Good sushi isn't all about location, location, location

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jan 26, 2007 | by Jim Harrington

Sandwiched between a Rite Aid and a veterinary clinic, and within a stone's throw of McDonald's and Subway, Shiki Japanese Restaurant isn't a place where one might expect to find first-rate sushi.

Yet, just like the way it's hard to tell a book by its cover, diners can't always tell the quality of a restaurant by its location. Shiki is your proof.

The restaurant is located in San Mateo's Laurelwood Shopping Center -- which is basically a user-friendly strip mall. Frequent visitors to strip malls, even nice ones like Laurelwood, know the story: The restaurants can often be quite iffy.

That's not the case with Shiki. The 3-year-old restaurant is a gem of a find. Befitting its location, Shiki is relatively inexpensive and the decor is fairly simple. The food, however, is every bit as good as what one finds at many fancy-pants sushi restaurants that charge an arm and a leg.

The restaurant -- which recently opened a second location in Half Moon Bay -- draws a wide variety of patrons. On the night I visited, there was a large group of seniors, several young couples and a few families with small children. They all looked like they were enjoying themselves and seemed happy with both the food and the service.

Shiki offers both table service and a sushi bar. The latter is a good place for dining alone, given that there is a big screen TV playing in back of the busy sushi chefs. The TV was tuned to the NFL playoffs during my stay, but I couldn't really follow the gridiron action from my vantage point near the front of the restaurant. The TV is the most notable visual in this bright, open, clean and sparsely decorated restaurant.

Diners will find the standard assortment of appetizers as well as a few that are more typical of other styles of Asian cuisine. I decided to save ordering egg rolls ($3.95) and pot stickers ($4.95) for when I am dining at a Chinese place, and instead picked the asparagus beef ($4.25). The presentation was surprisingly upscale, with nicely grilled, thinly sliced beef wrapped around fairly firm bits of asparagus, but I thought the abundance of scallions (which aren't advertised on the menu) detracted from the overall experience.

With that out of the way, I got down to the real reason for being at Shiki -- the sushi rolls. The restaurant serves a goodly number of fancy specialty rolls.

One of the better offerings is the spring roll ($5.25) -- which shares nothing in common with the item of the same name found at Vietnamese restaurants. This thick roll is a flavorful combination of sweet potato, fresh avocado, crunchy cucumber, crabmeat and tobiko (flying fish roe).

Those with a hankering for shrimp will want to consider the ebi tempura roll ($6.95), which wraps up succulent tempura shrimp with crabmeat, cucumber and avocado. The Dragon Roll ($10.95) adds a bit of a twist to that recipe -- it's basically the ebi tempura roll minus the cucumber and topped with grilled unagi (eel).

The spicy tuna roll ($4.95) is usually one of my favorite things on the menu at sushi restaurants. Not surprisingly, Shiki does a good job with that. Please note, however, that the tuna mix definitely lives up to its billing and is spicier than what one finds at many sushi houses.

In general, the restaurant spices its dishes liberally. I was a bit taken back, not in a bad way, by how much wasabi the Shiki sushi chefs used on their nigiri sushi offerings. Otherwise, the few nigiri dishes that I ordered were definitely above average. I tried both the maguro (tuna, $4.25) and the sake (salmon, $3.75) and was impressed by both the freshness and taste of the fish.

Since it is football season, I would be remiss not to at least mention that Shiki pays tribute to the hometown gang with its 49ers Roll ($9.95), a mix of barbecued unagi and avocado topped with salmon and slivers of lemon.

Shiki also offers a short list of hand rolls, which range in price from $2.95 to $4.25. There's also the regular assortment of non-sushi items, such as salmon teriyaki ($12.25) and ton katsu (fried, breaded pork cutlet, $10.95), as well as some tappan (sizzling plate) specials such as the salmon filet ($12.95).

For dessert, the restaurant does a nice job with its tempura banana and ice cream dish ($3.25). If that doesn't strike your fancy, you can always take a short walk and satisfy your sweet tooth with a McDonald's ice cream cone or some Subway cookies. Location, as it turns out, does count for something.

Shiki Japanese Restaurant

2[1/2] stars

Where: 1332 W. Hillsdale Blvd. (inside Laurelwood Shopping Center ), San Mateo, 94403

Phone: (650) 341-8988

Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 5-9:30 p.m. Mon.-Thurs; 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 5- 10 p.m. Fri.; 5-10 p.m. Sat.; 4:30-9:30 p.m. Sun.