Japanese style traditionally abhors different flavored dishes touching each other on a single plate, so different dishes are given their own individual plates as mentioned, or are partitioned using leaves, etc.

A curried cauliflower soup, which I tested, was simple and yet called for techniques - roasting the cauliflower and puréeing half the soup - that produced a viscous, richly flavored dish.

Lunch featured rabo de toro, or bull's tail, a strongly flavored dish that most of the passengers liked, but which left some stomachs upset.

The prize among appetizers was wild mushroom strudel, served with a lemon Chardonnay sauce - a bounteous, richly flavored dish.

The long communal tables foster a bustling, happening and loud atmosphere and the combination of bold and traditional flavored dishes (try the crab-stuffed peppers) are phenomenal.

This subtly flavored dish is balanced with a full-flavored mixture of peppers, onions, garlic and basil.

The clams and calamari atop linguini with capers, onions and mushrooms is an assertively flavored dish but equally satisfying, with the seafood tender and succulent, cooked to an agreeable tenderness.

Served with shredded daikon radish, the result is a delicate, softly flavored dish that resembles tender, miniature veal scallopine ($5.50).

It's an intriguing dish, full flavored, slightly funky, richly textured.