The little noodle shop that could has been through quite a few changes within the last couple of years, most notably in terms of menu revamping. If you're like us, you may secretly have wanted to walk into the kitchen and beat the chef about the head for ***image1***stealing away the yaki udon-a smooth and spicy mélange of thick noodles, grilled chicken and fish cake. But the dish lives on these days as a lunch menu offering and, after sampling yaki-niku, a tenderloin and spinach stir-fry basted in Korean chile paste, we're happy to pray at the altar of the dinner menu as well. In fact, the cozy indoor atmosphere and charming urban patio remain as alluring as ever, but the food has become a little more seasonal, a little more regional and consistently scrumptious. If a small price hike has been the trade-off for more thoughtful and sensual attentions from the kitchen, so be it. Dining alone with a platter full of sushi or tucking into a steaming bowl of tonkatsu-style ramen will warm your belly, but eating with friends is the best way to enjoy Kasasoba's izakaya food ethic: Selections are tossed onto the table in no particular order as the kitchen prepares them and are meant to be shared by all.

544 Agua Fria St., 984-1969, www.kasasoba.com. Lunch Tuesday-Friday; dinner Tuesday-Sunday. $$