Kasadela - Japanese Tapas - East Village

Food: 6.5/10
Everything else: 3/10
Price: $$
We would travel 3 stops on the L train for Kasadela.


Kasadela is a Japanese small plate and bar spot in Alphabet City, and though it was empty when we visited on a recent Tuesday evening, the food was worth the rather eerie environment, made all the more bizarre by the funky music choices.

The meal itself, though, was best described as relaxing and enjoyable, and the small plates don't top $15. Even the sake was sanely priced. 


Absolutely amazing wings. We could have ended the blog post here and been satisfied. They were crunchy and beautifully sauced with a salty soy glaze. We wouldn't call them spicy, but there was a feint heat - more black pepper than true spicy.


An octopus special sparked our first disagreement. The dish was bits of raw octopus covered in a wasabi leaf marinade. Noah found the octopus to be nothing special in taste and a bit too chewy in texture. The marinade was nice however, as the wasabi leaf gave you the taste but not the bite of the wasabi. Matt was more of a fan.


Our favorite dish had to be the beef tataki, although we are both a bit biased by the inclusion of ponzu sauce - the greatest flavor ever created (that's factual). Sitting in a pool of ponzu, the beef was rare and beautifully charred. Topped with green apply matchsticks and diced daikon soaked in more ponzu (need we say more?). 


The calamari was decent. It was nicely cooked, well textured, and accompanied by a tasty garlic soy sauce and some kind of mayo. The soy dip was the best part of this dish, as we both felt the calamari was bland in itself. "Meh" overall.


We recommend ordering the roasted nori to snack on in between courses or with drinks. If you're a seaweed fan, or perhaps even if you're not, these are a great salty snack to munch on.


Perhaps it's not fair to hold the fact that the place was deserted against it. It was a Tuesday. But still -- weird.

TLDR: Generally good food but weird atmosphere.