Restaurant Review:

The appetizers could easily be made into a meal. There are so many that my friends and I who accompanied me are planning on going back and just ordering from the 18-item appetizer menu.

On a first visit, though, sample from all areas of the menu. The starters that shouldn’t be missed are the ascon, asparagus wrapped in bacon, shrimp and cream cheese wrapped in rice paper and soft shell crab.

Five of the seven salads have mixed field greens topped with such meats as ahi, chicken or pork. The one salad I liked was the seaweed crab salad, which had Alaskan crab and tofu with a house combination spicy ponzu sauce, sesame oil and sesame dressing.

We were in a state of culinary nirvana at this point, and then the entrees began arriving.

The first was one of the house’s specialties, the dancing porky. The pork, marinated in chili paste, soy, green and onions onion, garlic and sesame oil, is spicy, but not overpowering. Another outstanding dish is the slow beef tender rib in a rich marinade. It was so incredibly tender I almost didn’t have to chew.

The sushi is a large part of the menu and the mainly nigiri-style sushi is extremely fresh, as is the sashimi.

Among my many firsts was trying the black rice with my sushi. This rice, which allegedly was eaten only by emperors, has shown benefits such as lowering cholesterol and is rich in vitamins and minerals.

It is my hope that the trend of slow eating catches on with more people. It’s never going to topple the fast food giants and chain restaurants, but it would be nice to see restaurants like Slow Fish make a dent.

Address: 16051 Bolsa Chica Road, Huntington Beach

Phone: (714) 846-6951

Cuisine: Cal-Korean

Specialty dish: Slow beef tender rib

Alcohol served: sake, wine and beer

Dress: casual

Family friendly: Families welcome, but probably not best choice for children

Credit cards accepted: Visa and MasterCard

Rating: *** 1/2

JOHN REGER reviews restaurants for the Independent.