RESTAURANT REVIEW / ROSARITO BEACH : No Dichotomy Now : A cold appetizer combination plate is a fine way to sample the scope of flavors offered at the cafe’s new location.

When I used to eat at Rosarito Beach Cafe at its former location on Main Street, I was always struck by the glaring dichotomy between its funky storefront ambience and its flashy exotic menu. In that location, the upscale Mexican cuisine, the fancy wine glasses and the white lines seemed so incongruous as to be almost discordant. What saved the place from ridicule or pity was the marvelous food.

After five years, they finally moved about a mile down the road to a location that is truly worthy of the restaurant--a jewel of a small Art Deco building with historical landmark status. (It was formerly the Hibachi Restaurant.) Without making many structural changes, they whipped up a festive decor in a carnival of colors. The walls are done in shades of salmon, burnt umber and purple. The napkins are terra-cotta-colored and the dishes come in rich blue, teal and deep rose. The effect is vivid, stylish and sophisticated.

The owner and chef at Rosarito Beach Cafe, Sandy Smith, is a third-generation native of Ventura, and his family married into the Olivos family of Oxnard. The restaurant has its roots in Smith’s own cultural upbringing and its inspiration from his uncle’s Mexican fiesta barbecues. Many of the dishes come from southern Mexican provinces, others from Latin American countries.

Smith must have struck a nerve in Ventura because the restaurant is enjoying a resounding popularity. When we went there recently, we were told that we would have to wait an hour and a half for a table. Happily, we ended up eating quite cozily right at the bar.

Fish is the staple of the menu--very fresh fish, all of it from local waters up and down the coast, according to sous chef Ned Stenger. You can choose any fresh fish on the menu and have it prepared in a rustic Veracruz tomato sauce with capers and green olives, or have it grilled asada , over mesquite and served with a jalapeno cream condiment. A third choice is to have the Yucatan version, succulent marinated in citrus juices, spiced with achiote seeds and other pungent tastes.

A cold appetizer combination plate ($10.95) is a fine way to sample the scope of flavors on the restaurant’s palette. Piled wondrously high on a bed of lettuce were a quartet of antojitos that ranged from an extraordinarily tangy ceviche to an almost bland crab taco, which could easily have been mistaken for fresh lobster. A choice seafood cocktail--a mixture of shrimp, squid and mussels--featured a novel caper vinaigrette. The guacamole was delicious, slightly chunky, redolent of cilantro and very spicy.

My favorite fish turned out to be camarones al mojo de ajo ($13.95), shrimp sauteed in butter with plenty of garlic and lime juice, a simple but superb dish. Like all the other entrees, it came with spiced and herbed rice and borracho beans, cooked in beer to a soft dark, disconcerting sweetness. They also offer a choice between a spicy hot fish soup or salad with their trademark citrus dressing. No one leaves Rosarito hungry.

Pork adobado was another marvelous choice: two boneless loin fillets, marinated to a tender abandon, brought to attention with a paste of chilies and grilled on mesquite. They were sensational. Pollo mole was a sweeter, blander version of this classic Aztec dish. My friends called it a “shallow mole, a Baja mole,” claiming that it lacked the layers of intensity commonly found in this dish. However, I like it without the usual bitterness.

While I enjoyed the sweet fresh pineapple-papaya salsa that came with the carne asada , the meat itself was less interesting. It couldn’t compare to a dish like pescado con crema Calabasa : fresh halibut, perfectly grilled and served with a lovely sauce of creamy sweet pureed butternut squash.

Another surprising take on a familiar dish was a chicken enchilada. Quite enormous, filled with tender chicken and cooked celery and onions, it had an arresting, slightly creamy, slightly tangy sauce.

Over several visits, I ended up too full to even think about dessert, even though they still have their fantastic pumpkin flan on the menu. One of the reasons (maybe two or three) for my fullness was the fresh handmade tortillas, a special attraction at the restaurant. These were flour--not corn--hot, folded in quarters, and absolutely irresistible.

In the new location, the tortilla makers have been brought forth from the kitchen to do their magic inside a glass booth for all to see. If food is indeed the art of the ‘90s, at Rosarito Beach, they have made it into a spectacle that is as fun to experience as it is to eat.

* WHERE AND WHEN

Rosarito Beach Cafe, 692 E. Main St., Ventura, 653-7343. Open for lunch 11 a.m to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Dinner 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 5 to 10 p.m. Fridays through Sundays. Full bar, MasterCard and Visa. Dinner for two, food only, $28 to $60. Closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.