Dishes With an Edge

“If it walks like a duck,” etc., is usually sage advice, but it doesn’t necessarily apply in the multicultural world of Southland restaurants.

Hayashi has a Japanese name, a large sushi bar and Japanese woodblock prints mounted above many of the tables. But a discerning ear will recognize that the only foreign language being spoken by its largely Asian clientele is Korean. A closer look at the tables will find that several are equipped with built-in gas barbecues, a hallmark of Korean restaurants.

In fact, Hayashi serves Japanese and Korean cuisines. But none of the large selection of Japanese appetizers and sushi on Hayashi’s menu is as good as you can get at our better Japanese restaurants. It’s the restaurant’s Korean dishes that are more sophisticated and appealing, by far.

A case in point. A dish of albacore sashimi came beautifully cut in thin symmetrical slices and topped with specks of Day-Glo orange: flying fish roe called tobiko in Japanese. But the fish was just a little too cold and had a slightly grainy texture, which led me to suspect that it had been frozen, something the waitress later confirmed.

That would certainly not be allowed at a Japanese sushi bar, and the other Japanese dishes were hardly more impressive. Hayashi’s salmon-skin salad consists of rubbery strips of salmon skin mixed into iceberg lettuce, doused with a runny Thousand Island dressing.

The Korean dishes are a different story, even in how they are presented. When you order anything from the Korean menu, the table will immediately be filled with the assorted side dishes (pan ch’an) that accompany a main course in Korean dining, six or seven of them. The addictive Korean pickled cabbage (kimchi) will always be one. There’s also likely to be marinated kelp, shredded radish pickle, cucumber in hot bean paste and, if you’re lucky, terrific crinkle-cut potatoes infused with sesame oil.

The main course is likely to be barbecued meat, which you can cook for yourself at a tabletop grill, but I prefer to have the kitchen do the work. That way the lean, delicious beef short ribs (kalbi) come piled on a sizzling platter forged into the shape of a cow. The ribs are boned and nicely trimmed of all fat and are wickedly redolent of garlic and sugar-sweet from a pungent marinade.

Barbecued beef is far from the only option. One of the very best dishes at Hayashi is hwaedup bap, a mixed-vegetable and raw-fish rice bowl. If you’re familiar with the better-known bibim bap, this is merely a version that substitutes raw yellowtail and tuna for the minced beef.

The components include a fried quail egg, sliced carrots, julienned cucumbers, bean sprouts and crunchy laver seaweed. The idea is to mix everything with rice and spicy bean paste until you have a hearty, complete meal.

Dae gu joum is black cod braised in a spicy red sauce; the tender, flaky chunks of fish are arranged on pieces of cooked giant radish. This is a hearty eater’s Korean dish, but definitely not for beginners. For something milder, try mandu guk, a hearty soup stocked with meat-filled dumplings, cooked egg and vegetables. It’s the closest thing to Korean comfort food this restaurant serves, and one bowl easily serves two.

BE THERE

Hayashi, 2236 Foothill Blvd., La Canada. Lunch, Monday-Friday 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.; dinner, Monday-Thursday 5-11 p.m., Friday 5 p.m.-midnight, Saturday-Sunday noon-midnight. Beer and wine only. Valet parking. All major cards. (818) 957-1122. Suggested dishes: kalbi, $13.95; hwaedup bap, $10.95; mandu guk, $9.95; dae gu joum, $13.95.