The chefs at Taka Sushi, many of whom are Chinese

WHIRLING The chefs at Taka Sushi, many of whom are Chinese, double as entertainers.Credit...Aaron Houston for The New York Times

THERE’S an easy camaraderie behind the sushi bar at Taka Sushi in Summit, where the three or four chefs smile and murmur among themselves as if sharing an inside joke. Maybe the joke is that nearly all of them are Chinese, not Japanese, recruited from New York City and trained by the restaurant’s head chef, Bid Chen, who regularly works alongside them and also happens to be Chinese. Or perhaps it’s just the secret delight that comes with cranking out some of the best fish in the area.

Either way, they’re great entertainment.

Mr. Chen, a k a Sam, and his wife, Robyn Chin, who does double duty as general manager and supervisor of the kitchen staff, moved to the United States from Fujian Province in southern China about 10 years ago, when both were 19. Mr. Chen quickly took to Japanese cooking while working in New York restaurants, and the couple opened Taka Sushi in 2008 with help from Ms. Chin’s family.

While its pedigree may be Chinese — Mr. Chen advertises for his chefs in a Chinese newspaper in New York — the spirit is definitely Japanese, as is the fish, all of it imported from Japan.

Ms. Chin runs the front of the restaurant, a comfortably sized rectangular room with a smaller alcove toward the back, while Mr. Chen stands sentry along the rear wall behind the sushi bar, which has only five seats and was well populated during several recent visits. The menu is broad and fairly priced, filled with standard gaijin-friendly fare, including the requisite array of teriyakis, tempuras and noodle dishes, as well as a bounty of raw seafood. Mr. Chen prefers to cut his fish in longer, thinner strips than some diners may be accustomed to, and his sushi tends to be “more fish, less rice,” as Ms. Chen put it in a follow-up interview.

It’s all skillfully turned out, both on the plate and on the palate,

from the yellowtail and fluke dotting the sashimi deluxe entree to the pungent jalapeño toro tataki. The chef’s special rolls are uncommonly successful; on the simpler side, the spicy salmon roll was fresh and uncomplicated, as was the shrimp tempura roll and the center roll, a crunchy affair with spicy tuna and avocado, rolled in tobiko. Or you might try the naruto roll, a riceless concoction with crab stick or any preferred fish, masago caviar and avocado wrapped in cucumber slices.

The rock shrimp appetizer was crispy and rewarding, as were the deep-fried oysters — in fact, everything that emerged from the deep-fat fryer, including the tempura, was invariably light, nongreasy and easy on the salt, all the better to work with the accompanying sauces. Best of all the starters were the black codfish marinated in soybean paste and the miso nasu, a rich jolt of broiled eggplant marinated in miso sauce.

The servers are brisk and efficient, though not particularly helpful when it comes to offering suggestions. Even so, we never went far wrong on our own, succeeding with the lightly sweetened tofu teriyaki, the chicken and vegetable tempura and the nabeyaki udon (a richer soup than anticipated, perfect for a wintry evening). Even the chicken yakitori was perfectly grilled and accompanied — as are most of the teriyaki entrees — by lightly steamed carrots and broccoli that are a far cry from the overcooked afterthought that clutters plates at so many other Japanese restaurants.

A number of the fish, meat and poultry dishes — including a rib-eye steak for $19.95 and twin lobster tails at $39.95 — can be prepared either teriyaki-style or on the hibachi, which is back in the kitchen rather than on the table.

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