text: I came here to late night happy hour with a friend. They don't have a liquor licence, so the only thing missing was creative cocktails, but the Nigori sake was a rather pleasant quaff.  Don't let the milky appearance put you off; it's a gorgeous smooth drink, and quite a large measure for the $3 happy hour price!  Oh, and it didn't sit right with me that the drinks menu included such low-rent yellow fizz as Bud Light (really?  Who would have Bud flipping Light with this food?  I don't get that).  Minor quibbles that really don't take away from my 5-star rating because the food is enough to get there.  At first glance, it seems a little expensive, but, as I've said before on Yelp, we get what we pay for.\n\nAnd so to the food.  Oh, my stars!  The fooooood!!!  I frankly don't think the people dissing the food for too many flavors are totally sane.  All of the flavors were subtle and beautifully balanced.  Trying to balance a slice of dehydrated pear, toasted almond, dehydrated fig, leafy herb thingy, and pesto-y sauce on a piece of hamachi sashimi slippery with house-made fish oil sauce and getting it all to the mouth with chopsticks was admittedly not an easy venture, but it was worth the slapstick effort on the first chew when flavor explosions of sheer delight decorated the palate with joy!  We had the Omakase 8 courser, which is a tasting menu that changes according to the chef's creative whims on the day.  There was nothing in it that we didn't love or at least like very very much.  With each mouthful of an eclectic mix of flavors, some that appeared really incongruous, like the amuse bouche strawberry with fish sauce (say what?!), salt, pepper, and some funny little leaves that I can't remember the name of, we MMMMM'd and rolled our eyes in pure delight at each new flavor sensation. The portion sizes were very reasonable, and we were satisfied without being overstuffed, even after the to-die-for chocolaty dessert concoction, which was the perfect conclusion to an outstanding meal. \n\nThe service was generally good, if a bit...what's the word?  Juggly?  We seemed to have a different server for each course.  It just seemed slightly strange, but everyone was very friendly and knowledgeable.  Our courses came out mostly in excellent time, not too slow, not too fast, with plenty of time to savor each course and let its moment pass whilst enjoying each other's company.  \n\nWe couldn't figure out why it wasn't busier at late night happy hour (it was steady but not packed) on a Friday night (maybe location?  maybe no liquor licence?  maybe the word hasn't gotten out yet?). I hope it picks up because this is going to be one of my go-to places for beautiful food.  \n\nYataaaaaa, Yonaka!!! :)