HOSPITALITY ROLLS IN MIYAKO SUSHI STAFF KNOWS HOW TO TAKE CARE OF ITS CUSTOMERS.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

IN AN ATTRACTIVE blond wood- and salmon-toned setting, the new Miyako Sushi in Canoga Park is spacious and spotless, a cool and breezy escape from the summer heat.

Replacing the Mandalay Bay Buffet, a courageous but futile attempt to get people to fill up on inexpensive Asian food that was often listless and unappetizing, Miyako sticks to the mainstream, popular California-style sushi and beyond, specializing in a large variety of rolled sushi items, thick-cut sashimi and crispy, airy tempura.

It warms up new patrons with an extra-generous welcome at its sushi bar, delivering a plate of edamame (boiled soy beans), a bowl of miso soup and a serving of thin, crunchy, marinated cucumber slices (sunomono) as free starters.

``If you want more, I bring it,'' said the sweet, smiling waitress.

And later I did.

Those vinegary slices of cucumber are truly addictive.

I probably broke all the sushi rules by pairing them with a very tasty lobster roll ($7.95) some two thirds of the way through my meal here one day.

But in truth, Miyako is not a place for the strict sushi purist. All the fancy rolls they do - one called the Topanga roll ($11.95), for example, is a combination of freshwater eel and soft-shell crab - would undoubtedly make sushi purists sneer.

Yet sampling these colorful rolls can be fun, especially if you have room for plenty of sushi rice.

And Miyako makes the pickings pleasing and easy by way of a colorful brochure/menu with striking reproductions of 45 items. If, perchance, you want a designer roll that's not listed, don't worry, Miyako's chefs will make it as long as they have the ingredients on hand.

``So what's this special albacore roll?'' I asked the sushi chef one time.

He peered through his spectacles at where I was pointing on the brochure-menu.

``It's a California roll wrapped with albacore,'' he explained.

I thought about the California roll portion of mostly surimi and rice and demurred, choosing instead an appetizing order of albacore sashimi ($7.95) pictured on another page.

I'd already tried the combination sashimi here ($7.95) thinking it would have albacore. But on that day it consisted of sliced salmon, tuna, yellowtail, halibut, octopus and red snapper, all pieces thoroughly enjoyable except the snapper, which was rather chewy and flavorless.

One should not think of Miyako as only a sushi and sashimi place. Most importantly, for a satisfying under-$10 meal, Miyako provides four bento box meal combinations.

My bento preference ($8.50 at lunchtime, $9.95 at dinner) one day contained deliciously crunchy, Japanese-style pork cutlet (tonkatsu) cut in thick strips; a small iceberg lettuce salad with a pink, Thousand Islandlike dressing; a heap of expertly fashioned shrimp and vegetable tempura, a few slices of tuna sashimi and a mound of white rice.

A squeeze bottle of sweetish, soy-based tonkatsu sauce and a cup of warm dipping liquid for the tempura, comes with this gratifying bento meal. Incidentally, there's a bento box for children here priced at $3 less.

Sushi fanciers who frequent a neighborhood sushi bar regularly, therefore becoming known to the chefs, owners and staff, are aware that it's customary to get little bonus plates on occasion, the reward for being a regular customer.

Because Miyako is so new, such rewards are evidently being given to new customers.

One day, in addition to receiving the aforementioned complimentary miso soup, edamame and sunomono, the sushi chef made up a small seafood salad and surprised us with it - on the house, of course - around halfway through our ordering progression.

And, if this wasn't a generous enough gesture, our cups of hot green tea weren't on the bill.

All this I guess, because we must have looked like prospective regulars.

And I only spent $31 for two of us that day. And that included the tip.

Oh yeah, there was even free green tea ice cream  proffered.

Gotta give Miyako an A plus for attitude and generosity, two rare restaurant attributes these days.

MIYAKO SUSHI

Food: Three stars. Service: Three stars.

Where: 7625 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Canoga Park.

Hours: Open for lunch, dinner and snacks from 11 a.m. daily to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, to 10 p.m. Sunday.

Recommended items: Lobster roll, spicy scallop hand roll in soybean paper, lobster roll, tuna and yellowtail nigiri sushi, albacore sashimi or sushi, sashimi appetizers, tempura, bento box with pork cutlet and tempura.

How much:Sushi from $3.50 to $11, other plates and specials from $5 to $50, dessert from $3.50 to $5. No alcohol. All major credit cards.

Reservations: Helpful. Call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2) The salmon teriyaki combo gives diners variety on a tray. King salmon roll, top left, is among the sushi offerings at Miyako.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff photographer