Once upon a time, sushi was the new game in town.

Hard to imagine now. These days you can’t walk into a restaurant without running into a spicy tuna roll.

Rika, the latest addition to the Sunset Strip, has found a way to make a night out for Japanese food a truly novel experience. With three — count ’em — chefs behind the menu (a French-trained executive chef, a sushi chef, and a progressive sushi chef), sassy decor by Johnathen Day, and the freshest catch on the West Coast, Rika is a perfect storm of eye-catching and mouthwatering components.

Don’t look for beef teriyaki on the menu. The fare comprises original delicacies — from inventive starters (hamachi and tuna tartare served with crème fraîche and ocha ginger-tea infusion) to fusion-y entrees (grilled veal T-bone with seared shiitake and chanterelle mushrooms in a ginger sauce and Fuji-apple compote) to mind-bending sushi rolls from chef Tracy “Melanie’s sister” Griffith (foie gras, endive, pistachios, and Pippin apple wrapped in serrano ham, completed with a fig-basalmic soy sauce).

If the food’s not enough to get you to brave the traffic, the bar is a draw in itself, with its custom-made, sparkly, black carpet, a view of the Strip, and an amazing sake list.

Looks like Japanese is back on the menu.

Rika Restaurant and Diamond Lounge, Sunset Millennium Plaza, 8590 Sunset Boulevard, between Sunset Plaza Drive and La Cienega Boulevard, West Hollywood (310-657-9500).