Sakae Sushi

Have you ever wished your waiter would materialize at the click of a mouse? Well, your dream has come true with the opening of Sakae Sushi; every table sports a computer screen, and you can click "Request Bill." However, if you like to escape the pull of computers on your lunch break, this Singaporean-based Japanese chain might not be your cup of green tea.

I found the system a bit buggy today, even though I'm pretty computer-literate. It took me a little while to adjust to the mouse, and I found myself forgetting the extra step of clicking "Add To Order." Halfway through ordering my meal, the application unexpectedly quit, erasing all of my chosen dishes. (I thought to myself, I've enough laptop problems at home!) However, the staff was extremely accommodating, and I have the feeling that even if I'd never seen a computer before, they would've made me feel at home.

Although Sakae Sushi serves pages of cooked dishes, its main draw is the conveyor-belt sushi. At most kaitenzushi, everyone sits around a bar and tries to grab the most desired items before their neighbor. But Sakae Sushi, there are separate booths, and you look over your shoulder to see what's coming around.

"I can't take it!" exclaimed a girl who couldn't have been more than seven. "What?" asked her mother. "All this food going 'round and 'round!"

Unfortunately, I found some selections on the varied menu strangely unappealing (sweet tofu skin stuffed with tuna mayo or egg salad? someone in the kitchen really likes mayonnaise). In an eel hand roll, the eel tasted off, and the nori was tough. But my saba shioyaki bento included a nice portion of tasty salted mackerel fillet. The agedashi tofu cubes were the size of the giant marshmallows at City Bakery, and they were too heavily battered, but there was a nice furikake sprinkling on the white rice. The menu at Sakae is so extensive that I'm willing to give the place a few more tries, because the concept is so fun, and the service so efficient.

(In the meantime, I'll continue my unlikely fantasy about sushi fusion master Hidekazu Tojo making an appearance in New York someday. This Vancouverite created the original inside-out roll for seaweed-phobic Westerners. He also invented the California roll; his version is loaded with sweet crabmeat, egg, spinach and avocado.)

Sakae Sushi, 405 Lexington Ave., 877-SAKAE-USA. Note: the entrance is on 43rd St.