Peking Tokyo does both Chinese and Japanese cuisine proud

April 22, 2010 12:00 am • Last Updated: April 10, 2015 2:24 pm

It would be easy to mistake Peking Tokyo for any other Asian restaurant, considering its common name and shopping plaza location. But despite its location amid the Mystic tourist Mecca, many locals know that the restaurant continues to be a rare example of well-executed Chinese and Japanese fare in a modern, tasteful atmosphere.

The square room, remodeled in recent years, is dimly lit, and divided up into smaller spaces, with sushi chefs molding raw fish into colorful works of art behind a bar on one side of the room, and a full bar - the alcohol kind - on the other side, both with seating. The dining room is separated by black lacquered wood, holding a black chalkboard of sushi specials and red votive flameless candles. Black-and-white Asian landscapes adorn the walls.

It was so busy on a recent Saturday night, you get the feeling that it's some secret hideout you've been missing out on. And even though every table seemed full, we were luckily seated right away after being greeted by the owner himself, Johnny Lin, whom everyone seems to know.

Menus that deal in two different cuisines can be a red flag, seemingly trying to cater too much to the customer. Is it a sushi place that they just added General Tso's chicken to? Or a Chinese restaurant that threw some sushi on the menu?

But Peking Tokyo manages to be successful at both. It offers traditional lo mein and beef with garlic sauce, in addition to house specialties such as "lamb in two flavors" and "crispy prawn with walnuts." There's teriyaki and tempura and udon noodles.

After being offered hot towels at the start of the meal, we tried the shrimp shumai ($4.95), small steamed dumplings filled with shrimp that were light and almost fluffy, with a soy-based dipping sauce.

The sushi is definitely some of the best in this area. The yuzu tuna ($13.95) appeared to be beautifully fresh seared tuna, sliced into dark pink ovals, with a light crispness around the circumference. The yuzu, an Asian citrus, enhances the flavor of the fish and greens on the plate.

The M&M roll ($14.95) was a neatly layered stack of rice, spicy tuna, fluke and avocado, with a dot of spicy mayonnaise on each roll, for a bit of heat in each bite, enhanced nicely by some wasabi.

The house special scallops ($15.95) were sauteed with mushrooms, crispy snow peas and some kind of black beans suspended in the saltier sauce, made from egg whites.

The shrimp chow fun was on the sweeter side ($7.50), featuring wide, flat rice noodles that were chewy but firm and flavorful, and a medley of vegetables such as carrots and snow peas.

The food came out somewhat slowly, but the kitchen was clearly busy, and our server was very attentive, replacing plates and silverware when needed. Our only suggestion is to refrain in the future from putting Man Vs. Wild on the bar television, on which the host was eating spiders and eyeballs or something like that. It wasn't so appetizing.

However, we enjoyed the complimentary dessert, a little layered chocolate and coffee flavored cake cut into the shape of a tulip, for just a few sweet bites at the end of the meal. Johnny Lin knows customer service and good food, and that will keep Peking Tokyo bustling on Saturday nights for years to come.