Many people would trade places with us to live in Hawaii, so we’re familiar with the story of vacationers eventually setting down roots here.

But few have made the decision as quickly as Chen Pan and Kylee Lin. Both made their way from China to the Southeast, she in Maryland and he in Virginia, where they met and married.

Like most Hawaii vacationers, they purchased round-trip tickets but never took the return flights, opting on the spot to stay on Oahu.

The first order of business was to find a livelihood. In Virginia, Pan had owned restaurants and the couple were among partners operating a karaoke bar. Eventually they sold their stake in that business to open Air Park Karaoke Lounge on Piikoi Street.

Their latest endeavor is Cafe Asia, a restaurant with shabu shabu at the core of its menu, surrounded by a supporting cast of pupu and side dishes for those days when the cook-it-yourself option seems too fussy.

THE RESTAURANT is in the spot that for nearly 40 years was home to Lung Fung Chinese restaurant. It’s a big change from old-school Cantonese to contemporary Asian fusion, and I wondered how regulars would respond. I got my answer on a Saturday morning when some Lung Fung regulars were in the house and said that while they miss the staff and owner of the former restaurant, they welcome the new dishes.

For me, Pan’s cooking is a breath of fresh air. A lot of fusion fare in Hawaii is all too similar because we all grow up eating the same foods and experiencing the same flavors. In Pan’s food there is familiarity in the dishes, but the boldness of Chinese cooking is tempered by a subdued Japanese aesthetic, bearing the marks of his upbringing in Tsingtao, China, and his work with Japanese chefs who ventured to the Southeast.

His unique take on Asian cuisine is quite addicting. I am known to avoid rice dishes, but here I found myself reaching for three bowls full of kim chee-salmon fried rice ($13.95, lunch only). The rice had a fluffy, mochi-like springiness I imagined was koshihikari or some other premium specialty rice. But no, it was just California Calrose. I was shocked!

I guess no one else cooks it right, because I’ve hated that rice since I was a year old, able to let my thoughts be known by refusing to eat it. I’ve always found it to be mushy, pasty and bland. Here, it was a joy, flavored with dashi and soy sauce, each grain clearly delineated and delicious with accents of kim chee and salmon.

When others order beef tongue, I stick to a polite one or two pieces, no more, finding it rubbery. Here, thin pieces of tongue are stir-fried with mushrooms in a bourbon, garlic and scallion sauce ($10.95) and it’s so delicious that once again, I had three servings. The tongue still had its full beefy flavor and bounce, but not enough of the usual off-putting texture to make picky eaters queasy.

If it’s regular beef you want, there is a starter of Vietnamese-style beef summer roll ($8.50) with thin-sliced grilled rib-eye with onion and mushrooms in a rice-paper wrap.

Another favorite starter is the Side Street Clams ($9.95), stir-fried in spicy butter and finished with a light black-bean sauce that didn’t bathe the clams in salt as is typical at many chop-suey houses.

Grilled lamb on skewers ($6.95) are curry spiced, reflecting the cooking of Northern China.

AS FOR shabu shabu, there are two set options. Combo A comes with a piece of salmon, shrimp, pork meatballs, mussel, arabiki sausage, tofu, vegetables, udon or ramen, and rice in a choice of white or mixed grain ($1 extra). Combo B is more basic, with tofu, vegetables and the same choices in noodles and rice.

For either set, the price is determined by your meat choices, from Berkshire pork loin or belly ($17.95 lunch/$23.95 dinner) to USDA prime rib-eye ($22.95 lunch/$27.95 dinner). In addition to various cuts of beef, other meat selections are organic chicken breast ($13.95) and Australian lamb leg ($13.95).

Because Combo B has no seafood, that set has the option of a seafood mix of salmon and shellfish for $23.95/$28.95 or a surf ’n turf duo of rib-eye and seafood ($23.95/$28.95).

If you’re ordering a lot of side dishes, your party could share one set. You can always order more meat and veggies to add to the pot. Prices for side selections range from about $3.95 for Okinawan sweet potato or pumpkin, to $13.95 for prime rib-eye. In between are shimeji or enoki mushrooms for $4.50 and $9.95 for beef tongue.

You’ll also need to choose a broth. Sukiyaki, spicy suki and konbu are no extra charge. Others range from $2.95 for coconut curry or kim chee, to $4.95 for spicy crab flavored by a section of the crustacean that you can eat as your pot empties. With the latter, the flavor intensifies throughout the meal as the crab boils down.

I haven’t tried all the broths yet, but favorites so far are the garlic paitan and butter miso. Both are very assertive and lean toward saltiness, flavoring all the ingredients while cooking so no additional sauce is necessary, although sets do come with sesame sauce and ponzu.

Cafe Asia represents a big change for area residents accustomed to dining at Lung Fung and the also-shuttered Le Bistro, but hopefully over time the restaurant will also come to be seen as a valued neighbor.

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