Going Global

If you want to see what the 21st century might bring us in the way of restaurants, check out La Reina Shopping Plaza in Sherman Oaks. There you’ll find Mondeo, home of “fusion flavors.” The San Fernando Valley has always welcomed the latest in pop culture, and I expect Mondeo to gain a Generation X and Y following here.

And why not? The food is a step above college cafeteria stuff and has far more variety--it includes dishes from Morocco, Thailand, Mexico, Italy, China and Japan.

Mondeo has no appetizers, but you could start out with one of the house drinks, such as the ginger ale, a sweet, syrupy elixir with the intense bite of fresh ginger. The even more refreshing lemonade is served in a sugar-rimmed glass.

Or you could get a small portion of a soup or salad. Asian spa salad is certainly a spa, or diet-type, dish. It’s a Chinese chicken salad that skimps on the cashews, chicken meat and (very good) fat-free sesame ginger dressing.

Aztec tortilla soup, by contrast, is a hearty concoction. The garnish--cheese, chicken, avocado, roasted corn, tortilla strips and cilantro sour cream--leaves room for no more than an ounce of salty broth. Pass on Shanghai noodle bowl, where the chicken, shrimp and noodles are overwhelmed by a positively musty dried-mushroom-flavored broth.

Now prepare to tour the planet on a carpet woven from sandwiches, wraps and colorful entrees. Marge’s meatloaf sandwich, which our cheerful waiter described as “incredible,” represents the USA. It’s two large slabs of grilled meatloaf and an insipid barbecue glaze mounted on good crisp onion strings and creamy garlic mashed potatoes.

Italy is the inspiration for Gorgonzola bow tie, which includes chicken, walnuts, the inevitable sun-dried tomatoes and the textural oddity of cooked apple, all embellishing bow-tie pasta in a graceful Gorgonzola cheese sauce. A roasted rosemary lamb sandwich features fine, thinly sliced meat and a nice, creamy horseradish.

I wish I could be as kind to the Moroccan dish. The menu description is fairly accurate: tender braised lamb in a light herb-tomato broth with fresh spring vegetables and buttered orzo. But it doesn’t tell you that this dish is extremely bland, tasting nothing at all like North African cooking. Maybe they could add cumin or something.

The East Asian dishes need even more work. The sesame shrimp tempura is ruined by a greasy batter, and the teriyaki dipping sauce is far too sweet. The garlic beef--a stir-fry with chow mein noodles, vegetables and water chestnuts--is doomed by the meat, dry and harshly dosed with garlic.

The prize for the weirdest entry has to go to the ahi wasabi wrap, not for the usual Japanese horseradish assault on the taste buds, but for its downright interplanetary appearance. Picture seared tuna, jasmine rice, cucumber ginger slaw, wasabi horseradish and daikon sprouts, all wrapped in a pale green tortilla about the size of a legal-sized envelope.

I did enjoy the dish called Bangkok, but mostly for nostalgic reasons. It’s an oversize bowl of fragrant jasmine rice, topped with chicken breast sauteed in a spicy coconut-curry sauce and garnished with raisins, peanuts, shredded coconut, green onions and a lime wedge. It reminded me of something that was popular at the Rangoon Racket Club in Beverly Hills, and the way the dish merges taste and texture is fun.

Back on American turf, Mondeo does a commendable job on Martin’s favorite chicken pot pie, not a pot pie at all but a clever innovation. Here are most of the fixings for pot pie except potatoes--chicken, peas, carrots and a sherry cream gravy--all buried under a Mrs. Cubbison’s-like corn-bread stuffing, which softens when the gravy seeps into it.

Among the resolutely American desserts are mile-high chocolate cake (a fudgy layer cake perched atop a pool of dark chocolate sauce), homemade carrot cake (which the restaurant always seems to be out of), and a workmanlike apple crunch torte, served hot with vanilla-bean ice cream.

Yes, it’s better than cafeteria food. But if this is the food of the future, I’m gearing up for pangs of nostalgia on a regular basis.

BE THERE

Mondeo, 14622 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Hours: Mon.-Thur., 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Dinner for two, $17-$33. Suggested dishes: ginger ale, $1.95; Martin’s favorite chicken pot pie, $7.75; roasted rosemary lamb sandwich, $8.25; the Bangkok, $8.50. Beer and wine. Validated parking in rear. MasterCard and Visa. (818) 783-0584.