RESTAURANT REVIEW : Encino Is Home to Madrid : What used to be Barcelona has taken on a new name and the flavors of Spain’s four corners.

The Olympics begin next weekend, and the world spotlight beams down on Barcelona. How interesting; Encino’s Hola Madrid used to be called Barcelona. Oops, there goes the recognition factor--but in truth, there were never more than a few dishes from Barcelona, or anywhere in Catalonia, on the menu.

And as for the change of name, I would say the food here represents the four corners of Spain rather than just Madrid. Let’s not be picky. Barcelona, Madrid--what’s the difference? Just don’t ask for a margarita and a plate of nachos here.

That’s exactly what someone did at a nearby table, while the Spanish waiter rolled his eyes in quiet desperation. Castilians and Catalans alike insist that their cooking is much more like French than Mexican, and they’re right. You can tell the difference, of course; like the cooking of southern France, Spanish cuisine is based on wine, garlic and olive oil, but it is distinguished from French by an intense, moody quality, which makes it an exact match for those smoky, intimate flamenco clubs you find in Spain.

You’ll experience this food in a room I’d call a typical L. A. space, cheerful, airy and uneconomical. For one thing, it’s way too big, and for another, it doesn’t suggest any one culture.

Someone has hung a Spanish flag over the stairs that lead down to the stage level (where there are a dozen or so tables scattered about), painted the drop ceiling black and constructed small tile roofs over the bar and kitchen areas. The red leather booths and blond furniture upstairs look more Scandinavian than Iberian, and the live entertainment, such as the Thursday flamenco show, starts at 8 p.m instead of around midnight, when things get going in Spain.

In point of fact, a true Spaniard would never dream of dining at 8, but then neither would he ask for hot sauce to season his paella. I witnessed such a sacrilege on not one but two occasions at Hola Madrid. The kitchen keeps a bottle of Tabasco around for diplomatic reasons, and no one on the staff seems happy about it. I can’t say I blame them. Most of these dishes stand quite well on their own, thank you.

Spain’s current great contribution to the food world has to be tapas, the little appetizers consumed ritually standing up at crowded sherry bars. You sit for your tapas at Hola Madrid, but don’t let that be a deterrent. My favorite one at Hola Madrid is pulpo a la Gallega. Pulpo is Spanish for octopus, and this version is one of the best I’ve ever had. It’s a thin layer of sauteed potatoes and chunks of marinated octopus, dripping paprika, garlic and good olive oil.

Morcilla de arroz is a close runner-up. This is chunks of blood sausage fattened with rice, served on pieces of grilled bread--sort of a primal, hunter’s style bruschetta. Maybe too primal for some people.

E ntremeses, a colorful combination platter, is less likely to make anyone queasy. Those are pieces of fried calamari in the center of the plate, a relatively greaseless but overly salty version. Flanking the calamari are creamy chicken croquettes, about the size of candy Easter eggs with a crunchy breading. Cold cuts like morcilla (blood sausage), chorizo (not like the Mexican chorizo at all, but a cousin to salami) and lomo (much like the Italian capicolla ) give the plate dimension. Lastly there are wedges of tortilla Espanola, a potato and onion omelet not to be confused with any of those Mexican flat breads. In all, there are about 25 varieties of tapas to choose from.

If you have a really big appetite, you may want to try sopa de ajo or ensalada de pimientos, items that appear on the menu’s soups and salads section. The sopa de ajo is delicious if you like garlic--it’s really little more than a bowl of garlic. The ensalada, a true Catalan specialty, is kind of a murky mix of roasted pepper, onion and what seems to be a bit of eggplant.

Naturally the star dish at Hola Madrid is seafood paella, and never mind that Madrid is nowhere near a seacoast. This paella Valenciana is as heavy on seafood as any I’ve ever had, made with barely a scrap of chicken and no sausage whatsoever. It’s a casserole of fluffed saffron rice with shrimp, calamari rings, snapper, clams and green-lipped mussels from New Zealand (so they improvise a little).

I’m actually happier with simpler dishes from the carnes y pollo section. Pollo a la llama , for one: a tasty, no-frills flame-broiled chicken. Chuletas de cerdo are pork chops with red and green peppers (a dish from the Basque country) and filete San Jacobo is sort of a breaded pork steak stuffed with ham and cheese.

Where and When

Location: Hola Madrid, 15910 Ventura Blvd., Encino.

Suggested Dishes: Pulpo a la Gallega, $6.95; morcilla de arroz, $3.95; tortilla Espanola, $4.75; sopa de ajo, $3.95; pollo a la llama, $7.50.

Hours: Lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday; dinner 6-10 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; brunch noon-3 p.m. Sunday.

Price: Dinner for two, $25-$40. Full bar. Valet parking on Gloria Street. Discover, MasterCard and Visa accepted.

Call: (818) 783-8765.