Filling the space left suddenly vacant by DMOOD is Bistro D’Asia, which brings to University Heights a mosaic of dishes that wok and roll across the Far East continent.

The restaurant retains many of the stylish trappings left behind by DMOOD – wide wooden chairs with Persian fabric covering their mini backs, French limestone flooring and ornate Kama Sutra doors hiding on the back patio that could be worth a pretty penny. Added to the comfy scheme is a nine-seat sushi bar and a fresh paint job in mellow yellow with faux bamboo stenciling.

For those familiar with the bistro’s original and much larger location in Coronado, the menu here is the same with the exclusion of whole Peking duck. The fowl instead appears in breast form on the appetizer list, providing you with a less fatty experience, yet yielding crispy and highly flavorful skin spiced gently with cinnamon, clove and star anise. The dish is served with traditional steamed lotus buns. Eat ‘em plain and they’re as spongy and homely as Wonder Bread. Lop on a slice of the duck with a dab of hoisin sauce and the starchy material unites with the savory protein rather magically.

Specialty sushi rolls are large and cut into 10 slices. Among them is the Dirty Vegas encompassing spicy tuna, cucumber and a crunchy thread of tempura soft-shell crab running through its center. The outer layer shows off pepper-seared tuna, avocado and green onions, with an unconventional twist of chipotle cream sauce providing a final bang. Though enjoyable, I actually favored my companion’s sesame-infused vegetarian roll, bound simply by avocado, cucumber, sprouts and gobo (burdock root) – a more “back to the basics” creation offering sweet and vinegary undertones.

It would take several visits to Bistro D’Asia to fairly assess its crafty range of sushi and broad selection of hot dishes that come noodled, sizzled, grilled, steamed and woked. Needless to say, we kept our choppers moving for ferreting out the winners from the losers.

Vegetarian hot-and-sour soup, though made with eggs, was dark in color, intense in flavor and terribly salty. The aforementioned duck breast, along with lively lettuce wraps using well-chilled iceberg leaves rescued the moment.

From the “chef recommends” category, I ordered walnut shrimp lightly cloaked in tempura and topped with creamy white sauce and candied walnuts. If you have a sweet tooth, you’ll love this. The sauce resembled dessert icing – sticky and cloying thanks to sweet condensed milk and a touch of honey used in the recipe. With the sweet and succulent pith of the shrimp in alignment, the dish began hitting my taste buds like a slice of frosted birthday cake as I went along.

Garlic and rice vinegar form the structure of a brown sauce used in “temple style” eggplant, which was cooked to a soft consistency much to my companion’s liking. I would have preferred firmer pieces of the purple fruit, but then again, the porous texture provided easy entry for the enticing sauce to soak in.

A mound of barbecue pork-fried rice struck the perfect balance between sweet and salty, and with a smoky wok taste to boot. The grains were dry and fluffy rather than heavy and starchy, with plenty of lean pork slices sporting tasty red edges strewn throughout.

The rice falls under the menu’s “accompaniments” section, where we found two other outstanding sidekicks as well. Spinach sautéed with garlic reads plainly on paper, but delivers memorable taste and texture as the pressed garlic seemingly melts into the carefully wilted leaves. The garlic is soft and gentle, despite its profuse appearance that may have you reaching for the breath mints in preparation for post-meal socializing.

Equally satisfying and uncomplicated were the garlic noodles dressed lightly in oil and teasingly low-key in flavor. The dish resembles lo mein stripped of meat, cabbage and carrots, although it provides a good noodle fix in pure Cantonese style. The menu also features “Heavenly Noodles” tossed with veggies and mushrooms, plus a handful of other recipes made with wheat or rice noodles that summon pork, chicken or seafood into the mix.

From the “grilled” and “sizzled” categories, you’ll find things like Hong Kong steak served on a sizzling hot plate, Asian salmon in garlic white sauce, Hanoi-style white fish and straightforward sweet and sour pork with pineapple.

Dieters can take solace in a short list of steamed items such as Vietnamese-style white fish in ginger-soy sauce, Mekong seafood medley in roasted garlic broth or Emerald shrimp with broccoli. And, the cocktail crowd is afforded a full bar along with sake, wine and bottled Asian beer.

Bistro D’Asia gives diners an earnest palette of Asian meals, though born mostly out of pedestrian China towns and restaurant rows where Thai and Japanese kitchens are commonplace. If you’re looking for the hardcore stuff, Convoy Street is only several miles north. Although when the hankering strikes for Szechuan-style this and orange-peel that, this cozy Park Boulevard bistro will easily win you over.