RESTAURANT REVIEW / THE VILLAGE GRILL : Island Eating : Steven Sponder’s new place serves seafood and pastas with Caribbean accents. The results, like the flavors, are mixed.

When a guy like Santa Barbara’s Steven Sponder opens a new restaurant, there’s a lot to live up to, reputation-wise. Sponder’s downtown restaurant, the Palace Cafe, is where celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck heads when he’s in town. It’s where the big media wheels used to hang out when Ronald Reagan was President-- although today you wonder if they’ll be tempted by the hamburgers and beer at Summerland’s Nugget.

But, even in this era of diminished restaurant spending, Sponder and partner Ken Boxer--who was with Sponder at the Palace--have started a new venture. The Village Grill, in Montecito, open for nearly three months now, is dishing out what is billed as New World cuisine, and generating mixed reports.

In this case, we’re seeing New World defined as New World Caribbean. What this means at the Village Grill is fish, some pastas, lots of sauces and interesting melanges of flavors. And good portions.

While you’re pondering the choices, you’ll very likely be wondering what it is your table companions are saying. Perhaps saying is not the right word. Yelling would be closer to it.

This is a large, simple room, with high white ceilings and varnished wooden floors. Decorative colored-fiberglass sharks hang from the ceiling. The acoustics are such that the waitress frequently has to bend down to hear an order.

After two tries at the Grill, I had pretty much decided that the main dishes were just all right and that one or more of the appetizers was the way to go.

That theory was challenged on another visit by the grilled swordfish-salad appetizer ($7.75), served with melon, jicama and cucumber in a roasted red pepper dressing. The dish was dull, a quality not helped by overcooked fish.

On the other hand, the pesca espada ($12.50), an entree, was outstanding. This swordfish-- marinated in rum and topped with hearts of palm and an orange-pineapple salsa picante --was cooked oh-so- tenderly.

Still, the best dishes on the menu generally seem to be the appetizers. One is homemade duck sausage patties ($5.75). The meat is mixed with sweet currants and pistachios and served in a bed of raspberry-tamarind sauce. The dish is heavy and rich and succulent, even though it is victimized by an awful lot of sauce.

Then there’s the sweet potato-coconut bisque ($3.75 cup). This grainy liquid is seasoned, not too strongly, with curry and ginger and boasts particles of sauteed pineapple. It leaves a taste at the back of your mouth that is both sweet and tart and is one of my favorite dishes on the menu.

The coconut-and-pistachio- encrusted crab cake appetizer ($6.25) is a debatable success. The kitchen, we were told, knew it would be risky to serve America’s beloved crab cakes without frying them, but elected to try it anyhow.

These sit in a zesty sauce of tomatoes and sweet peppers and are topped with a lime beurre blanc . Very tasty, but crust is hard to find. I don’t think they’ve solved the problem of serving unfried crab cakes.

Back at the entree list, the Montego Bay coffee-roasted chicken breast ($9.75) is worth reading about. But not worth eating. The breast is marinated with a lime-espresso sauce and served with an espresso-currant glaze. Again, the sauce is heavy. The flavor is unique, but I didn’t care for it.

The paneed prawns ($13.25), curried in pineapple and coconut, are cooked nicely, and the sauce works. On the plate is citrus rice, a house side dish rice. Flavored with orange juice, rosemary, chicken stock and thyme, this side dish is one of the winners.

At $10.75, the pasta Conchita--rock shrimp sauteed with coconut-saffron cream and wilted basil--was a bit spicy, but I found it watery and just plain uninteresting. More interesting was the linguine Caribe ($9.75), which features fire-roasted chicken breast strips in a spicy sauce of peanuts, curry and ginger. The carrots in this dish add a certain sweetness, and if peanut sauces are your thing, you’ll like this.

On the dessert side, the chocolate pecan torte ($3.75), which is Sponder’s mother’s recipe, is gooey and rich and avoids the cloying sweetness that plagues pecan pies. The Havana flan ($3.75), presented on a bed of burnt cane syrup, is dense and satisfying.

* WHERE AND WHEN

The Village Grill, 1151 Coast Village Road, Montecito, 969-8565. Open Monday through Friday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 5:30 to 11 p.m., Sunday 5:30 to 10 p.m. Beer and wine. Major credit cards, reservations accepted. Lunch or dinner for two, food only, $20 to $44.