RESTAURANT REVIEW:

It was Sunday evening, and I was craving sushi. The only problem was it was nearing 9. My usual place is closed, and my backup place shuts down by 8 p.m. Sunday.

The clock was ticking. I was in the middle of town and could have gone on Main Street, but I wasn’t in the mood to spend a lot of money and fight for a parking spot. I wanted inexpensive but quality sushi, and I figured I had 15 minutes to find it.

Adami Sushi on Beach Boulevard had the open sign still lit so I turned into the strip mall, anchored by a Big Lots and a Rite Aid. I pulled up to the front of the small restaurant, which is wedged between a hair salon and a business that resells mobile homes.

When I walked in, owner John Jun Kim was sitting with a couple of regulars and looking as though he wanted to close. When I asked him whether the place was still open, he looked at one of his sushi chefs and said, “You are last customer.” The waitress didn’t seem as enthused, and I can’t really say I blame her. I tried to order as quickly as possible so they could start doing their clean up and side work.

Kim, though, seemed to be in no hurry. He was friendly, even though his next 24 hours were going to be frenzied. When he closed up the restaurant he would drive home to Cerritos, get some sleep and then wake up around 2 a.m. and drive to Las Vegas on his one day off so he could join his family who was already up there. Then they would return that night, and he would be back at the business he has owned for three years Tuesday.

He talked to the regulars, who were nursing beer and one of Kim’s specialty rolls, and I enjoyed the company while I sat two seats down at the eight-chair sushi bar waiting for my first order.

It was the crabby salmon, which was imitation crab with a slice of salmon wrapped around it and topped with a sauce of spicy mayonnaise and vanilla. The sauce makes the dish, as does the salmon, which was of pretty good quality.

The next item was the spider roll. It is one of the house specials Kim offers, priced between $6.50 and $12.50.

The spider roll contains deep-fried softshell crab, avocado, burdock root, radish sprout, cucumber and smelt fish egg. This was probably the best dish of the four I tried. The crab is crunchy, but not over cooked. It mixes well with the avocado, and the smelt fish egg is a nice touch.

The Adami roll is another of the specials Kim offers as he tries to present unique rolls. This one is a California roll and tuna with a thumbnail-size square of cream cheese on top and then baked. It is an interesting taste, and the cream cheese almost resembles tofu.

I enjoyed the roll, but next time would try the shrimp popcorn roll, which is deep-fried shrimp on top of spicy tuna. The lobster and shrimp roll looks appealing as well.

My last dish was the eel roll. It was good, but the eel got lost in the rice, making it difficult to taste. I found myself pulling apart the rice so I could enjoy the full almost smoky flavor of the eel.

The waitress had enough of me, giving me the check while I was still eating and making me pay as quickly as I could. Such are the perils of eating near closing time. Kim, though, probably would have let me stay all night. Even though he had a schedule to keep, he acted as if he had no where else to go. I look forward to hearing about his Vegas trip on my next visit, which will definitely be well before closing time.

Address: 21144 Beach Blvd., Huntington Beach

Phone: (714) 536-8911

Cuisine: Japanese

Specialty dish: Any one of the Chef’s specials

Alcohol served: beer, wine, sake

Dress: casual

Family friendly: yes, if they like sushi

Credit cards accepted: Visa and MasterCard

Rating: ** 1/2

JOHN REGER reviews restaurants for the Independent.