After the developers of the Hotel Commonwealth block got caught skimping on the façade, they’ve leaned over backwards to make the rest of the hotel and mall truly marvelous. With space for a bar below street level (with sidewalk tables), they refused to pander to the location with the obvious sports bar. Instead, the Foundation Lounge is all class, with a high-concept Japanese snack menu priced to exclude almost everyone in a YANKEES SUCK T-shirt. The only concession to the location is a couple of silent TVs over the bar, and they could easily be reprogrammed to Kitaro videos if the concept takes off.

The most daring thing about the room is the pricing, but a lot of people don’t mind paying double the usual price to taste something truly outstanding. Several things at the Foundation Lounge are just that. By luck, I arrived before the rest of my party, and thought I would get the mini spring rolls ($14) out of the way. Fried spring rolls aren’t even Japanese, and these were the most touristy-looking item on the menu. But they turned out to be the best spring rolls ever. What you get is a long plate with a cheerleader’s pyramid of six rolls shaped like short, thick cigars. Pick one up (chopsticks and a fork are provided) and they turn out to be incredibly crisp. The Japanese like crisp, as anyone who’s eaten a Fuji apple has noticed. But these practically define crisp, an effect most likely achieved through very calculated frying of rice skins. The filling is mostly chunks of shrimp in what might be a vegetable purée, since it eats like mashed potatoes, but tastes somewhat of cabbage. You also have upscale versions of the classic egg-roll dips: a round of fresh Chinese mustard, and sweet-and-sour sauce (the kind with pepper flakes, which the Thai call "squid sauce").

I was also amazed by the shumai ($8). There are only four of these steamed, barrel-shape dumplings, but each is double size, with a flower of shrimp filling coming out the ends. Again, the shrimp are in perceptible chunks, and the flavor is well above the usual dim sum version. "Kenny’s California Maki" ($14) — the Kenny is probably consulting chef Kenichi Iwaoka of Osushi — likewise take these Japanese-American creations to another level. The roll is wrapped in lettuce or Napa cabbage instead of seaweed paper for a fresher effect, and some extra flying-fish roe add more crunch to the middle. The avocado and surimi "crab" are as usual, but the horseradish mayonnaise adds flavor. The garnishes are the usual soy, pickled ginger, and wasabi, plus a single Japanese plum.

Double-spicy tuna maki ($14) are doubled two ways. One level of tuna is wrapped inside, another draped on top of each roll. And of course the spice is doubled, with a hotted-up mayonnaise inside, a Korean-style chili dip outside, and a leaf of wasabi (the green horseradish-flavored Japanese mustard) for those who want triple-spicy. In a looser form, the tuna-avocado salad ($13) has the same sushi-quality chunks of tuna and avocado in what looks like a Caesar salad, but with soy-sesame dressing. "Foundation of edamame" ($7) is a nice presentation of the classic Japanese bar snack, green soybeans in the pod. Put some sea salt on the pods, heap them on one end of another long platter, and each diner can pop a pod in his or her mouth (gaining the salt) and pop out the beans (like concentrated buttered limas in flavor) for neat morsels.

Not everything on the menu is shrimp or tuna. There is a grilled-salmon plate, and two versions of the famous Kobe beef, which I couldn’t sample because the kitchen had run out.

There is a wine list, a list of mixed drinks, and a goodly selection of beers, but going with the concept, I sussed out the sake menu, unusual in that five of the six sakes listed (all cold, as serious sake should be served) were imported from Japan. Because of high duties on fortified wines, the major Japanese sake brewers set up operations on the US’s West Coast, and most of the sake we drink is actually domestic. Because sake doesn’t keep once opened (and despite its high alcohol content, has a limited life even in the bottle), you have to buy a small bottle, and smart sippers will share these widely. We enjoyed a 300-milliliter split of Harushika junmai ginjo ($16), described as clean with overtones of pear and apple. Like a lot of sake, the immediate impression is pure alcohol. This is even more true at this higher level of quality, where selected rices are milled down to reduce the protein content of the mash, and thus purify the flavor. However, taste carefully, and you will pick up notes of, yes, apple and pear.

If you want to drink water, I would recommend tap. Boston tap water is rather good, and the smallest bottle of Voss here costs $5.50, which gets you a full liter of San Pellegrino and change in most Boston restaurants. The spring rolls are worth the premium; the water is not.

Although everything is really more of a small plate than an entrée, there is a dessert, mochi ice cream ($9). That would be four small patties of intense ice cream wrapped in sweet pounded rice. The flavors are vanilla, strawberry (very good), chocolate, and an odd, green herbal ice cream that might have started with Earl Grey or green tea.

The room is quite handsome. There is a marble bar, outdoor tables with umbrellas (quickly staked out by smokers), high chairs, low sofas, and café tables. The soundtrack is punk and new wave, sort of Gen-X classic rock, and perhaps too loud in some areas. The initial crowd is somewhat tentative, and younger than I would have predicted from the prices. I think food this good will find its fans, and it will be interesting to look in next winter to see who ends up there. Service our night was quite good, even outdoors, and remained so as the place filled up. The kitchen is not quick-quick, but the whole idea of Japanese food is a certain slow, Buddha-like contemplation of perfect morsels. The Foundation Lounge has the morsels, so you just have to adjust your personal speed.

Robert Nadeau can be reached at RobtNadeau@aol.com.