(No website found at time of publishing) – Lower Queen Anne

How I heard of this place: A group of seven of us were meeting for dinner before heading to McCaw Hall to see the opera, “The Barber of Seville” and found that our initial plans for eating out were stifled by the sheer number of patrons dining at our selected establishment. Walking out of Toulouse Petit, we stumbled upon Obasan, and it’s a good thing we did!

Type of cuisine: Japanese with Korean and northwest flare.

Ambiance: A small establishment, dark without natural lighting in the evening, coordinating well with the dark, wooden furnishings. A small cafe, seating available at eight tables for either pairs or parties of four. We pushed a few of the tables together in order to seat our big party. The service was very friendly and efficient, recommendations and suggestions made as necessary. The place is unpretentious, casual, yet sleek and refined. The perfect combination of formal opera-wear meets off-the-street pop in for a bite to eat.

What I ordered: To start, our party ordered the caterpillar roll ($9), unagi, shrimp, avocado and unagi sauce, as well as the dragon roll ($10) with shrimp tempura, imitation crab meat, cucumber, avocado, unagi and unagi sauce. We also had one order of boiled and salted edamame ($5) as well as sashimi maguro ($5 for three slices of tuna sashimi). For our main courses, we had three orders of the sake yaki (grilled salmon) bento ($14 each), which were each served with California rolls, salad, miso soup and vegetable/prawn tempura. One order for the teriyaki chicken bento ($14) accompanied with the same sides and one selection of yakisoba seafood ($11) with shrimp, calamari and mussels. Finally, we had one order of the saba shioyaki ($11), grilled and lightly salted mackerel filet served with salad and miso soup.

What I loved: Of the dishes and items sampled, my favorites were the caterpillar and dragon rolls, caterpillar coming in slightly ahead. The sweet unagi, beautiful presentation and deliciously fresh flavors could not be beat!

Why I loved it: The service was friendly, the food plentiful and tasty and the space convenient and conducive to a pre-opera meal.

Cost: Low to average ($11-$18 per entree)