Lots to recommend, but gotta carp on the karaoke

"Nobody does it better ... " The lyrics were being warbled by a woman unlikely to ever be a contestant on "American Idol." We couldn't see her — she was in the karaoke bar while we were in the dining room. But we could hear her belting her heart out, as we engaged in another sort of indulgence: devouring a ramekin of molten chocolate lava cake paired with vanilla ice cream.

Karaoke is a draw four nights a week at Koi. But entertainment is just part of the charm of Art Presto's handsome Japanese newcomer to Bellevue's Overlake neighborhood. There is also a sushi bar stocked with very fresh fish, a reasonably priced menu of Japanese favorites and sweet servers who display grace under pressure.

The restaurant is even larger than it first appears from the bamboo-sheltered foyer, where we and another party waited in vain for attention one Saturday evening. To the left we could see the idle sushi chefs. To the right the bartender fiddled with the TV remote in the empty lounge, where sports coverage reigns until karaoke takes the stage, and where professional jazz musicians perform Sunday nights.

What we couldn't see beyond the mirrored bar were several large groups in the rear of the restaurant. They occupied a scarlet-walled dining room that was divided into semiprivate nooks by potted plants and low-slung partitions. Tending to those tables kept the limited waitstaff hopping — and kept us dangling far too long at the unmanned host stand.

Presently we were shown to a table in a grottolike room dominated by a Japanese water garden; in it waterfalls rushed from a stacked stone wall into a shimmering pool filled with frisky koi. Opposite, at the lengthy sushi bar, other aquatic creatures await the sharp knives wielded by Koi's skilled sushi chefs.

I had that counter to myself one weekday at lunch, when service was attentive and welcoming. Most customers, even the several eating solo, sat at tables where they demolished design-your-own bento boxes, oversized bowls of udon or soba noodles, and rice bowls topped with katsu — panko breaded, deep-fried pork cutlets — or unagi, broiled freshwater eel.

I tried unagi in a hand roll and was well-pleased with a cone of pliant nori wrapping rice, crisp vegetables and soft fish brushed with a sweet teriyaki glaze. Salmon skin roll proved another winning combination, an inside-out sushi roll crunchy with carrot and baconlike cracklings of salmon skin sprinkled lavishly with orange tobiko.

The gorgeously garnished sashimi combination featured a tuna roll along with the chef's choice of five different fish: albacore and maguro tuna, salmon (arranged like flower petals on a cucumber cup), yellowtail and a mauve-tinged white fish.

Ahi took center stage in a salad that tops the cubed raw tuna with hot sautéed shrimp, binding the two with a drizzle of wasabi mayo. The dish balances textures, tastes and even temperatures in an intriguing way, judiciously employing scallions and shredded radish, slivered almonds and toasted coconut, sea salt and tobiko.

Asked what's good today, the chef suggested geoduck. "Still active," he indicated, swiftly cutting long, ripple-edged slices of the live giant clam and binding them with nori to an ingot of rice. They looked like a pair of birds about to take flight ... but tasted unmistakably of the sea.

A cooked version of geoduck ($7.50) turned up as an appetizer on the fresh sheet at dinner. Slices of clam sautéed with onion, mushrooms and sake were swaddled in pink chile-aioli and served in a giant clam shell. Finished with a multihued sprinkling of tobiko, it was as delightful to look at as it was to eat.

That same spicy aioli gave a welcome kick to a hefty salmon fillet, deftly breaded and cleanly fried, and still crusty despite its blanket of sautéed onions and mushrooms. An entree special of jumbo scallops ($14.95), sautéed until just opaque in butter and sake, snuggle under a similar coverlet.

Koi also does a fine rendition of Kasu black cod, though I wished for more caramelizing on the edges of this satiny fish. Broccoli accompanied both the cod and salmon, but spears of asparagus crisscrossed the scallops — a nice touch had they not been shriveled and dry.

Sukiyaki was the sleeper hit. Served in a mini-caldron, it's a gloriously savory swamp thick with glass yam noodles, many vegetables, blocks of tofu, shaved beef and pink-edged slices of fish cake, all of which benefit the subtly smoky, slightly sweet broth.

Lunch and dinner entrees typically come with miso soup, rice and a small romaine salad dressed with sprightly ginger vinaigrette. But if you are contemplating an appetizer there are several to recommend. Shrimp, eggplant, onion and Kabocha squash were among the variety of light, crisp tempura. Lemongrass skewers plump grilled prawns wrapped in salty bacon; lemon also haunts the savory pork and vegetable filling for the terrific gyoza.

Speaking of dumplings, crab Rangoon are divine. These deep-fried wonton packages shaped like little cowboy hats ooze cream cheese and crab lightly seasoned with onion and garlic. They make excellent bar bites, as do takoyaki, tender balls of fried batter studded with bits of octopus and bathed in a gingery brown sauce.

Chase those bar snacks with a couple of stiff saketinis, and you too might find yourself on stage with a microphone in your hand.

Providence Cicero: providencecicero@aol.com