People often tell me that they wait to hear my opinion about a restaurant before trying it out themselves. I don’t particularly believe in that practice because I don’t believe there is ever a substitute for making decisions based on your own firsthand experiences.

At the same time, because of the pressure to be fair in my very public estimations, I also like to hear whether a restaurant has hit its stride before checking it out. With Rijo in particular, there was a lot of excitement around its opening because of the simple fact that its space at Harbor Court, once home to popular Palomino, had been shuttered for seven years following a nearly yearlong stint by its successors Cassis and Harbor Court Bistro.

Rijo is the name of a castle in Hiroshima, and the name befits the cavernous 13,000-square-foot space. A restaurant of this size could have existed only in the late 1980s through early 1990s, when the dining scene was on an upswing and there were much fewer restaurant options than there are today. People tended to flock to those that commanded the biggest crowds. Today’s diners are much more discerning, so fewer restaurants are able to please everyone.

Unfortunately for Rijo, the best accolade I heard was that it was "just OK." Not exactly a ringing endorsement. In attempting a take on contemporary Japanese-fusion cuisine, I think the restaurant is caught in a Catch-22 situation. The Japanese restaurant is ubiquitous in Hawaii, and to go too far traditional is to cause diners to respond, "Ho-hum, nothing new." To go too far in the experimental direction is to raise the question, "What is this?" There’s a sweet spot that addresses both a love of comfort food and a love of novelty. In veering too far toward the experimental range, I fear those involved in this project forgot to actually taste the food.

On the plus side, that I’m writing about this place at all is a sign that the menu is not too far beyond repair with a few minor tweaks. My bigger concern is that there’s an automated phone system in place and no one returned phone calls. Once you are in, service is fine.

Other than toned-down artwork, little has changed about the interior since Palomino designed the space. Go right and you’re in the bar; go forward and you have your pick of tables.

The downtown business crowd appears elated to have one more lunchtime option, and this is when the restaurant is at its fullest, with an assist from Japanese tourists. It’s a beautiful spot for a business lunch, with some nice teishoku-style options. It doesn’t say so on the menu, but the Hawaiian Dragon Roll ($14) comes with a small salad and bowl of miso soup.

Here’s the thing about many of the dishes here: There are so many disparate ingredients on the plate — shrimp tempura, pickled papaya, avocado, unagi and macadamia nuts — that you often can’t taste the major ones unless picking up the pieces individually, making it almost pointless to include them. I really liked it, but this dish could have been all rice, nori and avocado and tasted the same. The extra ingredients add to the price without making an impact on flavor.

I enjoyed the crispness of mochiko-fried calamari ($11), as well as the brightness and heat of an accompanying jalapeno and serrano-lime sauce, but couldn’t help noticing the citrus overshadows any trace of seafood flavor.

Rib-eye negimaki ($15) is a great idea, comprising thin slices of beef wrapped around scallion and yamaimo and served with teriyaki butter. But the steak itself lacked oomph. I thought it might be helped with garlic or a touch of acid, like a bit of "yuzukosho," a fermented paste of yuzu peel, chili peppers and salt.

Coincidentally, BBQ chicken ($14) is given the yuzukosho treatment here, but the only flavor that stands out is the teriyaki glaze.

One of the bright spots runs more traditional, a seaweed salad ($7) of wakame, ogo and tosaka nori with slivers of red onion and a garlic-aged ponzu dressing. I also enjoyed the nori tsukudani ahi katsu ($16), with its light panko crust. This was served with a soy-foie gras vinaigrette, but again, the richness of foie gras got buried by the soy sauce.

Many of the lunchtime soup, salad and appetizer selections reappear on the dinner menu. In the evening I was drawn to a soy milk clam chowder ($7) that was one of my favorite dishes of the meal. Even so, it could hardly be called a clam chowder because of the lack of clams and clam flavor. I detected only one clam in a bowl. My dinner companion found none. The soup tasted exactly like corn chowder, without corn. I would suggest adding some fresh corn kernels and calling it corn chowder, and all would be well.

A vegan’s delight of quinoa, kinpira and hijiki salad ($10) is topped with two deep-fried squares of tofu. I found it too sweet and thought it could use a flavor boost from cilantro or mint. It’s also a gluten-free option, and the menu clearly designates dishes that are healthy, gluten-free and/or vegetarian.

One standout was a dish of two Dungeness crab cakes with truffled egg tofu ($16). My only issue was that it was served at room temperature, when it would have been much more comforting served warm. Buttermilk karaage ($9) is a popular option with a Buffalo-style dip that forgoes the need to mix hot sauce and blue cheese. It’s done for you in the accompanying dip.

On the entree roster you’ll find garlic shrimp ($26), misoyaki filet mignon ($30), dynamite crab-crusted fish ($26), teriyaki Jidori chicken ($25) and pan-seared Chilean sea bass ($31).

Bouillabaisse is the richest of the dishes ($38), with a half lobster tail, crab, clams, shrimp, scallops and mussels, but I was put off by a green coat on the clamshells.

Dessert completed the circle. At lunchtime I had a banana-caramel creme brulee ($6) with little banana flavor, and in the evening, a molten lava chocolate cake ($9) with a green tea ganache center, its flavor masked by the chocolate. I enjoyed both anyway.

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.