The following are summaries of recent Times...

The following are summaries of recent Times restaurant reviews by Max jacobson. Prices are based on average cost for a party of two without wine. $--less than $15 $$--$15 to $39 $$$--$40 to $75 $$$$--More than $75

AMERICAN

* The Original Pancake House, 1418 E. Lincoln Ave., Anaheim. (714) 693-1390. Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. $

The Original Pancake House is one of the very best restaurants in Orange County. Just ask anyone who has eaten there. All the batters are made with sourdough yeast and come straight from the grill--light, finely textured and complex. The Belgian waffles are eggy and crispy, and the apple pancake, a giant golden puff with a cinnamon-glaze topping, is one step away from nirvana.

* Revere House, 900 W. 1st St., Tustin. (714) 543-9319. Open Mondays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sundays from 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. $$

Revere House is one of those dark, woody dinner houses that were popular during the ‘50s, and guess what? That’s when the place opened. It specializes in credible versions of plain old American food--prime rib, pan-fried chicken, turkey with all the trimmings--all churned out with dependable regularity. The menu is enormous, and portions are sizable too. All entrees come with a choice of Caesar or spinach salad. Desserts are the one weak spot, except for the tapioca pudding you get for free.

GERMAN

* Fullerton Hofbrau, 323 State College Blvd., Fullerton. (714) 870-7400. Open Mondays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to midnight. $$

Fullerton Hofbrau is a cavernous, wood beamed room with a collegiate appeal, a place to quaff drafts of ice cold beer and down hearty portions of bratwurst and potato salad. Beers you drink here (lager, pilsener, bock and light) are brewed in accordance with traditional Bavarian recipes, and the foods cooked up by young American chef Dan Thomas are the perfect foils with which to enjoy them. Don’t miss wild game on skewers, a rolled beef dish called rouladen, or the generous salad bar.

ITALIAN

* Viva Italia, 303 Broadway, Laguna Beach. (714) 497-6220. Open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. ; Friday, Saturday and Sunday to 1 a.m. $$ The Viva in Viva Italia is an acronym for the first initials of brothers Vittorio, Ignacio, Vincenzo and Antonio Romeo, and the restaurant seems to have caught on as neatly. It’s a somewhat cramped version of an Italian trattoria : terra-cotta floor, tile kitchen, elbow-to-elbow seating. Food is simple and straightforward but erratic. Pastas and wood-fired pizzas are the best bets. Beach-crowd salads and ill-conceived main courses can be passed over. Service is snappy and efficient.

* Zeppa, 327 Newport Center Drive in Fashion Island, Newport Beach. (714) 640-0600. Open daily for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., for dinner Sundays through Thursdays from 6 to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays to 11 p.m. $$$ Zeppa is the latest, hottest and most sophisticated member of the upscale dining club in Newport Beach, a designer restaurant for designer diners. Sink down into one of the restaurant’s magenta colored velour banquettes and fight the crowds over California/Italian creations such as Pacific mussels in tomato concasse, Japanese eggplant wrapped around smoked mozzarella cheese, or any of the mesquite-grilled meats and fish that chef Louis Manginelli purveys daily. Pastas score big here too.

JAPANESE

* Umi, 2075 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa. (714) 631-2208. Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5:30 to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays to 11 p.m. $$

Umi is a modern and imaginative but often unprofessional sushi bar with high-tech pretensions, and knowing what to order is important. You are safe if you stick with the sushi, which is fresh and crafted with an excellently prepared rice, but it is easy to run aground on the many hot dishes. Among the best are a wonderful scallop casserole, a toothsome Japanese steak and yaki-onigiri (grilled triangles of sushi rice with various fillings). Service can be painfully slow.

MEXICAN

* Salud, 17041 Beach Blvd., Huntington Beach. (714) 842-1194. Open Mondays through Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.; Saturdays from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m.; Sundays from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. $$

Salud, a new high-concept Mexican restaurant from Larry Cano, has an outlandish design that looks like a set Roger Corman might have used for a movie on Aztec discomania. All the trendy Mexican buttons are pushed: hand-shaken margaritas, ‘80s chilies, blue corn. Avoid the usual Meximush and head for the soups, grilled meats and desserts. Pozole verde is hominy and shredded chicken in broth, and it’s great. So is Ibarra chocolate bread pudding, little cubes of fudge-soaked bread in a tequila orange cream sauce. Prices are reasonable.

SEAFOOD

* Parker’s Seafood Grill, 309 Palm St., Newport Beach. (714) 673-3741. Open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. $$

Parker’s Seafood Grill had its maiden voyage recently and already is afloat on a steady course. It is a tried-and-true formula with an elegant twist: fresh fish, an ocean view and the added appeal of an open kitchen and mesquite. The eclectic menu features a wide variety of fresh seafoods that changes daily, and there is a chewy, yeasty house bread stick to compliment them. Desserts are sensational, all made on the premises, highlighted by pies: a smooth, creamy Key lime and a wonderful tollhouse.

THAI

* Mongkut Thai, 212 Avenida del Mar, San Clemente, (714) 492-3871; and 31976 Coast Highway, South Laguna, (714) 499-2100. Open Mondays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; nightly 5 to 10 p.m. $

Besides being one of the current nicknames for Thailand, “Land of Smiles” could also describe the type of service you can expect at the often exotic, occasionally bland Mongkut Thai restaurants. Here, smiles often substitute for intelligible English. Dishes get flowery names such as Glittering Coastal Onyx (sauced calamari) or Garnet Ocean Field (crab fried rice) on one of the most unusually written menus anywhere. And they can be blisteringly hot. The mussuman (beef) curry and the oily, flavorless chicken curry tend to disappoint, but most of the fare is exuberant and flavorful.

* Thainakorn, 24401 Ridge Route, Laguna Hills. (714) 586-0596. Open daily except Mondays from 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Fridays through Sundays till 11 p.m. $$

Thainakorn of Laguna Hills is a suburban dinner house serving a smoothed over version of fare from northeast Thailand, normally one of the world’s hottest cuisines. Dine on standby Thai such as pat Thai noodles and sour shrimp soup or, better yet, specialties from the blackboard like crispy, exotically spiced Thai sausage, Chinese watercress with fermented soy, or wild boar in red curry paste. But leave the fire extinguisher at home.