Gaslamp sushi purveyor earns another big fan

I am a sushi eater from way back, and, like most sushi lovers, I have my favorite "spot." I am very loyal to my spot and have been going there for years. They know my name and they know I like that pink mayonnaise sauce (I call it "love sauce") served with all my rolls. So when I went to Taka I went with the idea that it would be good, but not as good as "my spot." Well, was I wrong.

    Taka's sushi chef is Omasu Fujita, but you and I can call him "Fuji." The host and manager is Michael Moore, a likable sort who walks and talks and flaps his arms around a few rpms higher than the rest of us.

    Now, sushi is one thing, but what sets Taka apart from the other sushi bars in town is the sideways turn it takes on the entrée menu. Have you ever seen filet mignon on the menu at a Japanese restaurant? What about sea-food linguine? Here they are, in the heart of Fifth Avenue, virtually floating in a sea of red sauce, and these guys put sea-food linguine on their menu. I love it. Of course I ordered it and it was wonderful. It was oozing with Manila clams, scallops, mussels and shrimp. The tomato sauce was garlicky and sweet and the pasta was perfectly cooked.

    When you visit Taka you absolutely, positively must try the spicy tuna salad. It is a plate of tossed greens with cucumber, radicchio, seaweed, spinach, burdock root and marinated maguro (tuna). The dressing is a blend of orange juice, soy sauce, chile oil and rice vinegar. It’s spicy, it’s cold, it’s crunchy, it’s sweet ... just get it.

    Between courses we ate halibut and salmon sushi and a rainbow roll. All were delicious and the portions were generous. The wasabi is fresh-ground, making it less pungent and almost a little sweet compared to the dry, powdered form served in most sushi bars. Wasabi is the Japanese version of horseradish. It comes from the root of an Asian plant, which is made into a paste and served as a condiment.

    Michael also insisted we try the tsukune chicken. We had the half order and it was wonderful. It was topped with a crisscross pattern of a wasabi sauce that was out of this world. The sauce was so good I would have eaten a piece of cardboard if I'd had a bowl of this sauce to dip it in.

    Taka is open every evening at 5:30 for dinner. You can order sushi and small plates from the sushi bar; full dinners are available in the dining room. Call Michael, make reservations, and say hello to Fuji for me after all, it’s my new "spot."

    By Terryl Gavre

Food, decor and more
there's a lot to like at Cafe Japengo

If one of your New Year’s resolutions happens to be to patronize only restaurants that provide a quality dining experience, make sure Cafe Japengo is on your list. Located in the Aventine complex (designed by noted architect Michael Graves) and open since 1990, it has established a reputation for innovative Pacific Rim-style cuisine and fabulous sushi bar.

    Cafe Japengo first got my attention when, while conducting interviews for another article, it was named by several local chefs as the restaurant they most liked to visit when eating out.

    Also telling, while several other restaurants of some note have come and gone at the Aventine, Cafe Japengo celebrates its seven-year anniversary this month. Fittingly, the anniversary-year theme is "Lucky Seven."

    You can tell this is a happening place the minute you enter. Music is happening (including live "blues" on Monday nights), the atmosphere is relaxed yet lively with lots of bar and sushi bar action (I hear there can be up to a two-hour wait for sushi bar seating on a real busy night), and a small army of white-coated cooks can be seen bustling around the open kitchen. Living up to expectations, the food looks and smells sensational. All of this is observed from our table in the L-shaped main dining area where our server, Meghan, introduces herself and presents us with menus, including a separate sushi menu plus regular and reserve wine lists.

    While not vast, selections are varied and interesting. Executive Chef Amiko Gubbins excels in blending ingredients in unexpected combinations. The dinner menu includes starters as well as wok, pacific grill and wood roasted oven specialties. Since everything sounds divine, we enlist Meghan's help. To start, she brings a delightful sushi sampler, plus a smoked salmon-topped Japengo roll, a house specialty. The "funky roll," featuring soft shell crab, also sounded intriguing, as did the spicy tuna roll and an appetizer called Japengo Dynamite, priced at $10.50. Maybe next time. Dinner was still to come.

    Although tempted by the crispy whole white striped bass Japonaise ($19.75), I opted for Meghan's personal favorite, the pan-roasted tournedo of salmon filled with shiitake mushrooms ($18.75). It was served atop a soba noodle salad with a spicy citrus-soy hoisin dressing. "Everyone asks for it," Meghan notes. My portion was far too generous to finish then, but I later found myself devouring the leftovers as enthusiastically as the original dish.

    My husband ordered the slow-roasted duckling with crisp vegetables ($19.50), presented with a fresh plum salsa and warm tortillas, which he was equally enthusiastic about. It disappeared quickly and completely, accompanied by lots of appreciative sound effects. I was lucky and gratified to get a bite.

    To go with, we had a half portion of the outstanding 10-ingredient fried rice ($16.50), another house favorite. I could pick out long beans, Chinese pea pods, broccoli, onion, bell pepper, carrot, cabbage, mushrooms and shrimp.

    When we were finished, our server brought us a trio of selections from the "Sweet Endings" menu warm gingerbread with pumpkin ice cream, a decadent chocolate lava cake with caramel filling and a luscious strawberry-rhubarb crisp with cardamon ice cream. This last item was my personal favorite.

    Beyond food, there is still much to note at Cafe Japengo. Like the menu, the wine list changes periodically and selections are quality-oriented.The wait staff is knowledgeable and attentive. The decor, fun.

    I can’t imagine leaving this restaurant hungry or unhappy. It’s not overpriced, but it’s also not a place to go if your wallet is thin or your budget tight. Quality doesn’t come cheap.

    By Linda J. Barkman

    Toss a rainbow batch of tiles into a blender, spray the result on walls and floors, and you'll have the beginnings of a Wolfgang Puck Cafe. The 11th of these kaleidoscopic cafes has just opened in Mission Valley Center and, like the famous chef himself, the restaurants are plenty charismatic. Plates of food are visual events, the help is handsome, and every detail of the cartoonish decor has been decided by designer Barbara Lazaroff, Puck's business partner and wife (she says the tile mosaics are inspired by American quilts).

    Puck's cafes are signs of these times, when entertainment is the main ingredient for most any business venture. Other Puck cafes are at Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and Disney World in Florida. The decision to open the San Diego store at Mission Valley Center, with its new megaplex cinema, was based on a similar desire to tap the synergy between shopping, movie going and dining out.

    Settled in at our table, with its hip gray Corian top flecked with tiny colored triangles, we had barely dug into the menu before the first food sailed our way: a plate of fresh baked bread, decorated with a tall, triangular multigrain fin big enough to power an America's Cup contender.

    Arriving next was a sampler plate of appetizers, including tender chicken spiced with ginger, crispy little spring rolls served with plum glaze and jumbo blackened shrimp with mustard sauce. Other appetizers include barbecue duck quesadilla, Asian potstickers and smoked salmon on potato galette. Among the salads is a great sounding grilled eggplant with tomato, mozzarella, basil, capers, olives and balsamic vinaigrette, but for some reason our waiter suggested the Caesar. It was good, but not Puckishly inventive.

    My wild mushroom tortellini main course was terrific. Pastas are made fresh on the premises, and the sauce added seductive, subtle flavor. My dining partner's grilled Norwegian salmon was good, if a bit dry, served with pesto, red-pepper sauce, mixed vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes. Meat eaters and vegetarians alike will be pleased by a menu that includes rosemary or barbecued chicken, gourmet pizzas, many types of fresh fish, pepper steak, assorted sandwiches and pastas ranging from penne to spinach papardelle to Grandma Puck's linguini with chicken bolognese beurre blanc, Parmesan cheese and Italian parsley.

    Leave room for dessert. The warm chocolate soufflé cake was a chocoholic's delight, a mouth watering fix of rich brown goo and whipped cream. Caramel cheesecake was only okay. The dessert lineup also includes apple pie, turtle pecan pie, vanilla creme brulée in a chocolate biscotti cup and a sorbet sundae. Haagen Dazs is the ice cream of choice.

    All in all, the food was visually flamboyant, though not always prepared to perfection. (Remember, we visited on opening night.)

    Entrée prices range from $7.95 (for a half pizza with Caesar salad, or a ground sirloin burger) to $18.95 for grilled pepper steak, $12.75 for the most expensive pasta and $7.95 for a ho-hum Caesar. Then again, a family trip to Disneyland will run you in excess of $200 these days. You can easily escape Puck's for a fraction of that, while partaking of a wildly entertaining experience that just so happens to include excellent food.

    By Dirk Sutro