DAVID NELSON/ ON RESTAURANTS : A 2nd Trip to Marrakesh Only Slightly Less Bumpy

San Diego has been slow to develop the enclave of ethnic eateries that, like Georgetown in Washington and Soho in London, is a standard feature of major cities and offers pedestrians a sort of smorgasbord of international possibilities within a fairly compact area.

La Jolla has begun to become such a place, and, given the experiences of other cities, the role more or less belongs to it, since these entrepots of exotic cuisines generally grow in well-to-do neighborhoods that also feature luxury shopping districts.

To a list of restaurants that includes Afghan, Persian and Indian as well as places offering such more familiar cuisines as Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, Italian and French, La Jolla recently has added a Moroccan entrant, Marrakesh. The name of the restaurant may be familiar: The small, Newport Beach-based Marrakesh chain opened a branch a decade ago in Glasshouse Square; this later moved to La Mesa, where it continues in business.

An early visit to the La Jolla Marrakesh was disastrous in terms of the food, which verged on the inedible. A recent dinner indicated that the kitchen has been brought under control, but the experience reinforced the earlier impression that Marrakesh has streamlined and Americanized itself. A trip to the old Marrakesh in Glasshouse Square seemed like an extended plunge in a foreign culture, but this one barely dampens the sensibilities.

Other than the menu, which offers the lavishly spiced and sauced lamb and fowl common in Moroccan cuisine, the bulk of the foreign flavor derives from the decor, which is somewhat exotic thanks to the elaborately inlaid round tables, the low, pillowed banquets and the tiny upholstered chairs, which look like fancy children’s furniture and, for adults, are no more comfortable. The banquettes fortunately wrap far enough around the tables to accommodate most parties. Listen closely to the traditional-sounding recorded music, however, and you will notice that it offers Moroccanized versions of such contemporary American pieces as the theme from “Love Story.”

Other noticeable effects of the Americanization of this restaurant include the discarding of the “men first” policy, a Moroccan tradition that evidently did not enjoy universal acclaim here. This detail is easily dispensed with, but the streamlining of the menu, the appearance of forks (Moroccans eat with their right hands, and messy as this may be, it adds something) and the hybrid music combine to tame the experience considerably. Waiters continue to bring a brass basin and ewer for the ritual hand-washing that precedes the meal, but no longer pour the mint tea that concludes the dinner from on high, a performance that, given by a less-than-agile server, sometimes resulted in an aromatic shower for the guests.

The menu has been re-written for the better and re-priced (slightly upward) since January, when nothing sampled was worth the amount charged. The cooking definitely has improved, and meals continue to offer several courses, although the omission of the cumin-flavored carrot and eggplant salads that arrived with chewy chunks of Moroccan bread is regrettable.

The opener now is a choice between a plain green salad and harira , the Moroccan national soup and a thick, highly seasoned blend of lentils and tomato cooked in lamb broth. The flavor is strong, and the soup warming; the servers still instruct guests to lift the bowl with both hands and drink, which, whether or not you are careful, does provide at least some sensation of having wet your feet in foreign ways.

The second course, inescapably, is another national dish, bastilla , a stand-out among dishes by any measure. A free-standing pie of minced chicken, ground almonds and scrambled eggs wrapped in multiple layers of phyllo-like pastry, it provides an introduction to the rich themes of Moroccan cooking through the heavy sprinkling of cinnamon and powdered sugar that adds spice and sweetness to a very savory product. In the same fashion, nuts, dried fruits, puckery pickled lemons, sugar, spices and handfuls of such herbs as cilantro and mint combine in many savory dishes to make Moroccan cooking, when well-handled, a complex but jubilant jumble of flavors and effects. A point that might be missed is that it also is a wonderfully sophisticated cuisine, and one that demands skill and attention in preparation.

This skill and attention was disturbingly lacking in a lamb couscous sampled on the first visit. Couscous , the national main dish of steamed semolina or cracked wheat that can be topped with anything from a single plain vegetable to one of the rich stews called tagines , needs an interesting garnish to make it palatable to American tastes. The lamb in this dish, besides being unforgiveably tough, was utterly tasteless; it seemed, more than anything, like cheap stew meat that had been briefly boiled. The meat and vegetables were so dull that the harissa , a fiery red chili sauce typically offered with couscous , could not save them. The more complicated lamb m’rosia , or sliced lamb with honey sauce, raisins and almonds, similarly featured tough meat and a less than convincing finish.

A recently sampled lamb tagine was much, much better, the muted flavors of onion and ginger adding interest to the--this time--tender stewed meat, and the unstoned olives a briny pungency. Thinly sliced fried potatoes, unexpected but welcome, were arranged around the lamb in a crisp and tasty coronet. The sampler platter of shrimp and chicken brochettes and kefta (spiced ground meat, the basic kebab served throughout the Middle East, Turkey and North Africa) was acceptable if unexciting.

Other entree choices include a chicken tagine flavored with saffron, ginger and pickled lemons; saffron-scented roast duck; a tagine of fish baked with green peppers, tomatoes and olives; a beef brochette, and meshoui , or simple roast lamb moistened with its cooking juices.

The dessert, inevitably, is the nut-filled honey pastry called baklava, and an undistinguished version at that. Cups of the sweet, intense green tea brewed from fresh mint bring the meal to an altogether more satisfactory finish.

Marrakesh: 634 Pearl St., La Jolla, 454-2500,Dinner nightly,Entrees $15 to $22 Dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $45 to $65,Credit cards accepted