RESTAURANT REVIEW : In the Heart of the Bustle Downtown

We grab two of the six blue stools at El Canto de Isabel’s yellow counter at the Broadway entrance to L.A.’s Grand Central Market.

A few yards away, at the curb, men hurl watermelons, crates of tomatillos and red-top peaches from delivery trucks. Behind us is the market’s liquor stall where the line is for lottery tickets; across from us is Susie’s produce stall where fruits are stacked in plump patterns and hanging scales sway in the general hubbub. Women herding children push trolleys precariously loaded with groceries. Panhandlers request quarters. The eager young woman behind the counter is rushing us to order. “You want tacos? Burritos? Chicken, beef or fish? Combination plates? We have the specials; they all come with rice and beans . . . Flautas ? Chicken or beef? Mole?”

Meanwhile, we’re trying to get our bearings and read the green chalkboard menu overhead--a trip to the Central Market is always a plunge into the busy, teeming multiplicity of city life.

El Canto de Isabel is related to the popular East L.A. restaurant La Serenata de Garibaldi, but there have been some tensions between the two establishments, and currently, making an association between them is discouraged, at least from La Serenata’s point of view. Still, one can’t resist a few comparisons. La Serenata is famous for its sauces and beloved for the freshness of its seafood and homemade tortillas. While El Canto de Isabel has a nice selection of sauces, the pescado has at times seemed frozen.

On the other hand, unlike La Serenata, which is a sit-down restaurant, El Canto de Isabel is a fast-food outlet. Still, but for the $1.35 tacos and inexpensive breakfasts, the food is a little pricier than your average market stall. Combination plates run from $5.50 to $6.95. My hunch is that, by the time the market’s current renovation is completed, there will be more such mid-range stalls to pull in office workers at lunchtime. (Already there is an espresso bar, complete with jars of biscotti .) El Canto is prepared: It accepts credit cards, fax orders and will deliver free within a three-block radius.

The house specialty is Mole Isabel, chicken with a terrific dark rich sauce made from ground chiles, nuts and chocolate that Isabel herself makes from scratch. At $6.95 the mole is the most expensive thing on the menu. It’s wonderful stuff, but the portion is notably stingy. The chicken in pipian verde sauce was much the same: A delicious sauce--this one made from ground pumpkin seeds and chiles--was heaped over one measly thigh and a few flakes of white meat.

El Canto’s lunches in general are smallish. I generally appreciate this--who wants to eat a huge meal in the middle of the day when you have to go back to work? I don’t mind receiving a very moderate amount of beans and garlicky yellow rice, and one or two nicely pickled carrots. But such obvious skimping on chicken seems, well, discouraging.

Curiously, the fish plates aren’t so skimpy. I received a hefty portion of sand dabs in a passionately hot, earthy chipotle sauce. And I was satisfied with a moderate slab of boring halibut in a fragrant fresh cilantro sauce.

The tacos and burritos seem to be the fastest-selling items at El Canto de Isabel. The fish tacos are made of deep-fried fish, fresh salsa, and bit of dressing, which makes them seem like nothing so much as fish-stick tacos. The chicken tacos, made with juicy stewed chicken, are better, as is the carne asada tacos that come with a dollop of good guacamole.

Breakfast, which is served until 11 a.m. at El Canto, is worth the trip. The machaca, wonderfully seasoned stewed and shredded beef, is sauteed to a nice chewiness, then bound with scrambled eggs. Served with beans, rice and tortillas, this flavorful, textural dish is the house bargain at $3.

There may well be a market for high-quality, slightly more expensive Mexican take-out food. If this is indeed the market to which El Canto de Isabel aspires, it might bolster its overall quality, strive for consistency and serve more generous portions. Certainly the location, teeming as it is with life and sights and smells and commerce, can’t be beat.

El Canto de Isabel, 317 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, (213) 687-9126, Fax, (213) 687-7378. Open: Mondays-Saturdays, 9 a.m.-5:15 p.m.; Sundays, 10 a.m.-4:15 p.m.. No alcohol served. Visa and MasterCard accepted. Lunch for two, food only, $7-$15.