DINING OUT -- Mary Furr

Yoshida, the two-month-old Japanese restaurant on the southeast corner of

Brookhurst and Adams Streets in Huntington Beach, might be called your

neighborhood teppan and sushi bar.

Many diners walk from nearby homes to the storefront teppan cafe. It has

a long sushi bar at the back facing four U-shaped counters where

customers are served from the large gas teppan cooktops. There is no

dining room -- it’s like being in the kitchen watching dad cook.

Hostess and server Donna Vargas greets you as you choose a seat. The menu

offers appetizers ($3.75-$8.25) and combinations (lunch $9.95, dinner

$13.95), which include soup, salad, hibachi vegetables, noodles, rice,

green tea and ice cream -- the works, done with the intrinsic simplicity

that is Japanese.

From the appetizers gyoza (eight for $4.50), the Japanese version of “pot

stickers,” are small crescent-shaped dumplings filled with minced

vegetables with crisp edges and the fattest stuffing -- superior. Other

popular appetizers by sushi chef John are California rolls with crab meat

and avocado, and crunchy roll with shrimp tempura.

A small iceberg salad with tomato and carrot threads doused with an

orange, Thousand Island-like dressing is followed with hot miso soup that

precedes the entree.

Now enters the star of the show, the teppan chef. One time it was

red-scarfed Johnson Liu, who wields knives and metal salt shakers, tosses

eggs in the air, slicing them as they fall. He deftly adds eggs, crunchy

bits of garlic and onion to the snowy mound of rice already simmering on

the hot plate. Slicing onions, he builds a small volcano in which he

pours oil to ignite with a fire wand -- and dramatic flames leap up.

A hot plate wizard children will love, chef Liu scrolls a “happy face” in

oil on the stove top to cook shrimp, chicken, rice, noodles and zucchini.

His seasonings of soy, salt and pepper could have been more generous as

the food, though pristine fresh, was quite bland.

On another visit, chef Raul Ortiz didn’t quite split the egg he tossed

but he was an instinctive chef who knew his seasonings. They were

perfect.

He places thick slices of steak, salmon, scallops, shrimp, onion and

zucchini on the grill, cutting and turning each. Dropping a piece of

steak or fish in one of the sauces brought to the table, he asks the

diner whether it is cooked as desired.

Teppan is the perfect preparation, enhancing the delicate flavors of the

fresh vegetables, meats and shellfish. It’s served “hot off the griddle,”

as they say. The service couldn’t be more efficient.

There are other teppanyaki restaurants scattered around Orange County,

but Yoshida has a homey atmosphere, affordable prices, and even a high

chair that makes it attractive to families.

According to server Vargas, a new menu with even lower prices is being

planned.

Yoshida provides an evening’s entertainment as well as wonderful fresh

food. It’s like a place you might find in Japan -- not showy but oh, so

good!

Yoshida Japanese Seafood and Steakhouse

Where: 10076 Adams Ave., Huntington Beach.

Hours: 11:3O a.m. - 2:3O p.m., Monday-Friday; dinner 5-lO p.m.

Monday-Sunday.

Phone: 962-6028

Fax: 962-7575.

Mary Furr is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have comments or

suggestions for her, call (562) 493-5062.