Don't let Stir Moon's sunny little yellow menu fool you. With appetizers and entrees spanning the Asian continent -- Vietnamese spicy fish soup, Japanese pot soup, Chinese hot and sour soup, Hong Kong lo-mein, Thai and Indian curries, Mongolian beef, Cantonese duck -- we were more than a little overwhelmed.

Then there's the dim sum and the yakitori. And we haven't even gotten to the restaurant's signature billing, ''Create a Stir.'' The kids will love this: After choosing a base (vegetable, chicken, beef, shrimp, tuna), deciding on rice or noodles and selecting one of eight sauces, you're handed a metal pot to fill at the ''market,'' where every imaginable vegetable and spice beckons. Hand it to the chef and watch your creation prepared.

We're thinking this must be the way to go when we notice the little violet number, a separate menu dedicated to the sushi bar with more than 100 selections of its own: sushi, shashimi, usuzukuri, tataki and rolls of every description.

Maybe the thing to do is sit back and relax with a warm sake and soak in the atmosphere of this bright spot all done in primary colors, or relax outside by the pond.

One trick is to decide what you feel for and ignore all the rest. Well, all except the lamb satay, six skewers of exceptionally tender meat served with two sauces that to our minds is required eating.

Among the standout big plates (we're talking an 18-inch platter) is the green-tea-spiced roasted lamb rack, nine meaty chops done to a turn atop a mountain of stir-fried vegetables with brown or Thai Jasmine rice, a bargain at $25 that could easily satisfy two.

Another entree, the red hot fish, is an unusual preparation: The snapper is filleted and then cubed, the bits then battered, fried and finally restored to the skeleton to make a head and tail.

I was a bit disappointed that the Thai volcano sauce wasn't nearly spicy enough (I'm only happy when I'm in tears), but that was easily remedied with a liberal slosh of Sriraja chili sauce from Thailand and a good sprinkling of Shichimi Togarashi, a red pepper mix from Japan.

Thinking small isn't such a bad idea either, and we're happy to graze dim-sum style ordering just a bit of this, a bit of that. Don't know your sui-mei from your har gow? Just ask. Stir Moon's staff is cheerful and accommodating.

Among the standouts in the small plate category (and even here we're talking normal-size dinner plates) is the shrimp yakitori, four skewers impaling two shrimp each with green onions and a sweet-and-sour dipping sauce. Yakitori options also include various meat and fish as well as vegetables, mushrooms and tofu for the vegans in your crowd.

Because it's best right out of the oil, we don't often eat tempura out. Even if the first few bites are rapturous, the rest are a cool letdown. Stir Moon has found the solution: tempura la carte. Order a few pieces and, when it arrives, order a few more.

When all's said and done, there is a short dessert list -- cheesecake tempura and banana wontons -- but we've never made it that far.