Much too little shines at Noche

Appetizers rely heavily on seafood. Collier was previously chef at a place called Doraku Sushi, and tartare, sashimi, and tempura are all here. These are some of Noche’s stronger dishes. Crispy tempura sea bass is nicely fried, the fish paired with red onion, cherry tomatoes, and shaved jalapeno. The flavors are bright, the textures several different kinds of crisp. The jalapeno slices are hard to come by, and more of them would make the dish better.

Bluefin tuna tartare joins with avocado relish, tobiko, and ponzu sauce, tortilla chips protruding like sails. The fish isn’t the most flavorful, but these ingredients are always going to taste just fine together. If you’re leery of eating bluefin tuna, brace yourself for Chilean sea bass coming in the entree round, served with bean sprouts and mushrooms. The future of both species is troubled. What responsibility should a restaurant bear for serving sustainable fish? Each establishment must answer that for itself, and responses raise questions of their own. (For one: If you aren’t concerned about the long-term viability of the food you serve, does that mean you don’t expect to be in business long?)

Description and presentation don’t always match at Noche. When we order braised short ribs, we expect succulent chunks of meat. We get a small serving of flattened strips, more like beef jerky in appearance, coated in a red sauce that tastes like ketchup spiked with cumin.

When we order jalapenos with spicy chorizo and goat cheese, we envision generous slices of chorizo. We get cheese-filled slices of jalapeno sprinkled with tiny bits of chorizo. The peppers are shriveled around the edges and barely spicy; the chorizo is bland.

Tiger shrimp are tiny — maybe they’re cubs. They’re terribly overcooked, hard and rubbery, served with crescents of onion tempura and a thick, orange spicy mayonnaise.