First-class ticket to Tokyo

It could be the setting for a hyper-futuristic thriller, but no, it’s a weeks-old Hollywood boite with a Tokyo nightclub theme. Geisha House has a stealth presence on Hollywood Boulevard at Cherokee, its bunker-like aspect softened only by dashes of pink neon.

First you pass the checkpoint, then through a corridor lined with timber posts painted a startling red -- the color of a geisha’s lips (which appear on the restaurant’s matchbooks as a logo), but also a color used in Japanese temples.

The corridor opens up to a dramatic space. On the left, a stylish sushi bar, where chefs in black caps do their lightning-fast knife work. Straight ahead, a bar backed with video screens playing Japanese animation and sci-fi. And to the right, past a collection of premium sake bottles, a blur of pink beckons mysteriously.

We’re seated at a corner table, next to a backlighted photo mural of Ginza neon that runs along one wall. Those hipsters ducking into a doorway at the end are heading for the smoking patio, an outdoor space that reeks of tobacco.

From our table inside, we watch the fireplaces set at different heights along a central fire-red column.

More hipsters prowl the mezzanine above, and while we taste a trio of sakes proposed by the sommelier, we nibble on a selection of dishes.

You can order all manner of sushi -- and it’s very good tonight, especially the tuna belly (toro), yellowtail (hamachi) and Spanish mackerel.

But there are also more ambitious hot and cold dishes. Tuna (maguro) sits on marvelous chewy rice cakes with a dab of chili. Halibut sashimi is drizzled with ponzu and garnished with Japanese radish. Satiny, rich Japanese eggplant is scribbled with two sauces. And grilled chicken yaki features organic chicken breast and leg (one skewer devoted to each) that’s as perfectly cooked as any three-star bird.

The food is a cut above most other trendy Asian places in its ambition and execution, so it’s no surprise to learn that Tokyo-born executive chef Genichi Mizoguchi opened Nobu-Milano in Italy with general manager David DeBacco, director of training and development for Nobu-Europe at the time. And sommelier Mauro Vitali was at Postrio in Las Vegas before he hooked up with the Dolce Group, which owns the West Hollywood Italian restaurant Dolce -- and now Geisha House.

With an arresting backdrop and enticing Japanese food, this sexy new Hollywood restaurant is more than just another trendy Asian spot. Late at night, it can feel like another planet.

And it’s not Planet Hollywood.

*

Geisha House

Where: 6633 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

When: Dinner, 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays; closed Sundays. Full bar. Valet parking.

Price: Salads, $6 to $9; hand rolls, $7 to $15; tempura, $8 to $14; cold dishes, $9 to $16; hot dishes, $9 to $38; sushi and sashimi, $6 to $18.

Contact: (323) 460-6300; geishahousehollywood.com