Profile

As the East Village continues its romp toward total gentrification, Sapporo East remains pleasantly grungy. You won't find rock gardens or plucked-string music at this streetwise joint, where Japanese waiters in T-shirts and spiky hair-dos usher you into the fluorescent-lit dining den. Chefs mold their rice to an ever-changing soundtrack of lost hits—eighties power ballads, Studio One reggae. Despite the soy-spattered walls, Sapporo is strangely comfortable: You can wear what you like, and eat early or late. Here it's no embarrassment to dine solo and read a book at the low bar. Among the menu's extensive and affordable offerings, the sushi and sashimi are respectable—but the colorful, bulky special rolls (particularly the weird sounding ones) are more exciting; the warm bowls of udon and ramen, more satisfying. A crispy fried chicken roll with iceberg lettuce and spicy mayonnaise is a bizarrely delectable kin to the chicken sandwich. The Oshitashi (two cylinders of bright, steamed fresh spinach) counts for a healthy side of greens. — Colleen McKinney

Oshitashi, $4.50; crispy fried chicken roll, $7.25; spicy ebi aspara roll, $5.50