RESTAURANT REVIEW : Catching the Totally Rad Food of Menagerie

What do you want to know about a place where the menu lists Killer Teriyaki, Radical Rolls and Outrageous (“smothered in our Absolutely Awesome Sauce”)? Ordinarily, I guess, how far it is from the beach. If it’s more than two blocks, forget it.

The restaurant in question--which sometimes calls itself Menagerie Dining Bar and sometimes Menagerie Appetizer Bar--is in the community of Palms, a good 4 miles inland. Yet Menagerie totally depends on its killer, radical, awesome etc. food to draw people in.

It succeeds, too. One night, as I lingered over a dish called Down and Dungeness (in this case, more properly Down and Out since the place was out of crab and it was an all-shrimp version), an eager waitress in a cowboy hat got every table in the patio to sing “Happy Anniversary.” Later I was told the big anniversary was only a couple’s third month of dating, but their first date had been at Menagerie so it was sort of OK.

You might, as Menagerie does, call the food inventive . Dishes tend to have soy, basil, sour cream, grapes, walnuts and chili oil--sometimes all in the same dish. Everything is rich and buttery, and tends to be sweet and sour when it’s not positively sweet. It is cooking that belongs to no particular school, but I recognize it well. It’s the kind of thing I did in college--only here it’s taken to extremes I never imagined.

Take The Chili Thing. Forget the menu’s claim that it is simultaneously Chinese, Japanese, French, Mexican and Cajun; basically it’s a mild, sweet-and-sour curry, probably enriched with sour cream, and served on a bed of rice or (interesting idea) pasta. It’s quite enjoyable, if rather heavy.

The problem is that the kitchen tends to go for much the same effect every time. If your party orders all the main entrees at the same meal, it’s important to remember that Rosemary Saute contains mushrooms and rosemary, Outrageous contains mushrooms and walnuts (and some unannounced serrano peppers), Down and Dungeness is the one with red grapes, pecans and serranos and Perfectly Poached Salmon (a misnomer--the salmon is mushy) contains none of the above. Otherwise, you could all be eating the same dish--the rich sweet-sour quality is that strong in every one.

The Killer Teriyaki BBQ dishes stand out because the Killer Sauce is not sweet and sour. It’s very thick and decidedly sweet; there must be hoisin sauce in it. A bonus is that barbecue dishes tend to come with very tasty fried potato chunks with parsley, garlic and bits of corned beef.

I have to say a word about one of the appetizers, the sake oyster shooter. They put a raw oyster, some crunchy crab roe, lemon juice, soy and chili oil in a liqueur glass, and then throw in hot sake. You first take a little sip of the oil to prepare yourself for what’s coming (it’s hot) and then it’s down the hatch. The effect is curiously pleasing and throws the rest of the appetizers rather in the shade (in particular, the supposedly Japanese guacamole, where for once the sauce is less exotic than claimed).

I’m afraid I’ve only tried one of the desserts. The reason is that my table ordered Scrunch: caramelized, spiced brown sugar poured over ice cream, followed by melted white chocolate and toasted almonds. This scientific test showed that one order of Scrunch will put four pretty good eaters under the table in no time.

Menagerie, 3347 Motor Ave., West L.A.; (213) 202-8808. Lunch Mondays through Saturdays, dinner nightly, brunch Sundays. Beer, and wine. Street parking. All major credit cards accepted. Dinner for two, food only, $30 to $50.