A Japanese Gem

Yakko-San's menu, with so many items unavailable elsewhere, might tempt you to be daring in your choices, but the highly efficient, no-nonsense staff will serve warning if you order too audaciously. For instance, when I requested soybean brother soup, our waiter looked me in the eyes, shook his head from side to side, and quietly said something to the effect of: "No, you don't want this." "It's okay," I replied, in a tone meant to assure him we were plucky diners appreciative of authenticity. But although a very pleasant man, he was rather insistent. He wasn't worried we wouldn't savor the miso broth, tofu, tofu skin, or scallion of the soup, but he knew that natto, or fermented soy bean paste, was a very tough taste for first-timers. Still, I was feeling a little resentment at his assumption we weren't up to snuff in sniffing this foreign flavor, so I tried again to convince him otherwise. This time I lied: "I know natto; it's fermented and tastes very strong, and there's no problem — really, we're fine with it." When the soup bowl arrived at the table a little while later, and the lid was lifted, oh brother! My wife, being kind, referred to the aroma as "yeasty"; it reminded her of one of our least favorite foods: the pasty brown British spread Marmite. I thought it smelled like cream of clammy foot soup, and couldn't make it past a taste or two of the cheesy/salty brew. My advice: Unless you're Japanese, avoid the natto category of dishes altogether. Also: Trust your waiter.

The only warning we received regarding okonomiyaki, described as "Japanese pizza, veggies, egg on brown sauce, mayo," is that it would take about 35 minutes to prepare. It is well worth the wait. The scrumptiously puffy pancake/omelet is prepared from a batter of flour, eggs, grated yam, scallions, cabbage, nori, and Lord knows what other ingredients, fried on both sides in a hot little pan and topped with Worcestershire-ish sauce, fish flakes, and squiggles of mayonnaise.

Less exotic fare is tendered for more timid diners. Fried pork dumplings (gyoza) are tasty and tame, as are fried rice selections, grilled New York strip steak, and a skin-on/bone-off chicken thigh cutlet sautéed with sake, soy, sesame, and ginger. Most everyone loves a good tempura, and the ones here are terrific; try the house specialty of deep-fried chrysanthemum, the bright green leaves perfectly crisp in crystalline batter.

Meats, from thin slivers of beef tongue to similarly slim snippets of grilled pork belly, were on the tough side. A spicy lamb steak, cut from the shoulder, tasted great from a marination in red chili peppers, sake, and soy, but it, too, was dry and mostly bone. A tender exception (along with the aforementioned short ribs) was yakiniku steak, luscious slices of beef marinated in a mango-tone barbecue sauce.

Desserts — big, tall, and fortified with whipped cream — are more Americanized than other menu items, but don't hold that against them. Cylinders of fried cheesecake rolls contain pleasingly puddinglike centers, and an ice cream "volcano" layered with cookies comes with a luscious hot "lava" of sweet adzuki bean sauce.

Ocha-zuke! That's one dish I've yet to try (it's rice over green tea broth, with choice of accompanying garnish). Another is zou-sui, an egg-and-rice soup. Never has the lightly salted chicken wing (tebashio) passed my lips, nor the trigger fish jerky (dried kawahagi), or any of the variously stuffed rice balls (onigiri). Sitting down to a plate of angel hair uni ikura, the skinny pasta tossed with fresh sea urchin and salmon roe, is something else I still have to look forward to — and truth be told, I haven't made even the slightest dent in the two dozen sake selections. The menu at Hiro's Yakko-San is dementedly extensive, and the food is insanely good. That's why I'm just crazy about the place.