Enchanted aisles

GASTRONOMICALLY speaking, Los Angeles is the world in microcosm. With the gorgeous diversity of our myriad immigrant communities -- Mexican, Salvadoran, Thai, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Armenian, Iranian, Russian, Indian, Ethiopian, Lebanese -- there’s no place better to explore the cuisines of just about every cranny of the globe.

But booking a table at a Korean grill or a Oaxacan restaurant isn’t the only way to discover the cuisines. For a very different kind of experience, do what the Korean or Oaxacan cooks do: Go shopping. That’s right -- go to the grocery store. Or deli. Or meat counter.

All over town, and beyond its borders, terrific ethnic food markets are cooking up fabulous things. The markets might be as huge as a Ranch 99 or as tiny as a two-aisle Armenian deli, but more and more, they’ll have a few tables where you can sit and enjoy spicy cold Korean noodles or a killer taco, usually prepared in a tiny kitchen on the spot.

But it doesn’t stop there -- in many of these groceries you find dishes you rarely see in restaurants, such as Thai cassia flower curry or a sweet, custardy saffron-flavored yogurt from India.

Market eating is fast and fun, great for the commitment-phobic. You can get just a side order, like an Indian samosa or a stick of Filipino barbecued meat, without committing to a whole meal. It’s casual and friendly too. You’ll probably chat with other shoppers, and they’ll tell you their favorites.

Here’s a selection of fabulous finds for adventurous market eaters -- places with outstanding versions of dishes you might not find anywhere else. The eating arrangements are basic, but the settings are full of life. And if you find a dish you really love, you can continue shopping, round up the ingredients and try making it at home.

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Arko Foods (Filipino). This bustling, mid-sized Filipino supermarket in Glendale is stocked with exotic ingredients such as macapuno (tender sweetened coconut); pineapple gel; canned mango and jackfruit; unusual ice creams flavored with pandan or avocado; palm vinegar; patis (fish sauce); banana catsup; coconut milk; and mixes for adobo and other popular dishes.

There’s always a line of customers waiting at the hot food counter, where the steam table overflows with choices. Of course there is adobo, pork or chicken cooked with vinegar, soy sauce and garlic ($2 for a small serving). Other dishes vary. One day there was a stunning heap of green beans and asparagus crowned with an immense pile of shrimp. Or there might be misua, a soupy dish of soft, fluffy pork meatballs with rice noodles and green squash. A lunch of two such items with rice is about $4.50. Try tasty barbecue skewers ($1.25) of pork and chicken in a sweet soy-sauce marinade or sinigang, a sour soup with vegetables and chunks of beef.

Diners make their selections and carry plates to tables outside, stopping before the cash register to pick out desserts such as bibingka, rice cakes baked in a piece of banana leaf, and maja blanca, a pale yellow pudding that contains coconut and corn kernels. Cooked foods are served from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and change daily. 1425 Colorado St., Glendale; (818) 242-5921. Open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

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B-B-Q Express (Thai). In a cavernous warehouse market called LAX-C on North Main Street in downtown L.A., there’s a Thai eating place complete with tables in the midst of the merchandise. The market is basically Asian, but there are Mexican boxed cookies on display along with sacks of rice, Thai ice creams, meat, fish, cooking equipment and random boxes of produce. On weekends, a Thai grower sells plants outside, including Thai herbs such as exotic basils and kaffir lime trees.

For about $6, a wonderfully layered combination plate includes gai kaprow, chicken stir-fried with basil and thin slivers of fresh red chile; fish cake and squash in very spicy green curry; hormok, which is like solid fish curry tucked into a banana leaf cup; and fragrant jasmine rice. Other choices include such uncommon dishes as ground pork with sataw bean and khi lek (cassia flower) curry. Desserts might be coconut puddings steamed in tiny blue and white ceramic cups and packets of sticky rice with banana or taro. 100 N. Main St., Los Angeles; (323) 343-9000. Open from 8 a.m to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

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Bharat Bazar (Indian). This Culver City Indian market has for years been the spot on the Westside for Indian food lovers to buy their ingredients. Phulan Chander, who runs the market, has long sold samosas, green chutney, snacks and sweets off the counter next to the cash register, but now she has a full kitchen that turns out mostly north Indian hot meals, snacks, handmade chapatis and chai.

Chander, an amazing cook from Jullunder in the Punjab, excels at making light, fresh, home-style vegetarian dishes. There’s something new each day. One Saturday, she had prepared freshly fried pakoras (fritters) of eggplant, onion, cauliflower and potato ($4.99 per pound, 10 to 12 in a pound); aloo puri, boiled potatoes in tomato sauce aromatic with ginger and cumin, accompanied by a puffed flat bread ($2.99); sturdy whole wheat parathas stuffed with shredded daikon, cauliflower or potato ($2); or house-made paneer cheese ($2.50). A $5 lunch plate included spiced lentils, saag made with fresh spinach and Indian mustard greens, a spoonful of a seven-vegetable mixture, basmati rice and a serving of a gourd called turia.

The irresistible desserts are house-made: ras malai, a soft cheese dumpling in milk flavored with cardamom and pistachios, and shrikand, a Gujarati sweet of thick yogurt, which Chander makes herself, combined with sugar, cardamom and saffron. Shrikand is seldom seen on restaurant menus here, and this is a superlative example. 11510 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City; (310) 398-6766. Open Wednesday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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California Market (Korean). A loud whoosh and hundreds of fine gray-white sweet potato noodles burst out of a tube into a tub of water. They’re destined for naengmyeon, a cold noodle dish that’s eaten in summer. The noodle machine is in full view of the counter at Kaju Naengmyeon, a stall inside the California Market, a mid-sized Koreatown supermarket with several good places to eat.

Served with shears so that they can be cut into manageable lengths, freshly made noodles for naengmyeon are offered with meat or seafoods in cold broth or spicy sweet red sauce garnished with finely shredded cucumber, white radish, Asian pear and a hard-boiled egg half ($7 to $8). Another stall (whose name is written only in Korean but whose menu has English translations) has good bibim bap (a rice bowl) and kimchi fried rice. Mandu Chon, a dumpling stall, serves fat, juicy steamed pork and vegetable dumplings. 450 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 382-9444. The market is open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily. The naengmyeon stall hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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Carniceria La Oaxaquena (Mexican). This small Oaxacan corner market is a full-fledged grocery as well as a meat market. It’s one of a string of Latino restaurants, bakeries, markets and delis, many of them Oaxacan, on Pico Boulevard in what is now called the Byzantine Latino Quarter. Four tables face the meat counter, which stocks cecina (marinated pork or beef), chorizo, cheeses and chapulines (grasshoppers). On the other side are shelves of dried chiles, herbs, cacao beans and Oaxacan chocolate. There’s even flor de cacao (cacao flowers) used to make a Oaxacan beverage, tejate.

In the produce section you’ll see large chilacayota gourds that the kitchen here shreds to make a sweet drink served with one of the four excellent moles: black, red, yellow or green (top price $6 for barbacoa or black mole with rice and beans).

Other Oaxacan dishes (each $4) include pizza-like clayudas, enfrijoladas (rolled tortillas coated with bean sauce) and entomadas (the same dish with tomato sauce). Breakfast includes hot chocolate (made with milk or water and Oaxacan chocolate) to accompany popular egg dishes such as huevos rancheros and huevos con chorizo or chilaquiles with red or green sauce. 3701 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles; (323) 373-9803. Market hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekends. Last food order, 8:30 p.m.

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El Gaucho Meat Market (Argentinian). Situated in a shopping plaza where Redondo Beach meets Lawndale, El Gaucho feels a lot like a cafe in Buenos Aires, with its white plastic napkin holders advertising Quilmes beer, classic Argentine lomito sandwiches and wines such as Solar de Orfila Cabernet Sauvignon from Mendoza.

The crusty buns for the lomito (grilled steak) sandwiches are painted with the market’s own chimichurri sauce (a spicy blend of herbs, vinegar, garlic and oil), and filled with thin slices of steak, cheese, tomato and lettuce. Other sandwich choices include choripan (chorizo), milanesas (thin-cut beef) and grilled chicken (each $5). Empanadas ($1.15) have tender pastry and a well-seasoned beef filling.

The market stocks such Argentine basics as beef, Argentine chorizo, tango CDs, dulce de leche, yerba mate and sandwiches de miga (crustless white-bread sandwiches). And for soccer fans, there are River Plate futbol shirts on sale. Alfajores, soft cookies sandwiched with dulce de leche, and other baked goods come from the bakery at El Gaucho’s Anaheim store. 2715 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Redondo Beach; (310) 297-2617. Open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Also 847 S. State College Blvd., Anaheim; (714) 776-6400. Open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

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New Pardes Restaurant (Bangladeshi). Though you don’t see the tables when you walk into this market on 3rd Street in Koreatown, there’s a good-sized eating area in the back, and it’s a community hangout, busiest at dinner. Past the shelves of basmati rice, chickpea flour, lentils, spices, pistachio cookies, tea, bottles of mango and lychee juice and a small section of produce, there’s a counter serving meals all day. This is a Bangladeshi market, and all the food is halal, or acceptable to Muslims; most Bangladeshis are Muslim.

Breakfast “happy hour” is just $2.99 and includes three items of your choice: fried or poached eggs, mixed vegetables and opu (gourd) bhaji (a vegetable side-dish stir-fried without sauce) or aloo (potato) bhaji, plus a chapati or paratha. The lunch and dinner menu includes tandoori chicken with nan ($5), robust, aromatic beef ($3), goat curry ($4), fish curry ($3 or $4), and chicken kebabs or beef kebabs ($5). Add rice for $1, nan for $1.50. Sides include opu and potato fry, both lightly seasoned with turmeric and hot chile.

Bangladesh is famous for biryani, a combination of rice and meat, and New Pardes’ goat biryani is wonderfully aromatic with sweet spices such as cardamom ($5, also chicken or beef). 4205 1/2 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles; (213) 380-4070. Open daily from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Lot parking on Hobart Boulevard.

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New York Delicatessen (Russian). Handwritten signs in Cyrillic paper the front windows of this corner market and deli in a Russian enclave east of Fairfax Avenue. The few that are in English advertise “Healthy Exotic Russian Salads,” “Amazing Chicken Cutlets and Chicken with Mushroom” and “Gourmet Russian Soups.” Even the owner, Svetlana Mogilevich, who is from Moscow, can’t explain why the place is named after New York.

At the front counter, you’ll see an appetizing display of cooked dishes, salads and pastries. A couple of small tables covered with pink oilcloth are tucked between shelves of groceries and a wall in back. There are a variety of salads, cabbage rolls filled with chicken (both about $5 per pound), cooked fish, potato cutlets stuffed with chicken or cabbage, minced chicken cutlets and apple turnovers. A lunch of salads is easily composed of the eight or nine on hand, including an unusual beet salad with plums, walnuts and a creamy dressing; another beet salad with vegetables and vinaigrette; Russian-style potato salads with beef or veal, a mushroom and vegetable salad and Russian “coleslaw” with fresh dill.

If you order an entree such as chicken cutlet (about $6 per pound), it will be heated and delivered to the table on pretty china. Fruity, sweet nonalcoholic Russian beer comes in a golden teacup. 7754 W. Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles; (323) 654-7561. Open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

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Tarzana Armenian Deli. This cheerful deli, a neighborhood gathering place, was opened 28 years ago by Mesrob and Bartouhi Chelebian, Armenians from Beirut. Mesrob is in charge, and his wife prepares many of the dishes. You can sit either inside or out while you sip a cappuccino or espresso or eat a hearty meal.

In the back is a serious market, loaded with ingredients for Armenian and Middle Eastern cooking, including homemade yogurt, sheep’s milk cheese from Cyprus, string cheese, dried fruits such as apricots (much used in Armenian cuisine), pine nuts, pistachios and almonds, spices such as zaatar and sumac, pita, lavash and bulgur wheat in five sizes, from small grains used for tabbouleh salad to large grains for pilaf.

In the deli, check out the little Armenian “pizzas” called lahmajoun, along with the stuffed grape leaves, which are nice to serve as appetizers. Pita sandwiches ($5.50 to $7) are the most popular item. Try the basturma (cured beef), soujouk (sausage) or kufta (Armenian beef meatballs). The meats are rolled up in pita along with ripe tomatoes, parsley, yellow pepperoncini and sliced radishes, making a delicious bundle of food. Except for cold cuts, the sandwiches include creamy tahini. The sandwiches are cut in half, so that you can see the colorful fillings.

Plates of hummus, tabbouleh, a vegetable plate and Greek salad are priced from $4 to $9.50. Other dishes include baked or stewed eggplant sold by the pound. 18598 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana; (818) 881-6278. Open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

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Valley Hye Armenian Delicatessen, Restaurant and Bakery. This small shop in Van Nuys, which has been around for more than 50 years, has seven tables surrounded by shelves stocked with bright pink turnip preserves, tahini, sour cherries, mixes for falafel, pilaf, tabbouleh, large rounds of cracker bread, cheeses, olives and much more.

A generous and tasty lunch of eggplant moussaka topped with cheese, rice and vermicelli pilaf, green beans in tomato sauce and triangles of pita bread is about $6.50. The menu offers plenty of options, from wonderful tahini-sauced pita sandwiches (about $6) that contain Armenian meats such as basturma and soujouk to beef and chicken kebabs (about $7). Lunch specials are sarma (stuffed grape leaves), lule (Armenian hamburger), falafel and gyros of ground lamb with yogurt sauce. Side dishes include hummus, baba ghanouj and cucumber-tomato salad. 14845 Burbank Blvd., Van Nuys; (818) 786-5271. Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Lunch served noon to 5:30 p.m.

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Zamora Brothers Carnitas (Mexican). Zamora is a meat market, not a restaurant, and the ambience is strictly functional. There’s no decor, but the walls are pink and the tables bright yellow. There’s a counter displaying meat cuts such as espinazo (pork neck bones), diesmillo (chuck roll, used for barbecuing), ranchera (thin-cut beef steaks for barbecuing or fajitas) and milanesas (thin-cut beef for breading and frying or for steak picado). On top of a case of cooked meats are corn tortillas, fresh and steaming inside their packages. Zamora also sells spicy pickled vegetables, cheeses, thick Mexican crema, guava and quince fruit pastes, and Mexican candies.

The menu on the wall lists snacks such as tacos, sopes and tortas and combinations that include carnitas (about $7), birria (about $7), chicharron (about $5) or a chile relleno (about $6). The combos come with rice, beans, salsa and tortillas. The carnitas are a specialty, tender, yet crisp around the edges, and delicious, served with enough tortillas, salsa, chopped onion and cilantro to turn the meat into a fabulous taco. Regular tacos are handmade tortillas filled with a choice of meats including carnitas and carne asada, and chopped onion and cilantro. There’s a choice of four salsas, including green and red tomato sauces, and a spicy combination of chiles de arbol and tomatillos. Until Sept. 16, Mexican Independence Day, tacos are on special at 50 cents each. 4771 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave., East Los Angeles; (323) 264-1214. Open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Note: The original Zamora Brothers markets, which also serve cooked food, are at 1559 W. Pico Blvd. and 1503 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave., Los Angeles. They’ve been around for 39 years. The one at 4771 E. Cesar E. Chavez is 17 years old. They’re the same business, but with different owners in the same family.