The Dish: Sweet Clams, Spicy and Smokey

All fans of spicy food say it: When it's hot outside, heat in the food cools you off; you sweat and evaporation lowers your temperature. Whatever, in this weather, air-conditioning is where it's at and Matsulin has it in spades.

The Place: Matsulin, 131 West Montauk Highway, Hampton Bays, 631-728-8838. It's pan-Asian featuring dishes from China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Dish: A special of Basil Manilla Clams with black beans and dried red peppers, $13. These clams were cooked perfectly, tender and bursting with the salinity of the sea. The black beans were recognizable from any Chinese menu, smoky and sour. The basil livened up the dish, as did the unadvertised scallions and ginger and caramelized onions, while the dried red peppers gave it the requisite heat. (Did it cool me off? No.) You have to ask for a boneyard, a plate to discard the empty shells and a spoon, which I wanted so I could eat the remaining sauce (this is where Asian restaurants would do well to serve bread). All in all, this dish was pretty delicious, but I'm not sure which country it came from.

The Bonus: Our continually surprised waiter; the creative straw paper presentation;  the Japanese cat statue at the front desk with the perpetual motion wave; the selection of 16 different cold sakes, AND the first woman sushi chef I have ever seen. Go girl!