O’Hana House

My favorite types of food? I don't have room here to print the list -- and you don't have time to read it -- but sushi would be somewhere near the top.

But one of the best things about most restaurants with sushi bars is that they serve other styles of Japanese food as well, such as teriyaki and tempura and teppanyaki or "Japanese steakhouse" style, because then one can dine whether with fellow sushi lovers or not.

O'Hana House takes the combo theme a step further, with Hawaiian dishes (most of them based on Spam) and some Korean offerings as well, and so it was that we were able to order both sushi and bulgoge, and the couple who came in after us had teppanyaki. And while I can't speak for the Spam dishes (I'm sorry, but duty requires only so much sacrifice) and didn't get a chance to sample the teppanyaki because I'm not sure the strangers would've appreciated it, it seems that pulling Korean food in under the Japanese umbrella only makes things better, at least at O'Hana House.

The bulgoge ($17.99, or $19.99 as a combo, which includes appetizer), was classic soy- and sesame-marinated beef, tender and flavorful. But the best parts of this entree were the extras -- the delicate soup flavored with onions that, as our waitress pointed out, had been fried in-house, plus some sliced mushrooms. A salad of mixed greens with a few vegetables tossed in was topped with characteristic ginger-onion dressing, though more flavorful than most. And with the bulgoge we were served a pile of steamed rice as well as very nicely prepared sauteed vegetables in a mixture commonly found in teppanyaki spots -- zucchini, onion and the like.

On the sushi side, a spicy tuna hand roll ($3.99) was well crafted, rolled neatly and tightly (which made it a lot easier to eat than some hand rolls I've had) nicely balanced between fish and rice and with just enough spice to make it interesting.

The Spicy Philly Crunch roll ($9.99) -- spicy salmon, this time -- had the Philly roll's requisite cream cheese but not so much as to overpower the spice with blandness. The bits of tempura crumbs sprinkled atop added an appealing bit of crunch, and we liked the swirls of slightly kicky sauce drizzled over and the mound of shredded cabbage beneath.

Our starters were somewhat less successful. The gyoza ($7.99, or included as one of the starter options with the combo) had a decent enough pork-based filling with a decided note of ginger, but instead of being in the familiar pleated-dumpling shape and either steamed or pan-fried, they were folded into little triangles and deep-fried, which gave the skin the crunch and consistency of an egg roll and was somehow incongruous.

And the yakitori ($6.99), though based on chicken that was moist and meaty, was cloaked in an overly sweet sauce with pineapple undertones, and sort of cloying in the main.

As we ate, it was easy to take in the atmosphere of O'Hana House, because it was extremely quiet on this weeknight -- so quiet, in fact, that there didn't seem to be a sushi chef on duty, because it was a management type who prepared our sushi rolls. That was fine -- she did a good job -- but I noticed that it was without hair restraint, which didn't bother me (it only bothers me if there's actually hair in my food, and that can happen restraint or no restraint), but apparently is a hot button for some readers.

O'Hana House doesn't serve fusion food as much as a selection of related genres. And unlike many, these relationships work.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella @reviewjournal.com.