RESTAURANTS : RESTAURANT REVIEW : An Armenian Discovery : Tiny storefront offers robust fare, including grilled items prepared by the chef-owner while his wife is busy welcoming and waiting on customers.

Every last one of my friends seemed puzzled when I mentioned that my restaurant for the week would be Koko’s. I hadn’t told them that this is not the well-known breakfast chain--Coco’s. So sue me.

We’re talking rather about a tiny Van Nuys storefront, a cafe specializing in tantalizing, robust Armenian fare. A reviewer needs a bit of luck to stumble onto a find like this. I was actually in a line to buy hot lahmajune (a sort of Armenian pizza topped with minced lamb, tomato sauce and spices) fresh out of the oven at Avo’s, an Armenian bakery in Reseda, when I got an equally hot tip about this unassuming restaurant from a fellow standee.

By any standards, this is a modest place--maybe half a dozen tables with pink tablecloths, a deli case stuffed with fresh fish, Armenian cheese and homemade sausages, an open kitchen with a kebab-crowded grill. You’ll see chef-owner Koko Ghadanian the moment you walk through the front door, but it’s doubtful you’ll talk with him. His wife Narine does most of the welcoming and serving, while Koko busies himself at the grill.

And don’t come here if you’re in a hurry. Koko’s always seems to be swamped with takeout orders, due to general lack of grill space. While you’re waiting your turn, take comfort in a few of the chef’s homemade appetizers, accompanied (like the entrees) by crisp wedges of warm pita bread and small dishes of pickled turnip and forest-green hot peppers.

If you’re new to Armenian cooking but familiar with Middle Eastern fare, you’ll certainly recognize some of the appetizers. Mutabbal-baba ghannouj is a dip based on barbecued eggplant and sesame paste--a first cousin to hummus. A river runs through it--well, a streak, really, of paprika and flavorful olive oil. Koko’s muhammara is a different sort of dip, a thick, savory paste flavored with mashed walnuts, garlic, olive oil and enough pomegranate juice to tie-dye a Lakers T-shirt.

If you hanker for something grilled, the barbecued quail--at $4 a bird, probably the San Fernando Valley’s most inexpensive quail dish--is not to be missed. Seekers of the outre can order lamb tongue so tender you can cut it with your fork. It’s extremely lemony, but the really sour entree is ras nana , more or less well-browned hamburger in a verdant pool of lemon juice, fresh mint and chopped parsley.

Like other Near Eastern cuisines, Armenian includes a lot of kebabs served with fluffy, buttery rice pilaf. Lule kebab is minced meat, spiced and dosed with minced onions, formed on the skewer into a sort of skinless sausage. The terrific chicken kebab, called shish tavuk , is mildly spiced, juicy and tender. As an entree it’s served with rice, but there’s a wonderful pita sandwich of shish tavuk with lettuce, tomato and a little sesame sauce.

Arayes maria is a good value. It’s a heartily spiced patty of ground meat and pine nuts stuffed into a crackling-hot pita. The kitchen cuts this sandwich into quadrants, and it could serve two as a snack. You can also get a pita sandwich of sujuk , a mouth-watering homemade sausage redolent of aromatic spices and garlic, for only $3.50. For the same price you can get a similar sandwich made with basturma , which isn’t for amateurs. Basturma is thin-sliced dry-cured beef, and it has a powerful peppery kick.

There is also fresh fish on the menu, at a rather steeper price. When Narine couldn’t tell us the English names for most of the fish, we chose the one she could, sea bass. We probably should have guessed that a sea bass, large enough for three, would run $20, which is about three times the typical entree price here.

Whatever you order, don’t fail to get a side dish of Koko’s jajik , the coolest, creamiest, most refreshing yogurt dip I’ve yet tasted. It’s thick, creamy yogurt full of cucumber and mint, with a soft kiss of garlic.

For dessert, there might be a flavored custard called ashia or baklava from a commercial bakery. The Armenian way to wash down a pastry is with a muddy cup of Armenian coffee ( soorj ) in a demitasse. It might not be apple pie and java, but it’ll do just fine, thank you.

Where and When

What: Koko’s, 13661 Vanowen St., Van Nuys.

Suggested dishes: mutabbal-baba ghannouj, $3; jajik , $3; quail, $4 apiece; chicken shish tavuk , $5.50; arayes-maria , $4.50.

Hours: Lunch and dinner 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Price: Lunch for two, $9-$26. No alcohol. Parking in lot. Cash only.

Call: (818) 997-8152.