Long Island Restaurants

Musashino

Tofu, usually a boring substance, becomes a hot topic when Charlie Joo, chef-owner of Musashino, is involved. Joo coats it in a light batter, fries it and glazes it with a teriyaki sauce. The end result transcends the source. At least three people I know want his recipe, but Joo isn't talking.

The restaurant, whose name remains from its previous ownership, is an oddly configured place with a small dining room in the front, a sushi bar in the middle and another, larger room in the rear. Its bland decor stands in marked contrast to its lively cuisine.

Tofu teriyaki isn't the only thing this freewheeling chef does well. Many of his specialties, which don't appear on the menu, may be found on a blackboard as well as on a printed roster.

According to our vivacious waitress, Joo has developed quite a reputation for his oysters, which are topped with roe and a sinus-clearing secret "Charlie" sauce. I also felt my nasal passages clear after eating his wasabi shumai, shrimp dumplings with a kick. An appetizer called "spicy ei" translated into a filet of Japanese white fish, pan-fried and finished with a spicy teriyaki sauce. Spicy crab pancakes, a dish more Korean than Japanese, juxtaposed fluffy seafood-studded cakes against a slightly sweet, mildly incendiary sauce. The result was a knockout. The cool sashimi appetizer called hirami usuzukuri took the form of paper-thin slices of fluke drizzled with a lemon soy sauce. It was as elegant as it was refreshing.

It's entirely possible to make a meal of shared appetizers, in combination with Joo's inventive maki rolls. One, called the "hot sunshine" roll, was made of tuna, scallion, roe, cucumber and that "Charlie" sauce, each piece topped with a small slice of lemon. This was pungent, potent stuff, not for the faint of palate. A "watermelon" roll contained no watermelon but was, instead, composed of tuna, salmon, cucumber, scallion and tobiko (flying fish roe) wrapped in green-tinted soybean "paper" and rolled in black sesame seeds, meant to resemble watermelon seeds.

Even better was a salmon and avocado roll, which had the lush simplicity I craved. I was surprised to find myself liking the all-vegetable "jungle" roll -- avocado, daikon (radish), carrot, red pepper, takuan (pickled radish) and yamagobo (mountain potato) rolled in cucumber.

Although vegetarians have a lot to choose from here, I was glad to be an omnivore who could enjoy the Korean-style char-grilled beef entree called kalbi, which was smoky and garlicky. Chilean sea bass in a spicy teriyaki sauce also was deftly done. I found the chirashi -- assorted raw fish over vinegared rice -- artfully arranged and impeccably fresh. On a cold night, I would readily stop by for a bracing bowl of seafood jam pong, an assortment of fish and shellfish in a spicy Korean-style broth.

Musashino isn't big on desserts, but if you like mochi (a popular Japanese-American treat made of ice cream and rice cake dough), it makes for a cool and somehow comforting conclusion.

With all the flashy new restaurants lighting up the Huntington dining scene, Musashino, for now, seems the province of a small but knowing clientele. They've got a handle on where the real fireworks in town are taking place.

Reviewed by Joan Reminick, 10/6/06.

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