Passage to Managua, on a plantain leaf

“I’d come back just for this dish,” said a friend, polishing off her empanada de maduro. Another friend, running her finger through the last of the creamy sauce, couldn’t believe it cost only $1.75.

The cheese-filled plantain turnover, and many other specialties at El Nido, convinced us that Nicaraguan food -- a fairly scarce commodity in Los Angeles -- is one of the great underappreciated cuisines.

Maybe we were somewhat swayed by the chef’s presentations. Many entrees are served on large plates, their wide rims gaily sprinkled with minced parsley or ground pepper, as though camera-ready for a magazine photo spread. (“Someone’s been watching the Food Network,” said one guest.)

Located between a manicure shop and a liquor store, El Nido may not stand out from its bland mini-mall surroundings on La Brea Avenue. Inside, though, sleek granite tabletops and jungle-green woven leather chairs hint of luxury. A baby grand player piano, tight against one corner, occasionally erupts with a ragtime tune. I like the whimsical cotton parrots swinging over the framed snapshots of Nicaragua’s countryside and the clock that’s set to Nicaraguan time.

But the bilingual menu really draws your attention. Though it lists Mexican items, focus on the sheet of especiales Nicaraguenses. El Nido’s staff will describe any of them with cheerleader-like enthusiasm.

The best are the substantial criollo dishes. They’re the sort of thing you’d be served on a plantain leaf in a Managua cafe.

Wash them down with a tropical fruit juice. El Nido’s dozen or so chilled bebidas tipicas include the deep fuchsia juice of pitahaya (also known as dragon fruit), a candy-sweet cactus fruit. Other refrescos are made from guayaba (guava), maracuya and granadilla (varieties of passion fruit).

Some snacks on the antojitos are substantial enough for a meal. The famous Nicaraguan nacatamal is a huge tamale of creamy masa studded with chicken, olives and half a dozen other ingredients. Just in case you need more carbs, it’s served with a large buttered roll.

If that tamale seems remotely familiar, what the Nicaraguans call an enchilada does not. It’s a mound of seasoned rice and shredded beef encased in a souffle-like egg batter and deep-fried.

For the widest array of traditional flavors on a single plate, order the fritanga estilo El Nido. You get two meats: a slab of beef carne asada, smoky from the grill, with the sharp tang of a sour orange marinade, and moist, crunchy, bite-sized pork ribs, deep-fried in clean-tasting oil.

Along with these comes a mountain of vigoron, Nicaragua’s national salad: shredded cabbage, lightly doused with lemon, smothering a log of boiled yuca root and topped with crouton-like bits of pork crackling.

But that’s not all. Plantain spears deep-fried into crisp “chips” (tostones), a mound of soft fried sweet plantains, a slice of fried white cheese and a hillock of gallo pinto (rice and beans) are all part of the $10 package. This must surely be enough food for several days.

Similarly garnished, and only slightly smaller, are two pork dishes, chancho con yuca and cerdo asado. Both are richly suffused with tropical flavor. The difference is that the spice-crusted cerdo asado is grilled, while the chancho is deep-fried. Like all the fried items here, it has no trace of greasiness.

Indio viejo (the old Indian), a porridge-y comfort food of soft masa studded with bits of meat and bell pepper, is Nicaragua’s answer to polenta. It’s worth coming on weekends for the baho, a cured, slightly dried brisket with a flavor that’s a pure distillation of meaty juices.

The main menu makes several stabs at contemporary Caribbean cooking, such as the El Nido grilled shrimp salad. There’s a good breaded chicken breast with marinated cheese, but the grilled chicken breast with curry sauce and mangoes needs work; as I had it, the breast was overdone, the sauce was watery and peculiar-tasting, and the mangoes didn’t help.

The same contemporary bent carries over to the desserts. Arroz con leche -- each rice grain instilled with creamy milk -- comes on a large plate with chocolate sauce playfully swirled around its edge. If there are bunuelos, get them. These yuca and cheese beignets, drizzled with a light, aromatic syrup, are almost as good as those celestial empanadas de maduro.

*

El Nido

Location: 2112 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 939-6506

Price: Appetizers (antojitos), $1.75 to $6.75; entrees, $7.50 to $11.95; desserts, $2 to $3.50.

Best dishes: Empanadas de maduro, enchiladas Nicaraguenses, fritanga, cerdo asado, chancho con yuca, baho, bunuelos, arroz con leche.

Details: Open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Tuesday; closed Wednesday. Wine and beer. Parking lots in front and back. All major credit cards.