New Kid on the Block

Kabuki gives 570 patrons another place to find fine sushi

Alicia Grega-Pikul

A traditional, highly stylized form of Japanese theatre often featuring song and dance, Kabuki is a word which implies an experience that is out of the ordinary. It's an apt description for our recent Monday lunch at one of the Mid Valley's newest dining destinations. The warm spring afternoon invited breezes through open doorways, which, along with an evocative Asian soundtrack, provided an ideal atmosphere for a zentastic sushi getaway.

Kabuki's deep brick and bronze-toned walls, dark green columns, rich woodwork, and decor boasting contemporary lighting fixtures, copper sculptures and painted scrolls are the last thing you might expect to find next to Bargain Finder in the old Mr. Z's shopping center off Main Avenue in Peckville. Boasting more than 20 years in the restaurant industry, Kabuki owner Jack Chih-Hong Chu began working for the famous Mr. Shindo of Robata of Tokyo (www.robataoftokyo.com) in 1991 - still operating in Allentown, the Scranton version of Robata formerly operated on Adams Ave. where Osaka has lived for most of this millennium.

A year ago, the ambitious chef decided he wanted to operate his own restaurant and noticed Japanese cuisine was not represented in the Peckville area. He opened Kabuki only a couple of months ago and is hoping a gym proposed in the long-vacant supermarket front will provide a steady stream of hungry, healthy diners in the near future. Currently BYOB, the restaurant expects its forthcoming liquor license (approximately two months) will also boost clientele.

Dropping in unannounced, we wouldn't learn until later that it was the owner himself who had prepared our scrumptious sushi and sashimi rolls.

"I can cook Hibachi, I do kitchen and I do sushi," he explained in a follow up phone call. "Otherwise how can you open a restaurant? What if somebody's sick or not able to work?"

Recalling a recent Fresh Air story in which a marine scientist recommended "eco-best" mackerel as a good test of a restaurant's quality, we decided to follow our tasty Fried Age Tofu appetizer with an a la carte order of the Atlantic fish off the sushi menu alongside a more familiar squid. We couldn't have been more impressed with the taste, which, despite its apparent simplicity, proved real competition for the luxurious rolls we had selected. One of Kabuki's most popular, the Fancy Salmon roll boasts smoked salmon, scallions and cream cheese lightly deep fried and drizzled with a mysteriously tangy sauce. It paired well with the sweet and spicy polish of the Crab Mango roll, while proving the ideal contrast to the fresh vegetables of our Foto Maki roll. In addition to 22 special rolls, the restaurant boasts 26 more standard rolls on its menu ranging in price from $3.75 to $12.

Though we're gluttons for sushi, Teppanyaki fans should take note of Kabuki's smokeless hibachi tables, which use an alternate ventilation system. For customers, it means returning home without the smell of hibachi in their clothes and, for the chef, a reduction in smoke inhalation, which over long periods of time can lead to coughing, if not more serious health issues, according to Chih-Hong Chu. Vegetable, chicken, shrimp, scallop, swordfish, salmon, New York Strip and Filet Mignon hibachi entrees are available for both lunch ($7.50-10.50) and dinner ($12-29), while calamari and lobster options are available for dinner only.

"We also have a kitchen menu. Some people don't want to sit at a Hibachi table. They want a quiet meal so we also have a dining room where you don't see the chef and it's very quiet and comfortable."

Served with soup and salad, Kabuki's Asian Kitchen Entrees include a lightly deep-fried, breaded pork loin Tonkatsu, a pepper and garlic Chateaubriand tenderloin, rack of lamb with mushrooms and basil in a garlic sauce, as well as the expected variety of seafood dishes, deluxe tempura, and curry Udon or Soba noodles served with choice of meat, fish or vegetables.