Cocoro

Everyone in this place is Japanese, and the menu, which includes a separate list of appetizers written in English and Japanese, offers some dishes you’ve probably never heard of. In other words, authenticity abounds, found in dishes such as the street-food snack takoyaki, lightly battered balls of octopus, and the eel seiro, a bamboo steam basket layered with melt-in-your-mouth barbecued eel over earthy mushrooms, wispy egg noodles and rice—possibly the best Japanese dish you’ve never had. An impressive sake list makes lingering even nicer.