Oversized sushi and a late-night scene draw crowds to this casual Alphabet City favorite.

The Scene
Judging by appearances--blocky blond-wood tables, simple Asian prints and a brightly lit sushi bar that moves at a frenetic pace--you could be at any inexpensive Japanese restaurant in the city. But the crowd, a mix of longtime neighborhood regulars and heavily accessorized hipsters, gives Takahachi an emphatic East Village edge. Service is rushed and monosyllabic, but dishes arrive without a wait.

The Food
There are three reasons why people love this place: Oversized sushi, innovative daily specials and late-night hours. Very affordable sushi and sashimi plates, with requisite soup or salad, stand out from the competition with sweet raw shrimp, smoked mackerel and hefty three-inch-long slices of fish. Specials, like pepper-seared bonita draped over seaweed and red onion, are more creative compositions. Stick to the menu and you'll find overcooked edamame, fall-apart spider rolls with greasy soft-shell crabs, bready barbecue meatball skewers and bland bowls of udon.