RESTAURANT REVIEW : Charm of Japanese Inn Finds Place in the City : Hiyama in Thousand Oaks serves a wide-ranging, quality menu. Some dishes arrive in boat-size portions.

When traveling in Japan, I am constantly delighted by the warmth of Japanese inns, which often serve some of the country’s best cuisine. For centuries, many of these inns have catered to every traveler’s needs by providing satisfying lodging, food and drink--even extending to the needs of a visitor’s horse via a salt lick outside the main entrance.

There may be no salt outside of Hiyama, a 14-year-old dining establishment in Thousand Oaks, but I get the same warm feeling of hospitality from the surroundings and staff.

Owner/sushi chef Michitaka Sawada presides over a large sushi bar near the entrance, and there are private tatami rooms available for those who crave Japanese-style seating--although I’m convinced people over six feet tall should stick to tables and chairs unless they know a good chiropractor.

The restaurant is built around a tiny glass-enclosed courtyard filled with bamboo, greenery and a stone lantern. Atmospheric paintings and ceramics adorn the walls, and I particularly like the tapes of lush koto music played throughout meals.

While some patrons prefer sitting at the sushi bar and making an entire meal of raw and cooked fish and vegetables, I like the best of both worlds by having sushi as a starter and other dishes to round out my meal.

When having sushi at a table, be sure to specify that this is your appetizer, which must be served first. On two occasions, the sushi arrived with the entrees, causing hot food to get cold.

From the sushi selections, I particularly liked Chef Sawada’s spicy tuna roll ($4.35); the fried soft shell crab with salty smelt eggs roll ($4.95); briny-fresh sea urchin ($4.45); and a rich combination roll of baked eel and avocado ($9.95).

The sushi made of toro tuna ($3.75) was pristinely fresh, while the Spanish mackerel sushi ($2.85) had a strong, off-putting flavor. For those with a huge appetite, try the giant rainbow roll ($11.95), in which multihued layers of tuna, yellowtail, shrimp and avocado are wrapped around a core of rice filled with crab salad.

Other appetizers worth ordering include tender shrimp gyoza dumplings ($5.95), lacy shrimp and vegetable tempura ($4.25), or lightly battered squid tempura ($5.95). An order of regular gyoza dumplings ($3.50) stuffed with minced pork was marred by an acrid burnt taste.

For an authentic Japanese culinary adventure, I enjoy dishes cooked at the table in which the patrons can participate. If there are at least two in the party, try beef sukiyaki ($15.95 per person) composed of straw mushrooms, Napa cabbage, tofu, shiitake mushrooms, rice noodles, onions, bamboo shoots, wheat udon noodles and paper-thin slices of richly marbled beef--all cooked in a bubbling caldron of soy and sake flavored broth.

The server gets everything cooking, and the patrons serve themselves, fishing out delicious morsels that taste good with accompanying bowls of rice. The remaining broth and noodles makes a satisfying coda to this meal.

Also recommended is shabu shabu ($17.95 per person) in which the patron cooks each bite-sized piece of beef separately in hot broth and dips it in a lively sesame sauce. Best of all was the seafood yosenabe ($17.95 per person), a delightful boiling stew of crab legs, shrimp, salmon, squid and yellowtail. On a chilly night, this dish would really thaw you out.

Lobster butteryaki ($18.95), a stir-fry of this most elegant crustacean with vegetables served at table in a sizzling frying pan, was dry, tasteless and overcooked, but the accompanying side dish of chicken teriyaki was moist and flavorful.

A better choice turned out to be the juicy salmon shioyaki ($13.95) grilled in a sake and shoyo marinade and generously served with shrimp tempura and chicken teriyaki.

If you want to impress your significant other with a showpiece entree, order the Samurai boat ($15.95 per person, minimum of two), which is a Queen Mary-sized vessel laden with moist sesame chicken, tender beef teriyaki, shrimp tempura, and grilled salmon surrounded by beautifully carved fruit garnishes.

The servers are cheerful, and when bringing all of your sequential orders simultaneously, clearly much too eager to please. On cool evenings, I enjoy Hakutsuru draft sake ($5.25), and for most nights, Japanese beer ($4.45 for a large bottle) goes well with everything on the menu.

For dessert it’s the usual green tea ice cream ($1.50), for which I’ve never developed a fondness, or an impressive platter of carved fresh fruit ($2.95), which truly hits the spot.

In the Japanese language, “hiyama” means sun on the mountain, and with the overall high quality of the food here, I trust the sun will not stop shining for a long time.

Details

* WHAT: Hiyama Japanese Restaurant.

* WHERE: 74 Skyline Drive, Thousand Oaks.

* WHEN: Open for lunch, Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., dinner Monday-Saturday, 5:30 to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 5 to 9 p.m.

* COST: Meal for two, food only, $25 to $60.

* FYI: All major credit cards accepted; full bar; for information or takeout: (805) 496-1067 or (818) 706-0990.