RESTAURANT REVIEW:

I don’t know why, but I am a big fan of combining pyrotechnics and food. I think it comes from when I was a teenager and I used to get the sizzling fajitas at the local Mexican restaurant.

I enjoyed the dish called the Hawaiian volcano on the chef’s specialty rolls menu. It is one of about 20 dishes that Soya Japanese Restaurant offers. Having never before seen a roll inflamed, I gave it a try.

The fire presentation wasn’t the only reason I wanted to sample it. The roll consists of spicy tuna, cream cheese, avocado and is topped with white fish. It is drizzled with a special sauce, encased in foil with the top exposed and then baked.

The roll is then placed on a flatiron skillet and salt is poured around it to fuel the fire.

It was one of several interesting dishes I had.

The restaurant has been at this location for more than 20 years and Ken and Joanne have owned it for the last six. They have tailored the dining area to reflect both a Japanese decor and a family atmosphere.

The walls feature Asian art and Polaroid pictures of regular customers. By the number of pictures, there are apparently many regulars.

I can see why. Ken, who cooks, and Joanne, who attends to the tables, provide a warm dining experience that allows neophytes to sample Japanese cooking and inexpensively try some dishes they might shy away from.

A great example of that are the chef’s specialty rolls. Ken has compiled some unusual creations along with some favorite standbys. One I had not seen before was the Washington. It is fresh salmon, crab meat, cucumber and a special sauce. The salmon and crab make a perfect combination and the sauce is a bit tangy.

The King tiger was another roll I would recommend. There is shrimp, tempura, avocado, cucumber and crab meat.

Another unusual roll was the Manhattan. It is a riceless sushi with cucumber, avocado, crab meat and encased in soy bean paper.

It is topped with salmon.

The dishes utilize many of the same ingredients, but all tasted different, which surprised me.

For those not so used to the extravagance of those rolls, a good time to come in would be lunch, which features more traditional dishes.

Soya has lunch specials every day in addition to 20 items, including tempura, sushi and teriyaki bowls. They come with miso soup and a small green salad.

The sushi combination is a good choice. Four California rolls and five pieces of sushi give you enough sushi to keep you happy.

There are chicken and beef teriyaki bowls for under $7 and a seafood salad and rice bowl for $8.95 that looked appealing. What really intrigued me, and I will have to come back to try it, is the pork or chicken cutlets. The appetizer menu is plentiful and varied as well.

There are 19 items, including fried baby squid, soft shell crab, gyoza (Japanese-style dumplings), fried tofu and yakitori chicken (chicken in a special soy-based sauce).

Dinners are also reasonable. Nothing more than $16, and some of the items I would recommend are the salmon teriyaki and tempura and pork cutlet.

Of course the fresh sushi and sashimi would keep you busy for a couple of meals and of the ones I sampled, only the hand roll crunch disappointed me. The eel skin wrap was a bit chewy and difficult to break apart in my mouth.

If they have the halibut sushi, try it. It is well worth the $5.95, even if you only get one piece.

It would take several visits to try everything on the menu. Who knows, you may even get your picture on the wall.

SOYA JAPANESE RESTAURANT

Address: 15892 Springdale, St., Huntington Beach

Phone: (714) 890-5220

Cuisine: Asian

Specialty dish: one of the chef’s specialty rolls

Alcohol served: wine, sake and beer

Dress: casual

Family friendly: no children’s menu

Credit cards accepted: American Express, Visa, and MasterCard

Rating: ***

JOHN REGER reviews local restaurants for the Independent.