Best Asian Restaurants: Japanese Izakaya

Northwest by Far East: the Insider’s Guide to Asian Food in Seattle

Kaname Izakaya and Shochu Bar

Scarlet lanterns reading “Izakaya” light up the doorways of Tokyo snack bars, beckoning wary workers with early-evening belts and bites. Two such oblong fixtures dangle outside Kaname, where worn hardwoods and lager-promoting table tents feel as spot-on as the menu—fried chicken, chilled tofu, snowball-size panko-crusted croquettes—and the focus on shochu, an earthy spirit made from potato, barley, or rice that they sip like crazy in Japan.

Who’s here The downtown white collars who hop the light rail from University Street Station to the ID for an early happy hour.
Don’t miss That happy hour, from 5 to 6:30pm daily, features the bar’s best snacks for $2 to $4.50.
Pssst Rationalize away the fried food by sipping shochu (Kaname has eight kinds), just 15 to 20 calories per ounce.

Kaname Izakaya and Shochu Bar, 610 S Jackson St, International District, 206-682-1828

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