Tanuki and Tanuki's Cave, 19 Queen St, City

Yuka Taneda with Tanuki's Kingfish sashimi plate. Picture / Carolyn Robertson

Herald rating: * * *

Emma decided we were eating Japanese. "I think Japanese food is so popular," she said, as the three of us pushed open the heavy wooden door and cautiously made our way down the steep staircase into the dimly lit bar, "because it's so accessible."

"Not tonight," I said after a few words with the greeter. "The bar's full, there's not an empty chair - or a milk crate - in the house."

"We'll go upstairs," said Bridget. "There were tables free there."

Tanuki, the sushi and sake bar, and Tanuki's Cave, the yakitori bar downstairs, have been well-kept secrets of inner-city life for more than a decade. Perhaps not so well-kept: seems everyone knows about them but doesn't mention the name out loud. It's hard enough already to find a space around either of the big, square bars within minutes of opening time, just after work and before a movie or show.

A couple of years older than the cave, Tanuki claims to be the first Japanese restaurant to offer more then one sake; it started with 40 and now has 30 varieties.

Most of the partnership that owns the group of culturally aligned businesses in the block between the Town Hall and the Classic Comedy Club do not hail from Japan. But as a friend who favours the nearby Kura sake bar points out, they have the style and atmosphere just right.

At an upstairs table, Emma resumed her discourse on Japanese food. "Unlike many Asian cuisines," she opined, "you know most of the ingredients, or a close relation, like horse-radish for wasabi, and the cooking methods, are straightforward. So you don't get fazed by something like bat's wing or steamed beating heart of snake."

Anyway, she might have added, the Tanukis' menus explain everything, not only the ingredients but also the best way for a table to order and eat. Which is helpful if you've momentarily forgotten that sushi means raw fish and other toppings with vinegared rice. As if any of the gym-going, diet-watching regulars surrounding us ever would.

Time was short. We ordered three plates - the house speciality of scotch fillet with ponzu sauce, or citrus and soy vinaigrette; pan-fried salmon fillet with teriyaki sauce; crumbed and deep-fried chicken thigh with tonkatsu, the sweet and strong East-West sauce that's pretty much a cousin of our steak sauce.

Emma peered over the table. "It looks like KFC," she said. "Can't get much more accessible than that," I told her.

Washed down with Japanese beers, we were fairly fed and out of there in time for our show, less than 45 minutes and $65 for the three of us.

"I could eat that food just about every night," said Bridget, so a couple of evenings later we again pushed open the heavy wooden door. This time two seats were free at the big, square bar that is the heart of Tanuki's Cave. We perched, sipped, and lit into yakitori.

It's pretty much like Kiwi barbecue tucker. Skewers of grilled meat or veges (yakitori) or crumbed and deep-fried meat or veges (kushiage) for $3-$4; a bowl of steak or chicken on steamed rice (don buri) is $9.

Graze, chat, people-watch, sip sake, try as many tastes and flavours as you want, though we drew the line at deep-fried mashed kumara coated with crispy almond chips with cream and vanilla ice-cream.

It's hot and buzzy, in large part because of the servers rushing around the open bar, red bandannas flashing in and out of the ultra-violet lighting as they try to keep up.

Bridget and I really pushed the boat out. Oh yes: we had a big night out. It set us back $62.50.

Address: 19 Queen St, City
Phone: (09) 379 535
Open: Sushi bar 7 days 5-11pm, Cave 5.30pm-late
Cuisine: Japanese
On the menu: Large sushi (10 fish on rice, 6 sushi rolls) $27.50; teriyaki kingfish fillet, salad $15; beef tataki $12
Vegetarian: Lots
Wine: Small list - try sake or beer
Bottom line: Fun, funky, financially empowering