BY ERIC NOLAND >RESTAURANT CRITIC

In view of the evidence - and there are five pages of it - Maru couldn't quite decide what type of restaurant it wanted to be.

Traditional Japanese, with teriyaki and tempura and noodle dishes? Japanese-French fusion, with gourmet items crafted from farmers market ingredients? Standard sushi menu? Or one that featured bluefin tuna and sea eel flown in from Japan?

There are three different menus, running to a combined five pages. Our waitress gave us a helpful overview. The basic menu has all the familiar choices, she said, because some patrons just have to have beef sukiyaki or udon noodles with vegetables or shrimp tempura. But for creative flourish, reach for the market menu, which is printed daily based on what chef Jason Park can get his hands on.

We found some winners here, starting with an appetizer of crispy duck risotto ($14). Contrary to expectations, it is the risotto that is crispy, having been formed into a patty and fried. It is set atop a confit featuring tender, juicy duck meat, the flavor of which richly infuses the rice. It's a clever convergence of textures and tastes, enhanced by such accompaniments as herb salad and a dab of house-made tomato-truffle sauce.

The kitchen also takes ambitious aim on a main course of Chilean sea bass ($29) but this time misses the mark a bit. The fish is pan-roasted perfectly, there just isn't much of it - a skimpy little filet. There's also a scoop of tomato/Thai chili sorbet up on top. It has intense flavor and would probably be fine on its own, but as it releases its icy-cold streams, the dish becomes about as appealing as ... well, fish a la mode. Much more complementary are the savory braised leeks and creamy pureed potatoes underneath.

Scallop tempura from the appetizer menu ($16) is nicely executed, the seafood very lightly fried outside and not overcooked within, so it retains its delicate texture and moisture.

The pacing was found to be a little quick. We hoped to start with an order of hamachi usuzukuri from the market menu ($20), but it arrived just seconds before the main courses did. The fish is thinly sliced and remarkably tender, the pieces arranged fan-like on the plate, but the yuzu (citrus sauce) was laid on pretty generously. That's the prerogative of the sushi chef, who also dressed up an order of chu-toro ($15), liberally splashing the bluefin tuna with soy sauce and depositing a dollop of wasabe on top.

At its best: Extensive menu options make it easier to satisfy the disparate tastes of a family or group.

Could be better: The market menu is steeply priced for the neighborhood - but maybe the quality of ingredients justifies that.

Eric Noland, (818) 713-3681

eric.noland@dailynews.com

review>

MARU

>Cost: Appetizers $2.50 to $18, main courses $19 to $38, sushi $3.45 to $26, desserts $3.50 to $9.95.

>Noteworthy: Stylish dining room, with little spotlights over the tables, murals on the walls and an impressive etched-glass rendering of Mount Fuji behind the sushi bar. Wine pricing by the glass is pretty high, though the bottle pricing isn't bad. Maru makes its own ice creams and sorbets; the lychee sorbet ($3.50) is commendable.