RESTAURANT REVIEW : The Accent is Multinational, Intercontinental on Le Cafe’s Menus

Usually a restaurant whose menu travels all over the map--France, China, Mexico, Italy--doesn’t do anything especially well. Not so at Le Cafe, where dinners (lunch is another matter) are composed of well-made dishes from several continents, fully realized dishes with a good amount of national character intact.

Start with a flavorsome and well-textured chicken liver pate (Chef’s pate, they call it here). It was a generous portion thoughtfully served at room temperature (excessive cold deadens flavor). A thick slice of appealingly coarse duck pate was likable but looked more interesting than it tasted. A “handmade” beef tamale, enlivened with cilantro, however, had a welcome tastier-than-it-looks freshness.

Skip the appetizer sampler whose pleasures--oysters on the half shell and the Chef’s pate--were outgunned by uninteresting boiled shrimp and a tired pasta primavera. My favorite dish was a large bowl of tender mussels in a shallot, garlic and wine sauce rich with butter and mussel broth.

Dinner entrees are also multinational. A first-rate New York steak had been Cajun-blackened and topped with a deceptively normal-looking pat of herbed butter. Deceptive because the butter had been spiked with chile and thus served as a savory dose-it-yourself condiment.

Among the specials one evening was a generous portion of exquisite poached salmon with a mustard-scallion topping that was too strong in massive amounts but which left a distinctive, yet delicate swath of flavor when removed to the side of the plate. Scallops and shrimp “Japon,” in a dark ginger and black mushroom and soy sauce, seemed more Chinese than Japanese. It certainly didn’t lack flavor but it was cruder than it could have been.

The vegetables and starches were unfortunately unreliable. One night they were perfect: Lush, correctly cooked asparagus, napped with a well-balanced garlic butter accompanied by crispy, rich scalloped potatoes. After that combination, just OK carrots and green beans and rice were terribly tame.

La Cafe is such a well-run restaurant that on more than one occasion the server, sensing that something didn’t please me, asked whether I’d like a replacement. This is an uncommon sensitivity to the diner, which is remarkably welcome. Unfortunately, the same offer wasn’t made at lunch. It’s immediately obvious that a different chef cooks during the day, because nothing really came to life.

Crab cakes and stuffed mushrooms were dull, veal with scallions and shiitake mushrooms failed to taste of the promised ginger, and warm honey chicken salad was a bust. A uniform mound of frisee lettuce (with a fine, light dressing) had been topped with pieces of overcooked white meat chicken drizzled with a slightly sweet, tasteless syrup. The exception was linguine with a fresh tomato, white onion and scallion sauce.

Let’s not forget desserts. A large, mostly berry shortcake, for instance. It wasn’t a cake in the usual sense, but a thin layer of superb shortcake that had been copiously topped with fresh strawberries and raspberries and whipped cream. It was perky and inviting. A tarte tatin was as apple-y and caramelized as it should have been. A peach cobbler, however, though obviously made of fresh peaches, was too runny. Only a chocolate eclair didn’t have a homemade feeling to it.

In spite of some unevenness in the kitchen, Le Cafe is a fine quality restaurant. Not only is the menu varied and most often pleasing, but the atmosphere is welcoming. I got the feeling that the management really cares about the diner. (For instance, you are told the prices of the specials so there are no unpleasant surprises when you get the bill.) And that attitude is reflected in the decor, which is a surprisingly harmonious combination of high-tech--both colorful and metallic--including a wonderfully whimsically erector set-like bar and the warmth of a plank floor.

There is a modestly priced wine list with a respectable range of California bottlings, some under $20. And, typically, there are a few half bottles, including a clean 1986 Joseph Phelps Sauvignon Blanc at $9.

If I lived near Le Cafe, it could easily become my neighborhood restaurant--for dinner or a late supper: From 10 p.m. until closing, Le Cafe, which many know as a well-respected jazz club, serves burgers and other items, including appetizers, salads and sandwiches.

Recommended dishes: chef’s pate, $5; mussels, $8.50; blackened New York steak, $15.50; poached salmon (price varies); tarte tatin , $4.50.

Le Cafe, 14633 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. (818) 986-2662. Open 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily. Full bar. Valet parking. Dinner for two, food only, $40-$60.