Long Island Restaurants

Bonbori-Tiki

It is a mellow summer evening in the lantern-lit courtyard of Bonbori-Tiki in Huntington. It doesn't matter that it's 20 minutes before our waitress arrives, or that the kitchen subsequently mixes up our sushi roll orders. What counts, for the moment, is that the service is friendly, the sushi vibrant, the breeze refreshing.

Weeks earlier, on a rain-swept night, we ate indoors, a decidedly less atmospheric experience. It was then we had a chance to chat with new owner Tiki Choladda, who used to co-own Thai USA, about a mile away. Now that she's in charge of Bonbori, she told us she was in the process of transforming the once all-Japanese restaurant into a place specializing in Thai fare and sushi. The menu is still evolving.

While it may be smart to carve out a niche in a town overflowing with Japanese dining spots, the question arises: Will the Thai-and-sushi concept work?

On that first visit, I had mixed feelings, none of which had anything to do with the sushi rolls we had ordered. The ornate but harmonious Godzilla roll -- tuna, yellowtail and scallions topped with avocado, tuna, salmon, roe and spicy mayo -- was a hefty combination of elements that worked well together. More modest but no less enjoyable was a lively spicy tuna roll.

But an appetizer called "angry" shrimp -- battered shellfish in a spicy ginger sauce -- had been requested extra-spicy. The shrimp that arrived seemed more mildly peeved than genuinely angry. Fried calamari were a bit on the chewy side, while an entree of grilled chicken teriyaki was a tad overcooked. And a sashimi platter, although beautifully plated, was a bit stingy with the fish. I did like the smoky flavor of the vegetable pad Thai, although the dish turned out to be curiously short on vegetables.

A few weeks later, however, the menu had changed somewhat, with many earlier shortcomings now gone. While sipping drinks, we enjoyed such raw fish combinations as an "orange dragon" roll, fashioned of spicy tuna, salmon and tempura flakes, as well as a "zona" roll made of spicy tuna, avocado and cucumber. The simple salmon and avocado roll we'd ordered came minus the avocado (chef's mistake), but it was good anyway.

A Nobu classic that appears to be cropping up on Asian menus everywhere was an appetizer special of tempura-fried rock shrimp with a spicy mayonnaise sauce. It proved a big hit, the creamy coating contrasting well with the hot, crunchy crustaceans. But garlic-marinated shrimp with eggplant and lime sauce was a bit too pungent, due to an overdose of fish sauce.

It was with Thai food that the kitchen flexed its culinary muscles. A Thai seafood curry was delightfully aromatic, rife with salmon, shrimp, scallops, clams and tuna chunks, pine.apple and vegetables in a rich red curry coconut sauce.

I couldn't decide which I liked better, that dish or the equally appealing beef Massaman curry, tender slices of ribeye steak with avocado, onions and cucumber in a coconut-scented yellow curry. This time, the pad Thai came loaded with bright vegetables.

Even the seemingly incongruous blackened tuna entree exceeded expectations. It was as rare as requested, in a fiery Thai soy sauce tinged with wasabi.

Dessert was simplicity on a plate -- sliced ripe mango with slightly sweet sticky rice. Light, yet satisfying, was an ideal conclusion to dinner in a summer garden in flower.

Reviewed by Joan Reminick, 7/28/06.

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