by MARK SLUTSKY

The dirty white sign and darkened windows may give passers-by the wrong impression of Azuma, which sits at the corner of Maguire on the strip of St-Laurent between Laurier and St-Viateur - an area with plenty of good restaurants that always seem to be half-full. But don't be put off by the restaurant's appearance from the street; inside it's dark, quiet and very cozy, with comfortable booths separated by bamboo and Japanese-paper screens. If you can deal with Diana Krall on the stereo, it's very pleasant.

As you might guess, Japanese cuisine is Azuma's thing. While boasting an extensive sushi menu, there's also quite a few other traditional Japanese dishes to be had, and they're definitely worth investigating. If you do go for the sushi you won't be disappointed - it's fresh, and they have as much variety as any other good sushi resto in the city. (The hana-bi, $6, made with fried chicken, carrots, radish, lettuce, avocado and wasabi mayo, is definitely worth checking out.)

Service can be a little slow, so this isn't really the place if you're in a hurry, but they do treat you right. After ordering on a recent visit, my friend and I were presented with little fish-shaped glass plates topped with fresh, raw green beans covered in a thick, almost grainy sesame vinaigrette. The taste was crisp and refreshing and recharged our palates for the meal ahead. The beans were followed by soup; my friend went for the miso, while I chose the sumashi. The miso soup was some of the best either of us had ever tasted in this city. There was nothing fancy about it - seaweed, mushrooms and tiny cubes of tofu floating in that light-brown broth - but the taste was well-rounded, warm and lasting. The sumashi was a clear-broth seafood soup, and it was satisfying as well, though it didn't quite live up to the miso.

We shared the wakame salad ($5.50) and seafood harumaki ($5.75) to tide us over until the main courses appeared. The salad featured wakame seaweed as its main ingredient, along with a host of other ingredients both crisp and fresh - carrots, green peppers and vermicelli. It was big and had the same refreshing quality as the green beans, which might have had something to do with the fact that it was dressed with that same sesame vinaigrette. The seafood harumaki was a plate of two fried Japanese spring rolls stuffed with shrimp and scallops. The sweet mayonnaise dipping sauce on the side brought out the flavour of the seafood, making this a tasty little entrée.

For our main courses, we went in for the oyakodon donburi ($9.75) and the katsudon ($10.75). Donburi bowls are steep ceramic things, and there are a variety of dishes that can be served in them, all consisting of various ingredients over rice. The oyakodon is made with chicken and soft, lightly boiled eggs, and Azuma's was superb - the chicken was moist and soft, and the taste of it mingled with the egg was singular and quite memorable. The katsudon is a deep-fried and breaded pork cutlet served with a sauce that has a dark, rich flavour somewhat like a tangier steak sauce. The cutlet was enjoyably crispy and, despite the frying, remarkably light.

If you're in a flashy mood, or just really hungry, you might be tempted by the azuma moriawase ($21), which consists of a sirloin steak, yakitori (chicken brochettes) and shrimp and vegetable tempura. Even ritzier are the Japanese fondues ($52 each, though they serve two), where you can cook your own food in the comfort of your booth. Easier on the pocketbook, though, are the lunch specials, which run in the $10-$15 range, or the nighttime table d'hôtes, which range from $20-$30.

Azuma
ADDRESS: 5263 St-Laurent (corner of Maguire)
PHONE: 271-5263
HOURS: Tue-Wed, Sat 5:30PM-11PM; Thu-Fri NOON-2:30PM,
5:30PM-11PM; Sun 5:30PM-10PM
BEST FEATURES: The quiet a mbience and superb miso soup
ALCOHOL: Yes
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes
VEGETARIAN FRIENDLY: Yes
CREDIT CARDS: Yes
NO-SMOKING SECTION: Yes
PRICE: $10-$15 per diner for lunch,
$15-$30 for dinner, before tax or tip
RATING: ***1/2 out of ****