DINING OUT -- MARY FURR

Going into Hajime Japanese Restaurant, on the northwest corner of

Edinger Avenue and Springdale Street in Huntington Beach, is like going

into a friend’s house across the street. It’s a small but deep

storefront, with a sushi bar at the back, where owner Ichi Toyama reigns,

and three short rows of eight booths in front, which his wife, Keiko,

serves.

They met in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, dreamed the same dream and came

to Huntington Beach 10 years ago to open Hajime.

We began with Eda-mame, which are boiled soybeans ($3), and Japanese

fried chicken ($6), two appetizers to nibble and share while we decided

on the entrees. Keiko says the way to eat the boiled soybeans is to

squeeze the pod to make the mildly sweet fat peas pop out -- nutritious

and delicious. The fried chicken, small pieces of meat in a crunchy coat,

is just right to eat in one bite and wash down with the tumbler of hot

tea Keiko has brought to the table. They’re addictive and, like peanuts,

easy to overindulge in.

Lunches are all served with a dark miso soup -- a thin broth made from

soybean paste with cubes of tofu and bits of green onion -- pick up the

small lacquer bowl and sip to inhale the steamy aroma as they do in

Japan.

Though much of the food is fried, the batter is light with little oil.

The chicken and pork cutlets ($7) are fillets with no bone, just tender

crunchy meat served with a mound of sticky white rice.

A popular dish with patrons is the beef bowl, filled with steamed rice

and topped with crisp bean sprouts and eight to 10 strips of tender beef

in a wonderful dark soy-infused sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

For variety of selection, my favorite is the bento box ($8.50), a deep

partitioned lacquer tray similar to those prepared by wives for their

husbands working in the fields and commonly available at train stations

in Japan, where a bento lunch is fast food, conveniently prepared.

In one section are tempura vegetables -- a carrot strip, a green bean,

an onion ring and a long shrimp transparent enough for the colors to show

through the coating. One section has strips of chicken in a sweet syrup

and another holds two gyzo -- similar to Italian ravioli or Chinese pot

stickers filled with minced pork. Another has three California rolls --

cucumber, avocado and artificial crab wrapped in a white sticky rice.

For dinner, Keiko says the combination of tempura chicken is popular

with diners, as is the sushi bar because of its freshness and large

portions. For herself, she loves the fried baby squid.

A dessert found primarily in Japanese restaurants is mochi (two for

$2.75), a golf ball-sized scoop of ice cream (Kona coffee, vanilla, red

bean, green tea and mango) encased in a soft and chewy gelatin coat -- a

combination of melt-in-the-mouth textures and flavor that you must try.

Hajime is a cultural experience, a quiet refuge or a talking and

laughing place -- warm and minimalist, which can sometimes overwhelm

Keiko, the only server, but which leaves you feeling refreshed and

satisfied.

* MARY FURR is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have comments

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

sh FYI

o7 HAJIME JAPANESE RESTAURANT

f7 WHERE: 15892 Springdale St., Huntington Beach

PHONE: (714) 891-4848

HOURS: Lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; dinner: 5 to 9 p.m. Monday through

Friday; 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday; and closed Sunday

MISC.: Saki and beer; credit cards accepted