that original location and ended up driving towards Japantown where we thought we'd find parking easier. On the way though, we stopped at a light, looked out the window, and decided to give Taniku a try since there was parking right out the door and it looked pretty good on Yelp. Guess we were meant to dine here tonight! And boy, are we glad we did. This was such a random, but fantastic find. We arrived around 5:30ish or so, and a quarter of the tables were filled. There's about 11 small tables that can be combined to bigger tables, but this place is pretty small. They also have a gratuity fee for parties of 5 or more, so just fyi. Everything on the menu looked so appetizing! Especially the small bites and skewers. But between the two of us, we got:1) Mekyabetsu: This is brussel sprouts with karashi mustard. I admit I'm somewhat of a sucker for brussel sprouts, so that's already a reason for me to order this. Also, this is the first time I ever tried karashi mustard, and wow, brussel sprouts and karashi mustard pairs well together. The mustard is tangy, but also slightly sweet. It cuts the oilyness of the (probably) fried brussel sprouts. And although the brussel sprouts are crispy, the mustard coated on them makes it a softer. So tasty! 2) Kabocha Koro: These pumpkin potato croquettes came with a small side of spinach drizzled with some dressing. It also came with house sauce dip, but I found the house sauce kind of overpowering. It was even more tangy than the mustard that came with the brussel sprouts. The best part though is that the kabocha croquettes were so soft and fluffy. It melts in your mouth. It's like mash potato, but mashed kabocha. The outer crispy layer was nice and thin! 3) Geso Karraage: We contemplated between Chicken Karaage and Geso, but ultimately landed on Geso instead. These came with Japanese tartar mayo sauce, and lemon. I love how the squid pieces weren't separated into individual legs, but were kept as whole small squids (minus the head). Each squid had a lightly, fried, thin outer batter. It's both crispy, chewy, and not overly oily. I like how the tartar sauce is just mildly tangy and spicy. The portion size was great for the price point.4) Tori Tsukune: I'm surprised at how big these were. I would describe them as either super fat kabobs or chunky chicken burger patties. The egg yolk with soy sauce was a decadent dip. And the minced chicken was sooo juicy. I don't know how they did it. 5) Tori Mo-Mo: There were also perfectly cooked chicken (leg) bites. These were tender, juicy, and just slightly saucy. Flavored perfectly. This might be one of the best Mo-mo I've had thus far. I don't particularly like teriyaki sauce, but I think this teriyaki was on the lighter side, so I actually really enjoyed this skewer. 6) Nama Don: My (main!) rice bowl came with 3 large pieces of Hamachi, and 4 scallops. These were all pretty fresh, and generous in sizing. The green tobico was interesting, but not so different from the regular tobico you see at other sushi places. Maybe a bit more refreshing? But it also might be because of the yuzu paste too. The rice was well made, slightly flavored with soy and kind of vinegary. My partner got the Hotate Miso ramen as his main dish. It was mildly spicy, but more miso-tasting. He said it was a great ramen, but pretty heavy. The scallops in his bowl were perfectly cooked (although I prefer raw scallop over seared/cooked ones). We also shared a Nanbu Bijin sake, and I'm not big on drinking, but I enjoyed this one! It's slightly sweet, kind of peachy, clear-tasting (if that makes sense), and doesn't linger. A pretty good sake in my opinion! Even my partner said it was good even though he doesn't generally like sweet sake. The restaurant is small, but it got packed by the middle of our meal. There's only two employees on the ground in the front, but they're both very professional. Quick on their feet, but also very attentive to their customers. 10/10 would recommend if you're looking for a tasty bite! Taniku definitely surpassed our expectations for a random find.

Beautiful hole-in-the-wall Japanese spot in the Tenderloin! Would recommend taking an Uber to the restaurant and back given the sketchy-ness of the general area. Parking at Union Sq Garage and then Ubering over is very convenient. The ramen here is insanely good and the standout for sure is the two kinds of scallops that they have (Aomori and Hokkaido). Both are succulent and sweet -- one standout in particular on their menu is the basil pesto udon with scallops! I also like the basic scallop miso ramen a lot.The dessert menu is also incredible. It's not extensive, but try the miso ice cream in particular. The best description I can give is salted caramel++! I haven't found anything like it anywhere else. If this place were located in South Bay near me I would probably go at least 2-3x a week for dinner that's how good it is!

Finally, an izakaya that dares to be different! Their scallop ramen is a seafood lover's dream, with plump, perfectly cooked scallops that add a sweet, oceanic dimension to the broth. Another option is the pork ramen with a soft shell crab in their ramen. It's not just for show either; the crab meat is succulent and adds an incredible richness to the broth as you eat.But don't sleep on their izakaya offerings! Their beef and chicken skewers are super yummy. The agedashi tofu is a standout - they use premium egg tofu that's silky smooth on the inside and perfectly crispy outside. It practically melts in your mouth. The vibe is cozy but lively, perfect for both date night or catching up with friends. They have some fun deals with sake bottles too, where the more you order the more of a discount you get. It's not in the best part of the city, nearing tender-nob so be careful if there's a long wait

My friend showed us this quaint place for dinner and they seated us near the door for our table of three. It was a little tight space but the interior was very cozy and decorated nicely. The staff were also kind in trying to help us get a bigger table since we were at a two person table but they were very busy and our food came out pretty fast after we ordered.Geso Karaage - Decided to try this because we hadn't tried squid karaage before and it was crunchy and light. I paired well with the sweet and creamy sauce as well as the lemon with chili powder. Hokkaido Miso - The flavor of the soup was decent, I enjoyed the flavors from the chili, pepper, garlic and the miso. The egg was perfectly soft boiled and running but the chashu meat was a little tough on the edges to bite into and there was too much cabbage.It does get packed so be prepared and we were lucky to be seated right when we went over at around 7 on a Thursday. A cute place to check out for some ramen and if you're in the Polk area..

===TL;DR=== - Kobe skewers - Pork cheek skewers- Agedashi tofu- Karaage- Spicy miso crab ramen - Niku ramen===TMI===Didn't get the hype of this place. I thought their ramens were standard. If anything, I enjoyed their skewers and sides more. Pork cheek skewer was fantastic, just the right amount of chewy and bounciness. The agedashi tofu was splendid. Ramen tastes fine in the beginning but didn't build as well as I thought it would.. the spicy miso was not spicy and kind of bland for me. Shall space and parking is on a main street so it's best to arrive early to look for parking. Might have a queue at the door.

This little restaurant definitely cannot be missed with how long the wait for this restaurant had outside the door! What caught our eye about this place was the unique menu alongside the appetizer options. The food was very tasty and unique and we were left extremely full! A fun little spot to try with friends if you're looking for something a little different :)The restaurant is extremely small so definitely expect a wait if you want to dine during dinner time. There's limited street parking around as well.

Service was fast. Great selections of appetizers, kushiyaki and seasonal drinks. I didn't try ramen or donburi but will definitely be back to try those!

Arrived Friday night at 8ish. Only 15min wait. Small but cozy place. GREAT music, all the oldies I love. Service was great, might take a few minutes because there are only 2 for all the tables. Food was pretty fast.I had the Geso Karaage to start. Really good, well seasoned and crispy.Garlic Pork ramen was so good. Thick pork portions, soft egg and that black garlic.. yumm! Arrives HOT, be careful.The yuzu lemonade was more on the sweet side. I prefer acidity in a lemonade but I appreciated the use of real lemon.To finish, the Hojicha Panna Cotta. Creamy but not greasy, nice flavor. I needed something to cut through the beautiful fat of the cream like powdered Hojicha on top. That's my only observation. Solid spot for ramen. Recommended!

We were looking for a dinner spot after fleet week festivities and randomly decided to come to Taniku Izakaya. We were seated without any wait at 5pm, but there were only a couple open tables by that time. Seems to be a popular spot, so I'd make sure to come early if you don't want to have a wait. Luckily, we had about 30 minutes to order from their HH menu, which was worth it! The house cold sake for $3 is a steal, and the ramen is discounted by $5. All the skewers we got were super good, tender and juicy with the perfect amount of char and seasoning. My favorite was the pork belly skewer, with the kobe beef coming in at a close second. The miso cod was sooo delicious with crispy skin and perfectly buttery fish. Scallop miso ramen was insanely good as well with a really nice broth, tender grilled scallops, and bouncy noodles. Katsu curry don was solid too, the katsu was super crispy and juicy. Our waitress was also great, she was attentive and gave good recs. Literally no bad bites, one of my fav meals in the city recently. I will definitely be back for the happy hour and to try more of their menu out!