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The owner of this cozy, brick-walled sake house used to work for Nobu, but now, he's going for something a lot more low-key and low-budget: nothing on the short menu of traditional Japanese snacks costs more than $10. It’s a peaceful place for leisurely snacking, in-depth sake sampling, and audible conversation. But once the Japanese tapas hit the table, talk might turn exclusively to the food before you: Crisp, salty sheets of roasted nori that dissolve in your mouth like cotton candy. Steamed “black” (actually dark-green) edamame that’s ten times better than the regular variety. Creamy squares of wasabi-dotted goma tofu that taste halfway between hummus and halvah. And, as a sometime special, some of the city’s best chicken wings, marinated in garlic, ginger, and two kinds of soy.

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Featured In

• Cheap Eats Guide 2006 (8/7/06)

Recipes at Kasadela

• Kinpira (2006)