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Hesa, a new Japanese restaurant in Westborough, focuses on fresh

by Margaret LeRoux

Hesa
21 South Street, Westborough
898-9262
Lunch: Mon.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Sun. noon-2:30 p.m.
Dinner: Mon.-Thurs. 4:30-9:45 p.m.
Fri.-Sat. 4:30-10:45 p.m.
Sun. 4:30-9:30 p.m.
BYOB
Major credit cards
Handicap accessible

Can a restaurant be exciting and tranquil at the same time? At Hesa, a new Japanese restaurant, the excitement's in the food. Fresh ingredients entice your taste buds, while calm surroundings quiet your nerves. Hesa is on the site of the former Thai Poblana in downtown Westborough but has a completely new look: ultra modern, yet serene. Walls are faux stone, but carpeting and diffuse track lighting soften the impact; soothing music plays in the background. A graceful, curved sushi bar dominates one side.

When our shy and charming waitress approached to ask for our beverage order, we requested Kirin, the Japanese beer. "Oh no," she blushed and replied softly, "We don't have a liquor license yet." She directed us to a package store down the street, but we opted for sodas and tea instead.

Hesa's menu offers udon and soba (noodles) tempura, teriyaki, tepan yaki (stir fry), as well as sushi and sashimi. There are vegetable dishes, too; an outstanding treatment of spinach goma ae ($3.50) is steamed, chilled, tender young leaves in a sauce dominated by ground sesame seeds. It's refreshing and unusual.

We each tried a different category: from our party of four one selected a combination teriyaki/tempura dinner of chicken teriyaki with shrimp and vegetable tempura ($15.75). Another chose chicken tepan ($10.50) from the tepan yaki assortment; I ordered tempura soba ($7.95), with shrimp tempura topping a bowl of buckwheat noodles. The fourth member of our group traveled in Japan where he learned to appreciate sushi and sashimi. His choice was the sushi deluxe dinner ($18).

We began with an appetizer of gyoza, the Japanese equivalent of pot stickers, or fried dumplings. These were more subtle, less heavy and spicy than those I've eaten in Chinese restaurants. Right on the heels of the appetizer came small bowls of miso soup, a delicate broth made from fermented soybeans, and little servings of salad: iceberg lettuce and shredded carrot topped with a single grape, a tiny cube of pineapple, and a sweet, tangy dressing.

The menu notes that important qualities in Japanese cooking are "pure, clear, flavors and simple, elegant presentation," and Hesa excels in both. My friend's combination teriyaki-tempura dinner came on a lovely ceramic tray, with delicately curved sides. There was an ample serving of sliced chicken in the traditional soy-sherry-ginger sauce. Large shrimp were perched artfully atop an assortment of lightly battered vegetables, including thin slices of zucchini and broccoli florets. A mound of sticky rice decorated with blackened sesame seeds, and a bowl of soy-based dipping sauce were the accompaniments.

Tepan yaki, sizzling hot, comes on an iron serving dish. The chicken was tender and vegetables crispy; a teriyaki flavor dominated. It too came with rice. My serving of tempura placed on the bowl of broth quickly became soggy, but the shrimp flavor was fresh. The buckwheat noodles stood up to the rich broth containing onions, cabbage, broccoli, and several pieces of seafood. It was more than I could finish and made a delicious lunch the next day.

The centerpiece dish was the sushi deluxe: nine pieces of assorted sushi, served in an almost too-pretty-to-eat arrangement in a lacquered box. In the center, looking like a rose petal, was salmon sushi, a bright red filet draped over a packet of seasoned rice. Arranged in a diagonal were more rice packets topped with slices of mackerel, halibut, shrimp, squid, tuna, and octopus. There were also a tuna roll and small sushi rolls filled with pickled vegetables. A mound of green wasabi provided another colorful touch. My companion declared Hesa's sushi as good as the sushi he ate in Tokyo.

As we all sampled from each other's plates, the superlatives flew.

"It's so clean and fresh tasting," said one friend.

Later in a phone interview Hesa's owner, Jen Chen, identified the sushi chef of the evening as his grandmother who owned a Japanese restaurant in Taiwan many years ago.

"She learned from her husband who was Japanese," Chen explained. A different (traditionally male) sushi chef presides Wednesday to Sunday. Chen's father is the tempura and stir-fry cook; the family has owned several Chinese and Japanese restaurants.

During our interview Chen noted that the word Hesa in Japanese means "long lasting," and that he chose it in hopes "we will be around for a very long time." Based on our dinner, we hope so, too. Our bill totaled $66.35, including tax but not tip.