If there was a San Diego restaurant award designated for the most boundary-pushing Asian cuisine, it would go to the Red Pearl Kitchen. The high-action restaurant, which spawned from its original prototype in Huntington Beach, features what executive chef Jason Marcus calls “the greatest hits of Japanese and Northern Chinese cooking.” Yet to those unfamiliar with that continent’s myriad curries and sometimes intricate meal preparations, the Red Pearl is a modern day gem full of wham, bam and glam.

The entranceway slants down into a fashionable bar lounge crowded by stylish urbanites sipping on eccentrically named cocktails like Sake to Me, Eager Ninja and Tipsy Geisha. A rather boisterous din extends into a quainter rear area marked by a lustrous black-pebbled floor, where booths and tables (and two private dining areas) seem as though they were built into the West Elm-meets-Shanghai scheme as a footnote. On first approach, it’s as though you’ve walked into a happening nightclub rather than a place serving up Kobe beef satay and ginger-scallion fluke.

A lengthy menu allows you to choose from nine different categories that include “raw,” “grill,” hot pot” and “wok-fired.” Portions run slightly larger than appetizers, so it’s best to jump around and converge on variety.

From the dim sum section, the Five Spice Glazed Chicken Wings are a must. Sweet, sticky and marvelous tasting, their tender skins and flesh slid down our throats like baby food due to the fact that they’re braised for an hour in dark soy sauce and vegetable oil, then flash-fried to order. “They’re magical,” exclaimed my dining companion while washing down the appendages with a kicky Jade Mistress, made with Belvedere vodka, apples and red chilies.

The Chicken-Ginger Pot Stickers came steamed with crispy bottoms and reminded me of the slippery half moons served at P.F. Chang’s, which isn’t a complaint given their mild perfumed fillings. More simplistic in flavor and presentation were the Scallop-Bacon Beggars’ Purses, which we felt needed a boost from soy sauce.

Pickled daikon radishes and miso-passion fruit struck a fine contrast in a salad of baby greens augmented by the sweetness of oozing red tomatoes. Equally amazing was the lightening speed in which our dishes arrived after ordering a few items at a time, which led me to ask our merry-go-round of servers if the food is indeed made to order. We were given a hands-down “yes” by each of them.

From the grill category, we would’ve been remiss to pass up the Pineapple Kobe Beef Satay – four skewers with the fruit interspersed by wide pieces of beef, which exuded those thin fatty juices expected from Kobe grades. The same beef is used in a wok preparation that mingles in red papaya and cherry tomatoes. We loved them both, along with a sizable hot pot brimming with succulent short ribs, red curry and chunks of pumpkin.

In a nod to Thailand and Malaysia, the Chili-Garlic Shrimp takes on an authentic fishy flavor because it’s made in shrimp paste. Sweetness is derived instead from baby corn in the mix. And wilted green beans (vibrant enough to be perhaps the Blue Lake variety) added a healthy texture.

From the flounder species of fish is fluke, which the chef uses raw in a mold of ginger, scallion and dry-cured Chinese ham. Making only a small dent in the stack, we couldn’t determine if we were just too full to eat more, or simply didn’t like it because of its ingredient overload.

Concluding with an exotic “happy ending” (the dessert category), we reveled in a light and creamy cardamom custard infused with dried plums and lychee, the translucent tree fruit grown in southern China that imparts a honeyed, acidic taste to foods and tea. Also listed are Chocolate Soufflé with Mandarin ice cream and Banana Cake with jasmine – uncommon desserts where rice and noodles are served.

If you’re hunting for a quiet dinner on peak nights, the Red Pearl Kitchen isn’t the place to head. Though if your favorite Asian restaurants have left you jaded, you’ll find a whole new world of flavors and presentations here that smack of fun and goodness.