A TASTE OF CENTRAL AMERICA WITHOUT CONFLICT

Most Central American restaurants in Los Angeles are located where Salvadoran, Nicaraguan and Guatemalan refugees live: west of downtown, from the Pico/Alvarado area up to Hollywood. Because they are clustered together off the beaten track, the unique food of Central America remains a mystery to most people in Los Angeles.

This is a pity. Central American restaurants serve a cuisine blending the best of southern Mexican cooking with that of northern South America. Central American cooks have their own versions of tamales, tortillas (called pupusas ) and stews. They often serve potatoes, rather than rice, along with other filling side dishes such as black beans, plantains and yucca.

Most of these Central American restaurants are found on well-lit streets and most have parking a few feet from the front door. Here is a sampling of the best.

La Plancha (“The Grill”) makes you think that Nicaragua must be the Switzerland of Central America; the owner is the type to whisk an errant straw wrapper away just as it hits the floor.

Nicaraguan food focuses on meats marinated in citrus juices, fried plaintains and fish (if you’ve ever seen a map with Lake Nicaragua on it, you’ll know why). As in Mexico, appetizers are called antojitos. At La Plancha, they include an empanada made with plaintain batter (which gives it a softer crust than most empanadas) and filled with a slightly pungent cotija cheese. Appetizers here are mostly starch based: steamed yucca with chicharrones, gallo pinto (rice and beans), or just beans.

Chanco frito is a memorable pork entree. Succulent chunks of pork, long marinated in citrus juices, are charbroiled and served with a tart slaw-like salad and plaintains. The platanos maduros (sweet ripe plaintains) are tastier than the rather tough, unripe platanos verdes . Carne desmenuzada , a Nicaraguan version of ropa vieja , is delicious shredded beef cooked with onions. Momotombo , named for a Nicaraguan volcano, has strips of beef laid around a cone of rice, encircled in a forest of plaintains and topped with a hot salsa “lava.”

La Plancha serves delicious fruit drinks. The menu lists tamarindo, pinada, cacao, semilla de jicaro (squash seeds) and chicha (pink-tinted corn that tastes better than it looks). As the flavor depends on the ingredients reaching the perfect point in the fermentation process, not all are available every day. Pinada , when it’s ready, is an incredibly intense pineapple drink.

La Plancha, 2818 West 9th St., Los Angeles, (213) 383-1449. Dinner for two (food only), $20-$25.

Managua has recently moved from a rather seedy storefront on Alvarado to a neat-and-tidy, two-story house on the same street, with its own small parking lot in back. Like La Plancha it has a spotless, rather soul-less ambiance but the atmosphere here is warmer, especially when the place is crowded with large family groups and the jukebox is playing a steady stream of Latino hits. La Plancha serves better food, but Managua feels more comfortable.

Entrees are served on platters, which make more than a meal for one. Fritanga is a typical Nicaraguan platter of fried pork chunks, yucca, fried cheese, gallo pinto (rice and red beans) and plaintains. Bistec relleno is a steak sliced open and filled with ham and cheese. The platters are better than the short-order enchiladas and tamales.

Managua, 1007 N. Alvarado St., Los Angeles, (213) 413-9622. Dinner for two (food only), $20-25.

El Nuevo San Salvador has recently opened in the storefront space that was once Regina’s, an Argentine restaurant. The refined interior design remains, making this the most middle-class Salvadoran restaurant in the city and perhaps a sign that the cuisine of this latest immigrant wave is finally moving out of the barrio.

The pupusa , the sandwich of Salvador, is similar to a tortilla but thicker, chewier and usually stuffed with cheese or chicharonnes and then fried. The pupusas here are excellent, stuffed with just the right perfectly melted cheese. They make a fine appetizer.

There are several versions of rellenos. Here a thick egg batter is laid onto pacaya (flower seeds), green beans, chayote or cabbage before the vegetable is deep fried.

Bistec encebollado , steak smothered in a thick onion sauce, is a very successful dish. The salpicon was less so: served room temperature, the ground beef was sweetened with watercress and tasted rather bland.

El Nuevo San Salvador. 371 N. Western Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 462-2525. Dinner for two (food only), $15-20.

Restaurant Mi Guatemala is a simple cafe serving homestyle cooking. This neighborhood can seem difficult at night, but Mi Guatemala is in a small shopping center with plenty of parking right at the front door. It’s a hangout place where local Guatemalans, speaking in soft voices, come for a leisurely meal after work. A sign on the door advertises for rides to Guatemala, and as you settle into a booth it’s easy to think you’re south of the border.

Many of the platillos especiales are hearty, homestyle stews served with potatoes, rice and black beans. Carne guisado , a plate filled with several huge chunks of slow-cooked meat stewed in a rich, tomatoey sauce, has potatoes, beans and plantains on the side. It is better than the pepian , chunks of pork in sauce. Other entrees include chicken encebollado and carne adobado (pork cooked in achiote sauce). Plaintains are served as a side dish; they are wonderful served with cream and black beans, less appealing served warm and sweetened with cinnamon in the mole con platanos .

Restaurante Mi Guatemala, 695 S. Hoover St., Los Angeles, (213) 387-4296. Dinner for two (food only), $15-20.

All done up in bright green and white with lattice and plants, Restaurante Costa Rica looks more like a Beverly Hills salad bar than a Central American restaurant in Hollywood.

A cup of black bean dip, fuente de frijoles , is placed on the table when you sit down. It is the best I’ve ever tasted; you can order a larger bowl as an appetizer.

The ropa vieja is Costa Rican style: stew-like shredded beef with lots of tomatoes and onions--and heavy on the salt. The Costa Rican casado is a filling platter of thin, fried steak (much more tender than it looks), fried egg, black beans and rice. Costa Rican tamales, like most Central American tamales, are steamed in banana leaves, which makes them much moister than the cornhusk-wrapped Mexican version. The tamales ticos served here are filled with meat and have a slightly sweet flavor. One of the best dishes on the menu is a hearty soup, olla de carne , with typical Costa Rican ingredients: beef, yucca, potatoes, corn, plaintains and chayote .

Restaurante Costa Rica, 1133 N. Vermont Ave., Hollywood, (213) 669-0142. Dinner for two (food only). $15-20.