Hayashi concentrates on the flavor

DINING OUT

Hayashi, the Japanese restaurant with the bright blue shingles,

has taken over the location of Plaka the Greek restaurant on Beach

Boulevard and transformed it into a neat minimalist sushi bar. The

L-shaped room has light wood tables and chairs (no booths), a vaulted

ceiling with crystal chandelier and a front patio under construction.

Owned by Koreans Lisa and Che Yoe Chin, who have one other

restaurant, in La Canada, Hayashi is a family affair, with their son

Sean Chin as the sushi chef.

There is a light, nutritious approach to all the cooking, with the

best gyoza ($4.50 for six) we have had recently. These pan-fried

dumplings are potstickers, folded wonton skins filled with minced

meat and vegetables and very crisp edges -- great dipped into the

clear soy sauce.

Servers frequently check the table and fill ceramic tumblers with

tea, which cooled off pretty quickly.

A steaming cup of miso soup, clear and best when picked up to sip

and inhale the mild flavor, begins the meal. There is also a saucer

of very crisp, cold iceberg lettuce with a thin Japanese dressing

like Thousand Island.

Entrees are served in red lacquered “bento” boxes, sectioned trays

filled with a mound of white rice and tempura-dipped vegetables --

big, round mushroom caps, broccoli, a green bean, a carrot slice and

a shrimp. With its light, airy coat, it’s a pick-me-up treat I never

tire of.

There is a bit of pungent green wasabi (Japanese horseradish) and

slivers of snappy pink ginger to flavor the entree, which fills the

largest section of the bento. One we had was Bul Ko Gi (lunch $7.95,

dinner $12.95), a very generous serving of thinly sliced marinated

beef, scented with garlic and mildly sweet. Two California rolls

complete the tray.

Cold California rolls, a popular sushi selection, have an outside

of sticky rice around a thin black strip of nori (seaweed) and a

filling of avocado and minced crab.

Tonkasu (lunch $7.95, dinner $11.95) is lightly breaded pork loin

slices scrolled with a glossy dark sauce. It’s the light, crackling

coating that sets Hayashi apart. It’s a beautiful tray balanced in

nutrition, shape and color in true Japanese fashion.

Following the Japanese tradition of fruit for dessert, there are

juicy orange sections, but an a la carte treat is the frozen Mochi

($2) two green round ice cream balls with soft, glutinous coverings.

At this place, servers greet you at the door of the restaurant

with a friendliness that pervades and warms. Hayashi’s dynamic owner,

Lisa, says that she and her husband came to Huntington Beach to be

near the ocean and because of the energy in Surf City.

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

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

hbindy@latimes.com.