Countless restaurants have inhabited 225 14th St. in Astoria, and they’ve all suffered somewhat because of the size of the space.

From whatever vantage point, Tokyo Teriyaki isn’t much to look at. Cramped, with cheap tables and chairs and a photocopied menu that works double duty for both dine-in and take-out, this is a small space for any business, but especially a restaurant. The narrow width of the “dining room” limits the size of your party as well as the availability of tables, but luckily, Tokyo Teriyaki offers take-out, and is it ever popular.

Before Tokyo Teriyaki opened up, I don’t recall being able to get sushi anywhere in the county. And although it’s never been my reason for visiting, the teriyaki dishes are of good value, even though the prices have increased a little since the days I used to frequent the place.

In many cases, a restaurant’s food quality transcends its ambiance, and for the most part this is true of Tokyo Teriyaki. The menu’s offerings are pretty pedestrian when it comes to Japanese food, but certainly above average in comparison to the dime-a-dozen teriyaki bowl joints you see in larger cities where you pay your six dollars and grab your tray at the counter.

For several reasons, I usually get my food to go. The restaurant is almost always busy at peak lunch and dinner hours, so calling ahead and popping in to pick it up can be more convenient than having to wait outside for a table. Of course, the counter is set deeper into the building, so you need to pass all the seated diners to pay and get your food anyway, which I find intrusive, and often there are other people waiting for take-out orders.

Another reason is the draft. I don’t mind sitting down for a meal in July, but the wind comes through the door like it’s on a mission, and I’ve eaten in a coat several times.

Japanese food is known for its beautiful presentation, and while the food certainly looks good, it doesn’t match the aesthetics of a nice sushi bar, so you aren’t missing out on a whole lot by getting your food in a box.

My final reason for take-out is the smell of the restaurant itself. There’s a constant burned food aroma hanging in the air that is pretty much unavoidable when charbroiling marinated meats. Many people I’ve visited Tokyo Teriyaki with throughout the years like the smell, and are not in the least averse to it. It’s not a bad smell; it just annoys me.

On the other hand, there’s a good case to be made for dining in: the tempura. It can’t survive the steaming that it’s subjected to in a to-go box, and is worth sitting down for. I find that the vegetables that accompany the teriyaki dishes are oversteamed and mushy, but their battered and deep-fried brethren (vegetable tempura, $7.50) are not. Tempura prawns ($8.99) also warrant mention.

The teriyaki dishes are average and satisfactory, and I might add, better than they used to be. These past few visits have proven that the meats are more tender and less blackened than I’ve encountered in previous years. Chicken ($7.99), pork ($8.50) and beef ($9.50) teriyaki dishes are all good. The only disappointment for me was an order of teriyaki short ribs ($10.50). A little tough and gristly, the ribs could stand a little more cooking, which is difficult to do on a grill (probably why short ribs are generally braised).

Miso soup ($2.25) is good, sporting plenty of tofu cubes, but was a tad bland for my taste. Soy sauce and Sriracha sauce (both on the table) brightened the broth considerably. Miso noodle soup ($3.99) was the same, and the noodles were a little too far past al dente for my taste.

Some cool rolls I hadn’t seen nor tried before include the broccoli tempura roll ($4.25), in which crispy, hot, deep-fried broccoli resides within the soft, chewy sushi rice in a square “roll.” The texture is wonderfully backwards, and the tempura makes this a dine-in dish. The Dynamite roll ($7.99) is described by the sparsely worded menu as “deep-fried spicy tuna,” but it’s so much more. Larger than a standard spicy tuna roll, it appears to be wrapped in some sort of rice paper prior to frying, then gets topped with a bright orange spicy mayonnaise. The outer texture is a nice contrast to the standard roll, but as much as I like the spicy tuna mixture, I don’t much care for it cooked.

I like that sushi is available in Astoria, but like the Chinese and Mexican food in town, it could stand to be a little more daring. Scallop, flounder, sea urchin, giant clam – these are but a fraction of the things I’d like to see prepared in traditional Japanese fashion. I imagine beyond myself there isn’t much of a demand for the exotic, but I can hope and wish. Who’s with me?

– The Mouth

mouth@coastweekend.com