Izakaya

Despite my near-constant food posts, I'm not that big an eater. I'd prefer to have a bunch of small plates and pay-as-I-go to one enormous one. Luckily, there's plenty of that to be found here, from sushi to street food (more on that later). Izakaya falls into the same category. Think tapas of the east.

So we got here early. Karen had a salad--the water and the veggies are just fine--and a couple of fish dishes. I opted for chicken skin and beef tongue skewers grilled over that unique Japanese charcoal, plus a pork croquette covered in bonito flakes. The steam rising off the croquette makes them wave at you, so the food seems alive.

Place fills up fast.