restaurantgirl

So do glistening beads of ikura (salmon roe) mingled with salmon sashimi and tucked into a vibrant lime.

And rarely does tempura reach as luxurious heights as it does here. Delicate scallops are wrapped in a shiso plum leaf and coated in a marvelously crunchy batter. As for the shrimp tempura, a salty dab of Camembert cheese keeps the sweetness of tiger shrimp in perfect check. Both variations are coupled with green tea salt - a simple accessory that kicks the flavors up an intense notch.

The ingredients are as fresh and distinguished as much of the cooking, a collaborative effort by chefs Mikio Sano (Inagiku) and Tetsuya Akikawa (Jewel Bako). While the menu is a balancing act of traditional and contemporary Japanese cuisine, there is subtle invention at every turn. A gratin of Japanese mushrooms gets an aggressively rich béchamel sauce and a panko breadcrumb finish. It's the kind of dish you might find in Tokyo and is as exciting a discovery in Williamsburg. Instead of the typical skewering route, moist chicken meatballs are stuffed into a hollowed-out bamboo stalk and glazed in a sweet soy sauce.

There are weaker stretches of the menu, including a lifeless duck salad and the inevitable appearance of miso cod, touted by waitstaff as a signature dish. After a two-day marinade, the black cod had resurfaced a mealy disaster. And sometimes the kitchen embraced ingredients to a fault: A chewy salmon belly in a green tea dashi broth and a crème brulée were both wildly overpowered by green tea measures. Other than a frozen black sesame mousse, dessert is not their strong suit.

But there's a magnificent sake list, with more than 40 offerings by the glass, not to be missed. Sake is such a centerpiece of the restaurant that an entire selection of small plates is labeled "sake accompaniments." Another draw is the omakase tasting menu ($88 per couple) with seasonal delicacies, such as winter yellowtail with silky sea urchin. Zenkichi attracts a slew of couples and word-of-mouth clientele who want to keep this gem to themselves. I can't say I blame them.