RESTAURANTS : Yankee Tavern in Laguna Niguel Is Mostly Dandy

Stand on this high bluff and take a deep breath of the crisp, clean air. If you squint, you can see the ocean in the far distance. You can also see why Laguna Niguel accounts for some of Orange County’s most expensive real estate. Perhaps this powerful setting is what persuaded restaurateur Hans Prager to open a second Yankee Tavern here.

Unlike his original Yankee Tavern, Prager’s new venture can’t offer a view of the slips of Newport Harbor just beyond its windows (and you have to walk outside the restaurant to get that bluff-top view) or attract so many deeply tanned members of the boat crowd. Nevertheless, the place has been a rip-roaring success so far. There’s a wait every night during peak hours, and the bar buzzes with an attractive clientele.

The new restaurant is more handsome than the prototype. The vaulted ceiling sports bulbous chandeliers that spread an amber, lighthouse-type glow; the comfortable wooden captain’s chairs have thick cushions to sink into.

Recall the basic Yankee Tavern theme: a dry-docked clipper with a larder full of dishes popular from Eastport to Block Island. This hearty sort of food is probably most enjoyable during the holiday season. Despite the Yankee elements, it has a lot in common with the hearty Continental cooking Prager built his reputation on at the Ritz.

Hip it is not, as you quickly notice. A featured cold appetizer is Blue Point oysters on the half shell. They’re fine and plump, and if you insist on being a Yankee all the way down the line, you’ll be happy to note that they come from the East Coast. But we have better, fresher and more varied oysters out here--delicious Quilicene or Skookum oysters from the Northwest, for instance.

I’m also disappointed with the farmed Eastern mussels, though they are definitely a step up from those insipid New Zealand green-lip mussels we so often see. Yankee Tavern serves them in a delicious shallot, garlic and cream broth, reminiscent of moules mariniere .

Soups are a high spot. The Maine lobster bisque is delightful, a coral-colored bowl of rich lobster flavor with little pieces of white corn, like buried treasure, stuck at the bottom. Sometimes there is a thick lentil soup with a smoky taste from little bits of ham hock. The chowders, in the California manner, are more floury than they would be in New England, but satisfying.

The best of the salads might be Boston bibb lettuce with bay shrimp, chives, watercress and chopped egg. The greens are tender, and the concept works. The traditional Caesar is good too, thanks to a light, subtle Caesar dressing, tasty sourdough croutons and the right amount of grated Parmesan.

But avoid the beefsteak tomato and sweet onion, accompanied by cruets of wine vinegar and olive oil. What you get are slices of bionic, flavorless tomato alternating with undistinguished red onion. Sure, it’s hard to get good tomatoes this time of year. So why is this dish on the menu at all?

Christmas decorations are up at the moment in here, and they herald the best entree, roast Christmas goose. Richer, denser and gamier than duck, this goose has a crackling skin and comes on a large plate with red cabbage, stewed apples and good mixed vegetables. It’s reason enough to visit the restaurant.

Other good entrees include a home-style Yankee pot roast with brown gravy; Angus porterhouse steak, 20 ounces’ worth; and thin-sliced calf’s liver with crisp onion straws and smoky bacon. The menu’s Diestel Farm turkey is some of the most tender and flavorful turkey I have ever tasted. It comes with a crunchy, interesting pecan dressing.

Naturally, the menu abounds with seafoods. The Nantucket platter is like the fisherman’s plates you get on Cape Cod, though fancied up with the addition of a crab cake. It’s mostly fried shrimp, scallops and halibut, plus the de rigueur tangy coleslaw and skinny French fries.

Whitefish is sauteed with mushrooms and capers here, making for a dish that seems rather French for a Yankee menu. Better is the beer-batter fish and chips, made with flaky Canadian halibut--a little heavy on the batter but definitely good to eat.

Desserts are quite substantial, if not quite up to Yankee standards. The deep-dish blueberry cobbler, for instance, is not a cobbler at all but, rather, a single-crusted pie, topped with a scoop of Haagen-Dazs vanilla. There’s a chocolate bread pudding with Jack Daniels sauce (from a state where the word Yankee is less than a compliment, I should think) and a fine raspberry creme brulee our forefathers doubtless never heard of.

Yankee Tavern is moderate to expensive. Appetizers are $2.50 to $8. Main course salads and sandwiches are $7.95 to $10.95. Entrees are $10.50 to $19. Desserts are $4.

* YANKEE TAVERN

* 32441 Street of the Golden Lantern, Laguna Niguel.

* (714) 240-4994.

* Dinner daily, 4 to 11 p.m.

* All major credit cards.