Yakitori & Takoyaki

I just returned from a few months in NYC, and I was quite fond of a yakitori joint on St. Marks (Yakitori Taisho) and a nearby snack shop that served takoyaki (octopus balls). The grilled meats were great: chicken skin, chicken liver, and the non-skewered squid were my faves. The takoyaki place (Otafuku) only served the octopus balls, a scallion and meat filled pancake (okonomoyaki), and yakisoba noodles. The balls had scallion and perhaps ginger in them, are fried in an odd griddle made just for the purpose (the batter mixture is poured into half-circles that are eventually flipped over), and then topped with a smokey sauce (oyster?), kewpie mayo, a sprinkle of dried seaweed, and abundant bonito flakes that appear animated from the heat of the balls (they wave at you, which, well, is kinda weird). Once you bite through the fried exterior skin, the insides are gooey and flavorful, and the whole mess blends together in an odd and perhaps miraculous combination. I haven't decided which. But I really like them.

I haven't searched the CH boards, but I didn't come up with anything on LTH: can anyone recommend a good, relatively cheap Japanese place that specializes in yakitori? Alternatively, does anyone know of a place for Japanese snack food, such as takoyaki?

Many thanks in advance,

Jim

I love takoyaki. Have only had it once here in the Chicago area, at Misuwa Marketplace (Arlington Hts.). It's the place that sells the okonomiyaki (something like a Japanesse pizza), also the only place in Chicago area (that I know of).