Global tastes

Mediterranean

Haifa’s cheerful ambience sets off an exotic menu that ranges from Israeli-style moussaka to falafel balls with parsley. Assorted relishes, including a spicy Turkish salad, kick off the meal. Hearty side dishes--such as majadra rice and lentils with browned onions--and the spicy Yemenite beef soup are standouts. For dessert, there’s a mousse cake so rich, you won’t believe it’s made without dairy products.--Barbara Hansen

Haifa, 8717 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 888-7700.

Latin American

It’s amazing how many countries produce tamales--not just Mexico and Guatemala, but Argentina, Peru and Colombia, too. You’ll find them all at Mama’s Hot Tamales Cafe, a brightly decorated little place across from MacArthur Park. Emigrants from these countries make the tamales, and on weekends they also sell them from carts in the park. Oaxacan ice creams come in unusual flavors, such as leche quemada (burned milk), which is available upon special request and is as smoky tasting as it sounds.--B.H.

Mama’s Hot Tamales Cafe, 2124 W. 7th St., Los Angeles; (213) 487-7474.

Malaysian

There’s no dress code at Singapore’s Banana Leaf, but a sarong would be appropriate, if you dare. Colorful Southeast Asian fare at this stall in the Farmers Market includes chicken and beef satay, rojak fruit salad, vegetables and tofu mixed with crunchy peanut sauce. For dessert, there’s ice kachang, a Singaporean-style shaved ice concoction. The food is light and fresh and, except for dessert, it’s all served on a banana leaf, which explains the restaurant’s name.--B.H.

Singapore’s Banana Leaf, Farmers Market, Stall 122, 6333 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles; (323) 933-4627.

Ethiopian

Among the Ethiopian restaurants on Fairfax Avenue, one specializes in catering at film shoots. That’s Meals by Genet, a sophisticated place furnished with African art and stylish ladder-back chairs. The usual Ethiopian meat dishes are favorites, especially the kitfo beef with spiced butter, but don’t miss the deep-fried trout or beautifully cooked salmon on pasta with basil. Even if you’re not a vegetarian, get the vegetable platter, a whole spectrum of spicy Ethiopian salads.--C.P.

Meals by Genet, 1053 S. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles; (323) 938-9304.

Jamaican

When you’re hunting for Jamaican food, a foreign car repair shop would be the last place you’d look. Still, the daughter of the owner of the British Car Clinic in Santa Monica has taken over the storefront next door and installed the Port Royal Cafe in two small rooms painted in pale tropical shades and a patio. It serves the usual Jamaican jerk dishes and hearty stews, the meatiest being oxtails. The goat curry is particularly tender and less gamy than most versions around. Don’t miss festival bread, a sort of sweet, super-crunchy hush puppy.--C.P.

Port Royal Cafe, 1412 Broadway, Santa Monica; (310) 458-4147.

Indian

It’s a market specializing in produce and shelf goods from India and the Middle East, and it’s a vegetarian fast-food restaurant. A-1 Produce and Veggie Lovers Deli, located a few blocks north of Reseda’s main shopping district, has a deli section that mostly stocks spicy Indian dishes (including the giant potato taco masala dosa and a smashingly rich vegetarian meatball dish called malai kofta) along with surprisingly good cheese enchiladas and black bean burritos.--C.P.

At the higher end of the spectrum, Tantra, a lavish new restaurant in Silver Lake, has generated much interest. With the design savvy and sprawling layout of the latest generation of L.A.’s restaurant-slash-clubs, it has a kitchen that promises the exotic with an updated Indian menu drawn from the one at Zaika in London.--S.I.V.

A-1 Produce and Veggie Lovers Deli, 9043 Reseda Blvd., Northridge; (818) 998-6900. Tantra, 3705 W. Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake; (323) 663-8268.

Cuban

Xiomara Ardolina has opened a casual cafe around the corner from her Pasadena nuevo Latino restaurant, Xiomara. Cafe Atlantic is Cuban and its menu features more home-style cooking. Of course, she has Cuban-style sandwiches. Her version of medianoche is elevated with Spanish Manchego cheese and Serrano ham. The pork sandwich, made with marinated roasted pork leg, is not to be missed.--S.I.V.

Cafe Atlantic, 53 E. Union St., Pasadena; (626) 796-7350.

Lebanese

Sunnin Lebanese Cafe has become L.A.’s capital of Lebanese food since the elegant Al Amir closed on Wilshire Boulevard. That’s no coincidence--owner Em-Toni Chammaa was the one who made the kibbeh that Al Amir became famous for; her version of this deep-fried lamb and bulgur meatball has the crispest, most delicate crust you’ll ever find on kibbeh. The place also turns out remarkably light tabbouleh and baklava, and savory versions of all the other Lebanese mezze snacks.--C.P.

Sunnin Lebanese Cafe, 1779 Westwood Blvd., West Los Angeles; (310) 477-2358.

African

Senegal-born Alle Thiam cooked in hip New York and L.A. restaurants before opening Bistro 4040 in Baldwin Hills. The decor here runs to colorful African fabrics and art, and the menu is evenly split between Thiam’s thoughtful versions of soul food and Senegalese and West Indian dishes. Take the mafe, meat in a subtle peanut butter sauce spiked with tomato and fried onions, or the chaabu jin, more or less Louisiana fish Creole garnished with manioc root and luscious cabbage leaves--plus a California-style salad of baby greens.--C.P.

Bistro 4040, 4040 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Baldwin Hills; (323) 290-0988.

Hungarian

Csardas looks like an old Hollywood flower shop that has been abruptly converted into a restaurant. In the front, there’s a covered patio; in the back a narrow dining room lined with mirrors and Hungarian travel posters. But the food is exceptionally rich, meaty and spicy, and the best time to go is weekend brunch, when the place really jumps and they’re likely to have rakott krumpli, a potato casserole layered with cheese and salami. Another reason to go then: It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet.--C.P.

Csardas Hungarian Restaurant, 5820 Melrose Ave., Hollywood; (323) 962-6434.

Peruvian

The El Misti volcano hovers over the Andean city Arequipa, where the food has a highly rustic character. El Misti Picanteria Arequipena in Anaheim serves a splendid introduction to the region’s fare. In the simple, tidy place, colorful paintings depict picanterias--homey eateries around El Misti--after which the restaurant is patterned. The house prepares its own chichas--libations concocted from sprouted barley or deep purple corn that taste just as good as they would back in Arequipa.--Linda Burum

El Misti Picanteria Arequipena, 3070 W. Lincoln Ave., Anaheim; (714) 995-5944.

Vietnamese

Chicken with flaming lime leaves and eel with young banana flowers affirm Ngoc Suong as the real deal. But the restaurant’s Vietnamese-style fish and seafood dishes--a rarity in Little Saigon, where Chinese places monopolize seafood dining--are its biggest draw. The dreamy tropical decor sets the stage for a theatrically presented whole fried catfish brought out by a parade of waiters as if transporting a feast to the Magi. With it come platters of fresh herbs, mounds of salads, dipping sauces and sheer rice papers in which to wrap them. For a finale, the house makes decadent French-style desserts.--L.B.

Ngoc Suong, 10112 Westminster Ave., Garden Grove; (714) 539-8811.

Mexican

A few minutes drive from Starbucks territory, yet many worlds away, is Cenaduria La Casita Mexicana, a modest color-drenched spot in Bell where la cocina en temporada--garden-to-table cooking--rules. The community gardens at 42nd and Alameda streets supply its huauzontle, romerito and other seldom-seen greens. In season, zucchini flowers turn up in soups and quesadillas. Refined and disciplined, the cooking is always from scratch--even the gently sweetened aguas frescas. Often, as in many family-run fondas, offerings depend on what’s best at the markets. So read the menu, but be sure to ask about daily specials.--L.B.

Cenaduria La Casita Mexicana, 4030 E. Gage Ave., Bell; (323) 773-1898.

Korean

The plain dining room at Si Gol, a modest family-owned place in L.A.’s Koreatown, is outfitted with the hooded grills and heavy wooden tables of the traditional Korean barbecue. The owners make their condiments and kimchis in the time-honored way but present the food in a style that brings it into the 21st century. Their seasoning pastes blend crushed seeds and nuts. And the sizzling meats are sparked with flavors from the ample platters of lettuces and fresh herbs provided for wrapping.--L.B.

Si Gol, 478-480 N. Western Ave., Los Angeles; (323) 467-0100.

Chinese

A brightly lit, highly air-conditioned space filled with large round tables, Sea Harbour Seafood has elaborate swagged curtains at the windows, a couple of private rooms and the usual wall of aquariums backed in the blue of a tropical paradise. The kitchen turns out superior fried rice, clean and fresh, laced with shredded dried scallops and fluffy egg whites. Don’t miss the bamboo pith with mustard greens, the brilliant leaves topped with what looks like small transparent loofah sponges (that’s the pith), which soak up every bit of flavor.--S.I.V.

Sea Harbour Seafood, 3939 N. Rosemead Blvd., Rosemead; (626) 288-3939.