If Andy Warhol and that guy that sold the kid a Mogwai in Gremlins were fashion designers, and they got into a karate fight, the product of their battle would be The Eatery on West Broadway. It is Kung Fu Old-School after a Saturday morning cartoon makeover. It holds the self-given, and seldom contested title of “Funkiest Place for Japanese Food.” It is indeed a funky place for cocktails and people watching as the neighbourhood can provide.

The food is great, the sushi is as competitive as the Big Guys, and you can order damn near anything even vaguely considered Asian Food. The daily list of Sushi specials, including original recipe experiments for the boys in the back, is as tasty as it is affordable. Two beers, lots of sushi, and a bowl of rice with salmon will toss you a thirty dollar tab; pretty decent, if you’re in for a cool, romantic candlelight evening in your tees. Sake sections are arranged by region, grade and flavor, but beware, it's so painfully tempting to work your way through the menu that you can easily spend every penny in your pocket.

The interior sports two gazebo booths that are the envy of all other tables in the restaurant. They are lavish enough to hold an entire party in, while the rest of the place is built of homemade tables, shop class projects, and other mismatched odds and ends create an eclectic mood. Candles drip freely on the table. The waitresses wear toques or fur hats, and come when they can get around to it. When the dinner and early evening crowds mix, things become even more intriguing.

If you haven't had your fill of cutesy Kitsilano women, then the Eatery is a pageant. As people sit on top of one another in plywood seats with abrasively coloured Warhol-esque portraits staring at them, it's hard not to get colour cozy. That's the trick up the Eatery's sleeve: it's romantic and cozy, understated in a starving artist kind of way. It's become a regular Rum Zinger spot for lunge-squeeze seekers. - C.L.