AROUND THE WORLD IN L.A., PART III

The last leg of our trip around the world via Los Angeles restaurants.

Balo’s Place (Yucatan). (5672 York Blvd., Eagle Rock, (213) 255-2878.) Balo’s Place looks more like a trendy Melrose hot spot than a small, family-run restaurant. But don’t let the neon fool you--all entrees, side dishes and salsas are made from scratch. One dish, papadzules , is made from pumpkin-seed paste that is flown in from the Yucatan, then made into a gravy; tortillas stuffed with hard-cooked eggs are dipped in it and then covered with tomato sauce and served like an enchilada. The cinnamon and other spices mixed with the pumpkin lend a sweetness to this dish. Pollo pibil is an excellent marinated chicken dish that comes wrapped in a banana leaf, steaming hot and fragrant with spices. Puchero , a Yucatan stew served only on weekends, is full of cubes of pork floating in a rich black-bean soup. The dish is tasty and filling, and the serving is large enough to share with a friend. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. Cash only. Beer and wine. Street parking. Dinner for two, food only, $12-$20.

Cafe San Juan (Mexico). (13324 Van Nuys Blvd., Pacoima, (818) 897-6144.) This family restaurant is clean and well-lighted with frilly ruffled curtains in the window. The walls are festooned with mementos of Mexican ranch life and a large portrait of Emiliano Zapata hangs on the wall. Tostadas are not the salad-topped Cal-Mex kind you expect, but the Mexican kind: small, crisply fried corn tortillas smeared with beans and sharp white cheese. Shake a Tabasco bottle over them a couple of times. Tacos are also wonderful: soft corn tortillas stuffed with beans and vegetables and spicy crisps of grilled, marinated carne asada. The chile verde , chunks of pork long-stewed in a tart, perfectly balanced green salsa, is world-class. On weekends you can get a bowl of the tripe stew called menudo . Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Cash only. No alcohol served. Parking lot. Dinner for two, food only, $8-$15.

El Sol Restaurant (Peru). (15651 Hawthorne Blvd., Lawndale, (213) 973-2486.) El Sol is big on fish--after all, Peru is on the Pacific coast of South America. Calamares , or deep-fried squid, and the combination plate called saltado de mariscos (made up of sauteed shrimp, scallops, squid and bay octopus and served with fries and white rice) are both excellent bargains at $6.50 and $6.95, respectively. The tamal con salsa criolla is huge and tasty. The sopa de gallina would rival the best Jewish mother’s chicken soup in size, freshness and healing powers. El Sol also serves interesting imported beers (Pilsen, Callao, Cuzco and Pilsen Negra), and for teetotalers there are Peruvian soft drinks. For dessert El Sol serves up a fine flan and a creamy rice pudding. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. MasterCard, Visa and American Express. Beer and wine. Street parking. Dinner for two, food only, $12-$20.

Sugar Shack (Jamaica). (8751 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 271-7887.) Here you have your Caribbean music, your elaborate rock waterfall, your bamboo, your murals of happy, dancing Jamaicans and your steel drums. Waiters and waitresses scurry around in short-shorts and tropical shirts, and blue drinks circulate in electric coolers behind the bar. The “drunken” shrimp in a fire-hot, beery broth are good and so are the corn sticks. Other best bets include Jerk Chicken, a smoky, spicy Jamaican preparation; Coconut Fried Shrimp and Red Chicken and Green Rice. If you’re going to have dessert forget the Key Lime Pie and go for the the coffee ice cream with chocolate Tia Maria sauce. You’re not supposed to like that stuff, but, heck, fun’s fun. Monday, dancing only, dinner Tue.-Sat. MasterCard, Visa and American Express. Full bar. Valet parking. Dinner for two, food only, $30-$45.

Tito Rey of the Islands (Philippines). (11829 Wilshire Blvd., West Los Angeles, (213) 479-7008.) Filipino food requires a taste for bitter vegetables and rather earthy meat flavors (there are sauces made of pureed liver). A love of the savage bite of vinegar, garlic and hot peppers doesn’t hurt either. However, Filipinos are famous for their sweet tooth. Take chicken Sumatra, an easy-to-like fried chicken dish made with a fascinating sweet and sour tamarind-mustard sauce. Even the weird-sounding “Salty egg and tomato” is instantly likable--a tomato stuffed with mayonnaise and a salt-cured egg that tastes like feta cheese. If you’re feeling adventurous, try kare-kare , braised oxtail in a devastatingly rich peanut sauce. If you want to be authentic, spread the sweet concentrate of dried shrimp called bagoong on your kare-kare before you eat it, but do eat it. Sooner or later, everybody ought to have a dessert like the delirious bobo cha cha, made with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, “rice crispies,” yams and little glowing chunks of orange Jell-O. Lunch and dinner daily. MasterCard, Visa, and American Express. No liquor. Parking in rear. Dinner for two, food only, $20-$45.