FAMILY FARE: VOILA CAFE : This Treat’s Real : Here’s a restaurant that doesn’t have to pretend its food is good--even the kids will like it.

Eating in a restaurant that was once a house always reminds me of having a tea party in a playhouse. Except that here my orders are obeyed, the food is real and I don’t need to sip air from the cups.

Voila Cafe makes a particularly nice playhouse. The restaurant inhabits a little blue California stucco house with striped awnings. A splendid array of bright golden sunflowers grows just outside. Inside, the restaurant--which calls itself a bistro cafe--is light, airy and comfortable. And although it is right on a four-lane road overlooking a lumber yard, it sits high up on a knoll so it doesn’t seem to matter.

The restaurant isn’t fancy; in fact, my 7-year-old nephew Billy Jon was the only one of us with the presence of mind to don a suit and tie for dinner (along with his tennis shoes). As it turned out, this was just the sort of occasion that was worth dressing up for.

Broccoli soup, a sort of liquid souffle, gave a hint that the vegetables at this restaurant were going to be superb. It was followed by a wonderful baked chevre --a generous salad of crisp romaine and raw vegetables topped with a good portion of warmed, pungent goat cheese.

When the entrees arrived, each plate was heaped so high with carrots, broccoli, potatoes and zucchini that it looked as if we had all ordered the same thing. But beneath those brightly colored vegetables, the entrees proved to be varied and imaginative.

Tender pork medallions came with hot slices of apple in a mild brandy cream sauce. Filet Madrid was an excellent steak in an exciting sauce of red peppers, fresh tomatoes, onions and cilantro. The snapper had a ginger curry sauce in which the ginger almost eclipsed the curry. It went particularly well with the carrots.

Chicken with hearts of palm was a new take on the familiar piccante flavor that goes so well with chicken. Summer pasta consisted of chewy penne noodles with olive oil and Parmesan cheese, bountiful slices of good onions, mushrooms, broccoli and big, succulent shrimp.

Billy Jon liked his dinner--but it was the desserts in the case that really impressed him. “Let’s just break the glass, take them and run,” he suggested. We had a little trouble persuading him to enjoy his dessert at the table.

A giant slice of flour-less chocolate cake, made with ground walnuts and espresso, was rich but not too sweet, with a very dense texture. The creme brulee , was too sweet for me, and it lacked that usual crust of caramelized sugar. It did, however, contrast nicely with the fresh raspberries with which it was served. But I loved the carrot cake with its big nut morsels, a wonderful chewy moistness and a frosting in which a hint of tartness chased after the sweet.

We argued over whether this restaurant could be considered a place for family fare. I pointed out that I’d never seen the kids eat so much or so well. But Billy Jon gave the deciding vote. Wiping his hands on his shirt, he leaned back against the seat and said, “I’m having the time of my life.”

* WHERE AND WHEN: Voila Cafe, 1095 Thompson Blvd., Ventura, (805) 643-9445. Lunch and dinner 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday; breakfast 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday; brunch 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday. Wine and beer. Street parking. American Express, MasterCard and Visa. Dinner for two, food only, $27-$46; Sunday brunch with champagne, $16.50 per person.