RESTAURANTS / MAX JACOBSON : Getting Sidetracked by an English Cat on the Way to Cinco de Mayo Feast

Knowing that Saturday brings Cinco de Mayo, I spent the better part of a week recently trying to get into Cafe El Cholo, a handsome Mexican theme restaurant with its own mini tortilla factory. I’m afraid I didn’t make it to the actual door until my third trip. Here’s why.

Across the parking lot from Cafe El Cholo is another theme restaurant: the Cat and Custard Cup. Both restaurants are owned by Ron Salisbury, proprietor of Sonora Cafe in downtown Los Angeles and the well-known El Cholo in Hollywood. Here was temptation. The Cat and Custard Cup is a lovingly reconstructed English cottage, looking as charming and out of place as can be in the middle of Whittier Boulevard. One peek inside and I was hooked.

Salisbury took the name from a pub he saw while traveling in England. But apart from a cat poster in the garden room and the creme brulee the restaurant serves for dessert, there’s more romance than logic in the choice.

It’s a two-story cottage, with shuttered windows and climbing ivy on the exterior facade. Inside is a series of theme rooms (the Library, the Garden Room, the Pub) in a dark, 18th-Century style that recalls the famous eating scene in Tom Jones. There are romantic stag-horn chandeliers and plaid carpets. Even at lunch, a fire burns under giant copper pots in the brick fireplace. For goodness’ sake, bring a date and make sure it’s a special one.

The menu is small with English overtones, but the kitchen really specializes in California Continental. You can start with a big, bubbly crock of undistinguished onion soup, rather sweet, with a gooey cheese hat drooling down the sides. I’d go for the sorrel soup instead, a hearty little chicken-flavored potage thick with this pleasantly sour, pungent and sadly neglected green. It’s an unexpected treat.

The best appetizer is a light, flaky mushroom tart. They make their own puff pastry, and there are three types of mushrooms in the filling. American style salads, such as bibb and Caesar, tend to be good as well, with homemade dressings that stand up without standing out.

The most English entree is Yorkshire filet tidbits, sauteed filet mignon with vegetables served in a Yorkshire pudding. At $9.75, it is far and away the best deal. Skip the silly Continental dishes like veal Oscar and steak Diane and go for something like the well-conceived duckling with red currants, scampi with Pernod and garlic sauce, or filet mignon with Pommery mustard. I tasted all three (I was still in the mood for a feast) and noticed that they all share an authentic English tendency toward overcooking. I must admit I enjoyed them anyway.

Desserts, all made in-house, are almost as sensuous as the decor. Macadamia nut tart with praline ice cream is about the best, with a stunning combination of tastes and, strangely, not at all sweet. Chocolate toffee pie is about the richest, a mousse-like top with a dense, carmelized bottom. After eating a piece, you’ll wish you could retire to a romantic upstairs room.

The Cat and Custard Cup is moderately expensive. Appetizers are $4 to $9. Entrees are $9.75 to $24. Desserts are $4 to $7.

On my third trip to El Cholo, I did manage to stay out of the Cat and the Custard Cup. I was glad. El Cholo is really a pretty place with bright tropical colors on the walls.

If you have eaten at any of Salisbury’s other Mexican restaurants, you can expect to find his trademarks: aged cheeses, smoky chile sauces, handmade tortillas and extra-fresh guacamole. A Mexican friend who accompanied me dismissed the menu as “yuppie Mexican” because he couldn’t get a bowl of menudo. I’d say he was taking the narrow view.

Fajitas are excellent here, especially chicken, all white meat; shrimp, big tender ones; and beef, made from New York steak. All three are brought sizzling on an iron skillet, and the frizzled onions and peppers you scrape off the bottom are positively sensational in a steamy corn tortilla. (I do wish the restaurant would stop serving the beans on the same platter, where they burn to a crisp.)

The Sonora enchilada, a giant mound of thick, fresh corn tortillas layered with chicken and topped with a fried egg, comes in a smoke-flavored, dark pasilla sauce redolent of cilantro and garlic. It’s a real meal. My friend ordered it grudgingly but he ate it all.

If you want something lighter, the albondigas are airy, spicy meatballs in a light broth filled with green pepper, tomato and onion. For something more exotic, there is a fine, crisp-roasted chicken with a pasilla and pumpkin sauce. The chips and salsa are wonderful here, and service is unflaggingly cheerful. Anyway, it’s a good place to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, because the big, frosty margaritas are made with Cuervo 1800 and Cointreau. Just make sure you don’t have too many--there aren’t any upstairs rooms here either.

Cafe El Cholo is reasonably priced. Antojitos are $2.95 to $4.95. Specials are $6.95 to $10.50. Combinations are $6.95. At lunch, there is a special fiesta buffet--featuring several dishes that vary daily, beans, rice, fruit, tortillas, and dessert--for $6.95.

* THE CAT AND CUSTARD CUP

* 800 E. Whittier Boulevard, La Habra

* (213) 694-3812 or (714) 992-6496 * Open for lunch Mondays through Fridays, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m; for dinner Mondays from 5:30 to 9 p.m.; Tuesdays through Fridays from 5:30 to 10 p.m.; Saturdays from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. and Sundays from 5 to 9 p.m.

* All major cards

* CAFE EL CHOLO

* 840 E. Whittier Blvd., La Habra

* (213) 691-4610 or (714) 525-1320

Open Mondays through Saturdays from 11:30 a.m to 10 p.m., Sundays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

* All major cards