Tucked-away Yuzu serves authentic Japanese cuisine

They had me at "seasonal football bento box."

A reader recommended Yuzu Japanese Kitchen awhile back, but it didn't move to the top of the list until I took a look at the restaurant's website. There I saw a little notice that Yuzu is offering the aforementioned bento boxes, takeout only, through the end of the football season, in three varieties. And I truly admire somebody with that degree of creativity.

Because it's not that Yuzu isn't authentic; according to the menu, its Chef Azeuchi is a native of Tokushima, Japan, famed for its yuzu, which is a little sweet-sour citrus fruit. For 16 years, it says, he trained as a kaiseki chef (which refers to a multicourse meal of lots of little dishes, chosen by the chef) and also trained under a French haute-cuisine chef, for the best of both worlds.

It appears, though, that kaiseki may be a bit of a tough sell in the 'burbs; in the time between the posting of the website and the printing of the current menu, the kaiseki listing has been given a less prominent position, and there's a note that notice is required if that's what one wants. Not to worry, though, because there's plenty more there, most of it still far more interesting than what you'd find at your average "screaming orgasm" sushi-roll joint.

Such as the chan-chan yaki ($14.50, with one piece of fish; it's also available with two). The name refers to salmon cooked with a variety of vegetables, and in this case, the cooking is done in a sort of a smallish cocotte, a covered dish that appeared to be enamaled cast iron, perched on a rack over canned fuel. In the pan was a bed of raw vegetables — broccoli, bok choy, onions and the like — topped with the raw fish. After warning us to avoid the hot pan, our server lit the flame to let it cook for a while. A few minutes later she returned with a cup of brothlike sauce that she poured over the vegetables, and let it steam further. And lo and behold: The kind of dish I think of as representing the best of Japanese cooking, with lots of flavor, lots of healthful elements. And truly the best salmon I've had in as long as I can remember.

Black pork saikyoyaki ($9.50) might have given us pause, considering that pork's really not supposed to be black, but we were feeling pretty good about Yuzu with its authentic feel and positively gleaming open kitchen. Turns out, though, that "black pork" in Japanese refers to kurobuta, which every foodie knows as a premium meat (it comes from the black Berkshire pig; hence the name). It was somewhat akin to pork belly, crispy edged, suitably succulent and full of good flavor (which, oddly conversely, tends to mean not too porky) and, with the accompanying vegetables and a side of rice, made a great dish.

But there was indeed sushi on this menu, too, and we'd have to try what seemed to be the signature item, the Yuzu Special ($16 for the four pieces we had; two- and eight-piece options also are available). It was refreshingly traditional, rectangular blocks of sushi rice topped with salmon, yellowtail, shrimp, scallop, halibut, salmon caviar, tamago, avocado, radish sprouts and sesame, which sounds like an awful lot but everything was deployed with great restraint, the whole an exercise in effectively using contrasts in flavor and texture.

And back to black, in the black sesame pudding ($5.50), which had a mellow, slightly nutty, very subtle flavor and was seeded with tiny fruits that were unidentifiable to us but that our server said were grapes.

Speaking of our server: She was a gem. This appears to be a mom-and-pop place, pop in the back and mom in the front, and they're quite a team.

And Yuzu is quite a find, even if it takes some effort, tucked away as it is in a somewhat nondescript shopping center. But trust us; it's definitely worth seeking out.

— Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Email Heidi Knapp Rinella at Hrinella@reviewjournal.com. Find more of her stories at www.reviewjournal.com, and follow @HKRinella on Twitter.