I think Tanuki is great, but I agree that it is a little odd that this review fails to mention Portlands other Izakaya-style places. You'd have thought, from reading this, that Tanuki was the first one. Oh well.
Thanks for the great comments! I am aware that there are "Izakaya-style" restaurants in Portland and I was amiss to not mention them. But I must say that Tanuki embraces the whole izakaya aspect (food meant to be consumed with sake) more fervently than Biwa (ramen) and Yakuza (cocktails/sushi). By definition, an izakaya could be any place that served sake and small plates, but Tanuki has a spirit I think other places might lack.
Looking forward to trying out Tanuki, but jake is right that there are a couple of other izakaya in the Portland area already. Biwa has already been mentioned; there's also Syun out in Hillsboro. It's a bit of a drive, perhaps, but the moment I walked in, I felt like I had walked back into one of my old izakaya haunts in Japan.
Patrick Alan Coleman misunderstands what umami is and slanderously misrepresents it. I have no doubt that there was a strong umami presents in the pork dish that he described, but he was tasting something different. Umami is not "somewhere between bitter and salty on the back of the tongue," as he puts it, but rather a savory/hearty/meaty flavor that favorably compliments the other four flavors. Not to mention that it is a flavor experienced equally over the entire tongue. I take umbrage in his declaration of umami as "almost uncomfortable." Scurrilous ignorance. Umami is one of the most wonderful, enjoyable sensations available to a gastronome. I recommend the author visits www.umamiinfo.com and checks out some of their wonderful recipes.
Give me my flux capacitor back, Patrick.