BEST BITES

Following are some capsule reviews of the better restaurants recently visited by our critics:

From the way the suns shines through the dining room, to the classical Mexican and Yucatan cuisine, Cafe Vallarta is a treat for the senses. The new menu includes such entrees as a calamari-stuffed chile relleno , a mild pollo almendrado and an award-winning caldo de mariscos (or bouillabaisse). The beer snacks, especially the cochinita pibil (pork cooked in banana leaves), are worth trying. Cafe Vallarta is located at 620 E. Haley St., Santa Barbara, 564-8494. Dinner is served from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, and 5 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The restaurant is closed Sundays and Mondays. Dinner for two, food only, $28-40.

What’s in a name? Everything, in the case of the Sea Fresh Restaurant. The owners have their own commercial fishing boat in Ventura Harbor and have the pick of fresh fish. Sushi is a house specialty and is offered as an entree or an appetizer. Particularly good is the yellowtail roll. Main dishes include a large selection of fish and chips, calamari and fish tacos. Sea Fresh Restaurant is located at 533 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai, 646-7747. Lunch and dinner are served 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The sushi bar is open 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and 5:30 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Dinner for two, food only, $11-$28. Nothing at the sushi bar is more than $3.

Don’t let the six-foot-wide storefront entrance to Chez Kim mislead you. Once inside, the place is like a French bistro. There is the intimacy, the simple menu and the hearty servings. But again, don’t be fooled. The menu leans toward Italian. There are several types of fresh pasta in a coarse-textured pesto sauce. Among the other entrees are salmon fillet poached in white wine and served in a sauce of butter and dill, and filet mignon in cream sauce. Chez Kim is located at 420 E. Main St., Ventura, 648-7028. Dinner is served 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Dinner for two, food only, $35-55.

It may be hard to believe, but there is a place that serves pizza for both the trendy and the traditional. Avanti’s menu offers plain old pepperoni pizza mixed in with the smoked salmon and cream cheese, basil and mozzarella and barbecued chicken versions. Entrees include broiled lamb with garlic and sherry sauce and pasta with a cream sauce of bay scallops, oyster mushrooms and bits of tomato and oregano. But leave room for the hot, fresh Italian bread called focaccia and the delicious desserts. Avanti is located at 710 Ventura Ave., Oak View, 649-9001. Lunch and dinner are served Wednesday through Monday, noon to 9 p.m. Dinner for two $15-40.

When a restaurant thrives in the corner of a Vons shopping center then the proprietor must be doing something right. Well at Restaurant Kai he is. In a jinxed location that already buried three other establishments, the restaurant serves up sushi that has them lining up at the door. The specialty, Mark’s Spider Roll, is named after the sushi chef. It is a bundle of crisp, soft-shell crab with dried bonito and radish. For those who don’t want sushi, there are spicy chicken and rib-eye steak entrees. Restaurant Kai is located at 1014 Coast Village Road, Montecito, 969-7565. Lunch is served Tuesday through Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., dinner Tuesday through Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m. Lunch or dinner for two, food only, $22-40.