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.

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 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. $$

* TAPS: Taps is one of the most ambitious brew pub/restaurants ever to open in northeast O.C. It’s a 14,000-square-foot establishment featuring gleaming copper fermentation tanks, a centrally located oyster bar and a large, hangar-like dining room. Fresh seafoods, good side dishes and the dozen-plus house beers are best bets. Starters, pizzas and pastas are often either muddled or bland. Taps, 101 E. Imperial Highway, Brea. (714) 257-0101. Daily, 11 a.m.-11:30 p.m. $$$

* THAI PORN: This restaurant is named for its owner, Pornpan, whose name means “blessing.” But Isarn (northeast Thai) dishes are the real blessings here. This disarmingly simple restaurant is the place to come for raw green papaya salad (som tam), Thai barbecued chicken, the chopped meat salad larb or anything made with the homemade sour pork sausage. It’s all quite good. Thai Porn, 1739 W. La Palma Ave., Anaheim. (714) 956-8105. Daily, 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. $

* 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 . $

* TIRAMISU: From the street, Tiramisu looks like a jewel box; inside, it’s all restrained elegance in earth tones. Many of the best dishes, notably the thin-crust pizzas and whole fish, come from a wood-burning oven. The pastas are fine when the kitchen goes easy on the sauce. And yes, the tiramisu, available in three flavors, is the star attraction. Tiramisu, 2325 E. Coast Highway, Corona del Mar. (949) 673-8444. Lunch Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinner Sunday-Thursday, 5-9:45 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5-10:45 p.m. $$$

* TOMMY BAHAMA’S: The Caribbean meets Walt Disney at Tommy Bahama’s Tropical Cafe, a spiffy new restaurant with an attached clothing store. The pricey menu includes conch fritters, mango shrimp salad and other island-inspired fare. There is a lively bar scene, a delightful outdoor patio and a live steel band every evening. Tommy Bahama’s Tropical Cafe, 854 Avocado Ave., Newport Beach. (949) 760-8686. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. $$$

* 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. $$$

* WEI’S: Wei’s is O.C.’s best Chinese restaurant at the moment, a boxy place that serves the fiery cuisine of China’s Sichuan province and much more. Look to the short house specialties section to snare the dishes that all these Chinese families are eating. The fabulous stewed assorted pork has a meatball, Chinese bacon, chicken feet and cooked spinach. Also be on the lookout for boiled salty duck, any kung pao dish and the best sizzling rice soup around. Wei’s, 17046 Magnolia St., Fountain Valley. (714) 842-9778. Lunch Tuesday-Friday, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; dinner Tuesday-Saturday, 5-9 p.m.; Sunday, 4:30-9 p.m. $$

* YAMABUKI: This is really three restaurants: an elegant main dining room, private tatami rooms (where you dine while seated on straw mats) and a polished cedar sushi bar. Of the three, the sushi bar is by far the best--and the most economical. Let the chefs ply you with treats such as monkfish liver, delicious marinated raw mackerel, broiled smelts and almost any kind of sushi. Yamabuki, Paradise Pier Hotel, 1717 Disneyland Drive, Anaheim. (714) 239-5683. Lunch Mondays-Fridays, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; dinner daily, 5:30-10 p.m. $$$

* YARD HOUSE: The clubby, boisterous Yard House could be just the shot in the arm the sluggish Costa Mesa dining scene needs. The bar has 180 beers on tap, which it claims is the world’s largest selection, and chef Carlito Jocson has cooked up a fusion menu of appealing pub dishes, such as salmon spring rolls, grilled shrimp skewers with Indonesian fried rice, Chilean sea bass and a variety of meats cooked on a mesquite grill. Yard House, 1875 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa. (949) 642-0090. Dinner Sunday-Wednesday, until midnight; Thursday-Saturday, until 1 a.m. Daily lunch, 11:30 a.m. $$

* 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. $$

* 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 . $$

* CANYON LODGE: Canyon Lodge overlooks a rustic golf course landscaped with chaparral, and the restaurant serves a menu of comfort foods that is nearly as American in spirit. They serve a mean cream of tomato soup and sumptuous desserts. Best dishes: flat iron steak, smoked prime rib and an amazing Mandarin chicken salad. Canyon Lodge, 31106 Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. (949) 499-2271. Lunch Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; dinner Sunday-Thursday, 5-9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5-10 p.m.; Sunday brunch, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. $$

* 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. $