O Taku

For you Cobble Hill kids, from my friend Winnie:

Taku:  It's a Japanese restaurant that doesn't serve sushi, so more like an izakaya.  The two main cooks met at Bond street and neither of them are Japanese, but they have been making Japanese food for a long time.

They have a full bar, where you can sit and hang out, and an assortment of snacks, appetizers, noodles (ramen and soba), main courses and desserts. Main courses run about $15-28 and include steak, roasted chicken, pan seared scallops and a seafood nabe being the head chef's self-proclaimed best bang for the buck. It looked good - packed with all sorts of yummy things like beautiful shrimp, different kinds of clams, mussels, etc. The wings are also an excellent snack, marinated in a yuzu brine with a cucumber yogurt type of dipping sauce.

Taku
116 Smith Street
b/n Pacific and Dean