ORANGE COUNTY DINING

ORANGE COUNTY DINING

In these capsules of recent reviews, dollar signs indicate the average price of a meal for one, without beverages.

$: less than $10.

$$: up to $20.

$$$: up to $30.

$$$$: more than $30.

BLUE AGAVE SOUTHWESTERN GRILL: A fun, slightly kitschy theme restaurant, but the food does not suffer. Good beef, such as carne asada adovada in blackened tomatillo sauce. Some thoughtful fusion dishes (kebabs with chipotle-spiked orange marmalade), some trad Mexican (excellent carnitas) and 92 primo tequilas at the bar.

* Blue Agave Southwestern Grill, 18601 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda. (714) 970-5095. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

THE BUNGALOW: The Bungalow specializes in trendy cocktails (a million fruit-juice-based martinis) and expensive, high-quality prime beef, the pride and joy being the rib eye. But this toniest of Orange Coast steakeries also offers fine seafood (e.g. a decadent lobster tail), novel appetizers and a meaty rack of lamb.

* The Bungalow, 2441 E. Coast Highway, Corona del Mar. (949) 673-6585. Open for dinner daily. $$$

CALIFORNIA CAFE: For a warm, energetic, contemporary-looking place with a bit of Asian influence on the menu, try California Cafe. For appetizers, try the chicken spring roll or the corn crisp calamari. For entrees, the crab-crusted halibut perfectly cooked and the “chicken under a brick” is redolent of garlic and rosemary.

* California Cafe, the Shops at Mission Viejo, (949) 347-9333. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

CAFE ZOOLU: Cafe Zoolu is Laguna Beach all the way, from the funky quasi-Polynesian interiors to former Pascal chef William Withrow’s jazzy cooking. Try the baseball-sized cut of grilled swordfish in lemon, caper and butter sauce. This place is casual and hip without being trendy, but bring your wallet.

* Cafe Zoolu, 860 Glenneyre St., Laguna Beach. (949) 494-6825. Open for dinner daily. $$$

CAFFE PIEMONTE: A family-owned place that serves excellent northern Italian food with a personal touch. Try the calamari saltati alla marinara, tagliolini alla Bolognese, pheasant ravioli and osso buco.

* Caffe Piemonte, 498 E. 1st St. Tustin. (714) 544-8072. Lunch Tuesday-Friday, dinner Tuesday-Saturday. $$

CAPRICCIO: It doesn’t hold back on big flavors like garlic and capers. The massive pasta dishes are smothered with aromatic sauces and, with some dishes, savory shrimp, mussels and clams. Also a fine selection of daily seafood specials.

* Capriccio Italiano Ristorante. 25380 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo. (949) 855-6866. Lunch Monday-Friday, dinner daily. $

CEDAR CREEK INN: The Cedar Creek Inn in Brea may be less homey than the others, but it’s an appropriate setting for a serious, fine-dining approach to American food. There are classics like German pot roast and prime rib, mostly successful innovations like chicken breast stuffed with pecans and Brie--and, of course, devastating chocolate desserts.

* Cedar Creek Inn, 20 Pointe Drive, Brea. (714) 255-5600. Lunch and dinner daily. Also in Laguna Beach, San Juan Capistrano. $$

DARYA: For Persian cuisine in an elegant fine-dining environment, South Coast Plaza Village has Darya. Appetizers include borani (eggplant dressed with yogurt) and tah dig (crisp rice crust) with pomegranate walnut sauce. For entrees, try the seafood platter (especially the shrimp), the boneless chicken kebab, and the naderi kebab.

* Darya, South Coast Plaza Village, 1611 Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana, (714) 557-6600. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

EL CHOLO CANTINA: In its pleasant hacienda setting, El Cholo Cantina features a pared-down, CliffsNotes version of the El Cholo chain’s tried-and-true menu: cheese-heavy combo plates, nostalgia dishes like the Sonora-style enchilada topped with a fried egg--and, of course, those famous sweet green-corn tamales (May through October only).

* El Cholo Cantina, 5465 Alton Parkway, Irvine. (949) 451-0044. Lunch and dinner daily. $

EL FAROLITO: For 26 years, El Farolito has managed to please two kinds of Mexican food customers: those who want forceful dishes like birria and menudo and those who’re looking for big margaritas and cheese-rich enchiladas and nachos. It’s a plain, friendly little place where even rice and beans are tasty. Check out the excellent steak milanesa.

* El Farolito, 201 S. Bradford Ave., Placentia. (714) 993-7880. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $

FIVE CROWNS: A theme restaurant that has been doing the Olde English inn thing so long it’s acquired a paradoxical authenticity. The food’s more than acceptable too. Salads and appetizers are always good, and you can’t go wrong ordering the roast duck or the prime rib.

* Five Crowns, 3801 E. Coast Highway, Corona del Mar. (949) 760-0331. Dinner daily. $$$

FLORENCE ITALIAN CUISINE: Elegant but casual, Florence Italian Cuisine offers a wide array of Italian favorites with an emphasis on seafood. Try the lobster-filled ravioli de l’aragosta, the filet mignon, the lasagna and the linguine vongole. For dessert, the tiramisu and the spumoni.

* Florence Italian Cuisine 14210 Culver Drive (Heritage Plaza), Irvine. (949) 857-8265. Lunch and dinner daily; brunch Sunday. $$

GIORGIO’S OF CHICAGO: It re-creates classic Chicago dishes--a hot dog on a poppy seed bun with bright green relish, a messy beef sandwich with spicy Italian pickles, barbecued ribs--in the ambience of a Windy City pizza joint. And the best things here are the pizzas, made with Midwestern meats and cheeses.

* Giorgio’s of Chicago, 27000 Alicia Parkway, Laguna Niguel. (949) 448-9899. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

JAVIER’S CANTINA: This restaurant bridges the gap between taqueria authenticity and the happy-hour chips-and-salsa scene. Familiar Mexican specialties are here, but it’s the seafood specials like brocheta del mar and the sweet, powerfully corn-flavored green-corn tamale that make dealing with Laguna Beach parking worth it.

* Javier’s Cantina & Grill, 480 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. (949) 494-1239. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

McCORMICK & SCHMICK’S: There are 40 or more kinds of fresh seafood on this menu, served in nearly 90 treatments. The inventive appetizer menu is highlighted by excellent crab-and-shrimp cakes, and the oyster selection is still one of the best around. The adjacent Pilsner Room brew pub serves an impressive list of microbrews.

* McCormick & Schmick’s, 2000 Main St., Irvine. (949) 756-0505. Lunch Monday-Friday, dinner daily. $$

MITSUYOSHI: There’s a sushi bar here, but the appetizers are better, especially the baked pike and the potato porridge (yamakake) with chunks of tuna sashimi. Thin-cut pork cutlets (shoga-yaki) come in a tangy ginger sauce, and there’s a massive sukiyaki and a festive nabemono soup filled with meats, vegetables and noodles.

* Mitsuyoshi, 12033 Beach Blvd., Stanton. (714) 898-2156. Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday. $$

MULBERRY STREET RISTORANTE: A cozy, welcoming setting for robust, old-school Italian food. It’s notable for dishes that achieve simple harmony through a deft balance of flavors. For appetizers, try the fried mozzarella and the steamed mussels. Exceptional entrees include the steak Mulberry and the fettuccine Caruso.

* Mulberry Street Ristorante, 114 W. Wilshire Ave., Fullerton. (714) 525-1056. Lunch Monday-Saturday; dinner served daily. Late night menu served Friday and Saturday until 12:45 a.m. $$

OAK OVEN BARBECUE: The attraction at Lou’s Oak Oven Barbecue is Santa Maria-style barbecued tri-tip. But you can also get chicken, pork loin and Portuguese sausage. The food comes on metal camping plates and drinks, including wine, are served in Mason jars, but it’s 200 miles closer than Santa Maria.

* Lou’s Oak Oven Barbecue, 21501 Brookhurst St., Huntington Beach. (714) 965-5200. Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday. $

OYSTERS: “Asian-influenced California cuisine”--well, you can’t blame Oysters for wanting to distance itself from all the bad fusion cuisine around. But this spot, with its Chicago speak-easy ambience, could give fusion a good name with dishes like artichoke with tarragon sambal-aioli and Near East paella. Good oysters too, of course.

* Oysters, 2515 E. Coast Highway, Corona del Mar. (949) 675-7411. Open for dinner daily. $$

THE PERUVIAN GRILL: It specializes not so much in grilled food as in in Peruvian seafood dishes, such as ceviche appetizers large enough for a small meal and pescado ajo macho, a grilled fish topped with scallops, shrimp, calamari and a spicy cilantro sauce. Empanadas, not listed on the menu, are also worth a try.

* The Peruvian Grill, 9606 Hamilton St., Huntington Beach. (714) 593-3883. Dinner Monday-Saturday. $$

P.F. CHANG’S CHINA BISTRO: It serves Asian-inspired dishes in a high-voltage setting--and the dishes can be high-voltage with pepper themselves. Good appetizers are seared ahi and Chang’s spare ribs. The best entree is Paul’s catfish: tender chunks of fried catfish tossed with a garlicky black bean sauce. Desserts are outstanding.

* P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Irvine Spectrum Center, 61 Fortune Drive. (949) 453-1211; Fashion Island, 1145 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, (949) 759-9007. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

PICAYO: Hidden away in residential north Laguna, a little bungalow houses Picayo, a French restaurant with Spanish and Moroccan influences and a taste for duck, both as appetizer and entree. Try Chilean sea bass on eggplant with olive vinaigrette, or the napoleon of scallops, prawns and salmon with black truffle sauce.

* Picayo, 1155 N. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. (949) 497-5051. Dinner Tuesday-Saturday. $$$

POLISH RESTAURANT MR. SMOKE B.B.Q.: First it was a plain barbecue restaurant, but patrons liked the Polish dishes that sneaked on the menu so now it’s Polish Restaurant Mr. Smoke B.B.Q. So enjoy the potato pancakes, the sweet-sour sauerkraut, the veal cordon bleu-like cutlet Sobieski--and once in a while, have some of that barbecue too.

* Polish Restaurant Mr. Smoke B.B.Q., 2610 W. La Palma Ave., Anaheim. (714) 827-6251. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

ROMA D’ITALIA: Tustin’s busy Roma D’Italia is an old-fashioned checked-tablecloth pizzeria/restaurant specializing in dishes with big, rich flavors, such as chicken d’Italia, which includes eggplant, ham, tomatoes, provolone and mushroom sauce. For something lighter, try the mixed seafood platter in a flavorful garlic white wine sauce.

* Roma D’Italia, 611 El Camino Real, Tustin. (714) 544-0273. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

SPAGHETTINI: With a name like Spaghettini Italian Grill and Jazz Club, it’s hard to know what to expect. Not improvisation, it turns out; the ingredients are of the highest quality, but they’re used in a cautious, lackluster way. Still, it has jazz, an open kitchen and dramatic low lighting, and the chocolate souffle cake is a knockout.

* Spaghettini Italian Grill and Jazz Club, 3005 Old Ranch Road, Seal Beach. (714) 960-6002. Lunch Monday-Friday; dinner nightly. $$

S.W. SEAFOOD & BARBECUE RESTAURANT: Featuring a mind-numbing range of barbecue entrees (go with the pork) and seafood dishes (great shrimp and scallops). If you’re feeling particularly carnivorous, order the blossom platter, a heaping cold-cut sampler of pork, chicken, duck and jellyfish.

* S.W. Seafood & Barbecue Restaurant, 5406-A Walnut Ave., Irvine. (949) 262-0128. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

TANGATA: Joachim Splichal’s latest museum-located restaurant is worth going to even if you aren’t interested in art. At Tangata, the famous chef is playing with Mexican themes as well as brunch ideas like a crab Benedict and light, “tall food” French toast. And Tangata can give you fast service when you need it.

* Tangata, Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana. (714) 550-0906. Open for lunch daily. $$

THANH MY: The big deal at Thanh My, one of Little Saigon’s oldest Vietnamese restaurants, is bo 7 mon, beef served in seven courses such as salad, soup, rice paper wrap and meatloaf. The hot pots, cooked at your table, are also good, though messy to eat. Late groovers, take note--Thanh My says open till 1:30 a.m.

* Thanh My, 9553 Bolsa Ave., Westminster. (714) 531-9540. Lunch and dinner daily. $

TROQUET: A polished French bistro in a mall? Sure, when Aubergine’s Liza and Tim Goodell are behind the operation and the mall is South Coast Plaza. Try the celery root puree garnished with duck confit and pears and Maryland crab cakes with a smoky chipotle aioli and fried capers.

* Troquet, South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol Ave., Costa Mesa. (714) 708-6865. $$$

ZOV’S BISTRO: A longtime Orange County institution, Zov’s has expanded its dining space again. One still goes for hummus and baba ghannouj, Middle Eastern gravlax (seasoned with capers and ground sumac), the pork prime rib in sour cherry glaze and rich pastries such as chocolate obsession: mousse on chocolate hazelnut crust.

* Zov’s Bistro, 17440 E. 17th St., Tustin. (714) 838-8855. Cafe open 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday; 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Bistro open for lunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday; dinner 5-9 p.m Tuesday-Thursday; 5-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Closed Sundays. $$