Bistro East

Asian fusion makes perfect sense here. The Southland is, after all, poised on the Pacific Rim, closer in spirit to Asia than Europe. With Los Angeles’ heady brew of ethnicities and languages, fusion is not any kind of a stretch. Why, then, is so much fusion cooking disappointing? Because it’s not as easy as it appears. It takes more than a splash of soy sauce, a hank of Chinese noodles and a dose of fresh ginger to give dishes a compelling Asian twist.

Gina Lee’s Bistro in Redondo Beach is one young restaurant where fusion really shines. The Asian “bistro” melds Korean, Chinese and Japanese cooking with the eclectic California cuisine introduced here by Spago and its South Bay takeoff, Chez Melange. Everything from Gina Lee’s kitchen tastes fresh and vivid. There’s also a logic to how flavors are woven together.

Take crispy wontons, usually a ho-hum appetizer. Instead of the usual wads of dough, these are plump pastry triangles, not a bit greasy, with a beguiling minced shrimp-and-pork filling. They come with a crisp, salted cucumber pickle and a small dish of sweet, clear sauce fired with red chile. These are not your Chinese takeout wontons. Chicken dumplings are another surprising dish. Served in a huge, shallow pasta bowl, these are basically pot stickers with a flat, crisped surface, floating in a spicy, richly nuanced broth with shreds of nappa cabbage. This and a salad could make a terrific light supper.

Korean lettuce wraps are something like the fajitas of Asia, a platter piled with fresh ruffled lettuce leaves, stir-fried beef and cubes of tofu in a pungent red-bean sauce and various garnishes. The idea is to roll up the beef and tofu in the lettuce along with crispy purple potatoes, pickled carrot and cucumber. This is a great dish to share as it might be too much for one person.

Every appetizer is well-prepared and interesting. Spinach salad gets a new twist: The emerald leaves are tossed with meaty shiitake mushrooms, and deep-fried yam threads stand in for the bacon. It’s dressed with coconut vinaigrette in lieu of the usual sherry dressing. Steamed littleneck clams show up in a salty, rich miso broth laced with wisps of vegetables. Think of it as a big bowl of miso soup--with clams.

As for entrees, one night I lucked out with the special: a thick, juicy piece of grilled swordfish with a wasabi beurre blanc. It’s one of the better swordfish dishes I’ve had recently. Seared ahi tuna, that stalwart of L.A. menus, is made with good quality tuna and served rare. With a roasted garlic soy glaze, an entire portobello mushroom cap, stir-fried spinach and mashed potatoes, it spells comfort.

The spicy cioppino is a robust dish, loaded with clams, mussels, calamari and bites of halibut, ahi tuna and swordfish. It’s combined in a bowl of thick and spicy tomato-based soup.

If you feel like something lighter, try the chicken katsu, basically a chicken cutlet on top of soba noodles. The katsu is served with a handful of edamame (boiled soybeans) and an Asian vegetable stir fry. For a dish suited for red wines, there’s a fine magret (duck breast) in orange Port sauce. The citrus cuts the sweetness of the Port. The herb-marinated New York steak or the filet mignon with Gorgonzola demiglace will do nicely, too. If you’ve just got to have that burger, the kitchen will make you “Scott’s Burger,” heaped with mushrooms and a blanket of Muenster cheese. It’s terrific. You’ll have to guard those herb-dusted shoestrings from the rest of your table, though.

“What’s so award-winning about the catfish?” we ask our server one night. “It’s from the Catfish Institute,” she tells us, and when this sends us into a fit of giggles, she brings over a framed award as proof. The prize is for a dish made with farm-raised catfish. Sizzling or deep-fried catfish with ponzu is a perennial favorite on L.A. menus, and this kitchen gets it exactly right.

Gina Lee’s is in a south Redondo Beach mini-mall, not the most felicitous of locations. But in Los Angeles, strip malls are the most affordable entry-level space for restaurateurs. Owners Gina and Scott Lee have done as much as they can with their generic storefront and small budget. They’ve painted the walls the color of buttermilk and hung a series of black-and-white photos and some quirky paintings.

Every time I’ve eaten there I’ve had the kind of adept, considerate service that’s hard to find even at some of L.A.’s top restaurants. One night, our server, who has worked at Gina Lee’s since it opened nearly five years ago, tells us that the Lees were both managers, not cooks, at Chez Melange. They had a head chef when they first opened, but no more. These days Scott Lee tells the line cooks what he wants, and they execute it. They’re remarkably consistent, too, maybe because Lee is almost always there. It’s something many more- high-profile restaurateurs don’t understand.

Lee also has an interest in wines and his one-page wine list holds more than its fair share of interesting bottles. Even the wines by the glass, which include Rabbit Ridge Merlot, Steele Syrah and Cline Zinfandel, aren’t labels you often see. He’s got 10 or so Chardonnays, but the Sauvignon Blancs and “other whites,” such as Etude Pinot Gris (which is hard to find because it’s made in such small quantities), are better suited to the food. I do wish vintages were listed.

Desserts are pleasant, if not terribly inspiring. The lemon souffle is nice, though it’s more like a lemon pudding. Light and fluffy, it’s not too sweet.

Gina Lee’s strength is its smart cooking, more thoughtful and polished than at most Asian fusion places at this level. The menu is strictly comfort food, which may be why it has such a devoted local following.

Gina Lee’s Bistro

211 Palos Verdes Blvd.

Redondo Beach

(310) 375-4462

Cuisine: Asian fusion

Rating: **

*

AMBIENCE: Good-looking Asian bistro with local clientele in nondescript strip mall. SERVICE: Competent and considerate. BEST DISHES: Crispy wontons, chicken dumplings, steamed littleneck clams, whole crispy catfish, duck breast with orange Port sauce, marinated New York steak, lemon souffle. Appetizers, $4 to $14. Main courses, $8 to $21. Corkage, $10 . WINE PICKS: 1998 Etude Pinot Gris, Napa Valley; Roederer Estate Brut, Anderson Valley. FACTS: Dinner Tuesday through Sunday. Lot parking.

*

Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. ****: Outstanding on every level. ***: Excellent. **: Very good. *: Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory.