Have a sweet Japanese evening at Soya

Mary Furr

Cozy and adventurous are words that come to mind when you eat at

Soya, a name that means “sweet evening” in Japanese. It’s a

storefront location on the northwest corner of Springdale Street and

Edinger Avenue -- between a 99 cent store and Springdale Village gift

shop.

“It’s my secret place,” says one diner as he is greeted by

friendly hellos from Linda Kyung and co-owner husband chef Denny who

is chopping and slicing at the nine-stool sushi bar tucked in a back

corner of the restaurant.

If a quick light lunch is on your agenda, try the Teriyaki Beef

Bowl ($6.50) -- large and deep, it has nine or 10 long, mostly tender

beef strips covered with dark sweet sauce and a pile of crisp bean

sprouts and chunky broccoli flowers on the other. It’s very filling,

easy to handle with chop sticks and the sort of dish found in the

many small eating places in Tokyo.

Here, it is served with a small bowl of miso soup strewn with dark

green seaweed and tofu cubes, the kind you can pick up and sip to

inhale the aromatic misty flavor. All lunches also include a small

mixed green salad.

But if you crave more, I love the Bento Box Lunch ($8.50), a black

and red lacquered box divided into compartments each filled with

various foods. In Japan the bento is popular in the 5,000 train

stations that sell unique boxes that reflect the cooking of each

region.

At Soya, my box has three California rolls -- sticky rice around

black seaweed, a bit of avocado and threads of crab meat, as well as

a section with dark pungent chicken teriyaki, tempura-dipped shrimp,

carrots, squash and zucchini and two half moon-shaped gyoza filled,

like ravioli, with minced vegetables -- bite sized dumplings that are

delicious. Bentos include a big mound of sticky rice to alternate

between the range of tastes and textures, mild and spicy. It’s the

way the Japanese do things, not only with food but picture-perfect

plate arrangements.

If you decide to try tempura, there is a Tempura Lunch ($6.95),

which has long al dente green beans, carrots and yams dipped in the

airiest, translucent batter that lightly coats the still-crisp

vegetables. Tempura is a technique the Japanese learned from the

Portuguese explorers years ago.

Don’t leave without trying mochi -- short-grained glutenous rice

that is pounded into sheets and wrapped in balls of ice cream. At

Soya the Kona coffee and strawberry are the best to my taste -- like

a treat from the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Soya has taken over the location previously occupied by Hajime.

Owners Linda and Denny Kyung had a restaurant with the same name in

Los Angeles but came to Huntington Beach in October, 2001. They make

a good pair with friendly smiling Linda serving diners and focused,

serious Denny preparing sushi. It is a treasure.

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

comments or suggestions, call (562) 493-5062 or e-mail

hbindy@latimes.com.