A MILDER TWIST ON ETHNIC FARE.

Byline: Larry Lipson Daily News Restaurant Critic

It's not too far-fetched to imagine beady-eyed, corpulent Sidney Greenstreet whispering at a corner table of Le Colonial to a shady character in one of those faded bush jackets with cargo pockets.

Today, of course, smugglers and gun-runners are probably slim, handsome guys who wear Armani suits and dressy T-shirts.

And there are plenty of customers dressed this way here. And legit or not, they could be discussing some sort of a deal at this bustling new, upscale, Westside Vietnamese restaurant designed to look like a plantation house somewhere in Southeast Asia.

Le Colonial is owned by Jean Denoyer, who has the original version in New York as well as other restaurants there.

His chef here, Khai Duong, is French-trained and has cooked at the much-honored Le Bernardin in Manhattan.

Yet there's an inherent difficulty for suburbanites coming into town to dine at Le Colonial. It's that, despite the glamorous setting and clientele, they know deep down that there's not a whole lot of difference between this food and that of their favorite neighborhood Vietnamese cafe. Except the price, of course, and the trappings.

And, this food is milder. The degree of peppery heat rises substantially in a Vietnamese restaurant where you find Vietnamese immigrants eating.

Yes, there's no doubt Le Colonial's kitchen tends to dilute the fieriness of its dishes, probably figuring that it's easier to spice something up if you insist on it, rather than try and take away some of the heat once it's in there.

But, to the chef's credit, the food is immaculate in presentation, has definitive flavors and textures and leaves you with good feelings.

However, it's unlikely you'll ever be guilty of overeating. There's a strong suggestion of daintiness from most of the plates.

And there's another plus to mildness. When the heat is lessened, truthfully, the nuances become more apparent.

One example: Who would have thought that pineapple and tomato would work so well as a dish pairing?

But, it certainly does in Le Colonial's spicy and sour soup ($5), clear and clean, specked with crunchy shrimp, flavored with tamarind piquancy and aromatic herbs. If the spiciness in this dish had zoomed to torrid heights, those individual flavors and textures would hardly matter.

One other thing stands out about this menu. And that is, you'd better like shrimp or you're in trouble.

One of the few nonshrimp starters, the crispy vegetable spring rolls, are passable ($6.50), if not wonderful.

They are enhanced by the playful wrap-in-lettuce, dip-in-the-sauce exercise.

But ginger-marinated duck ($16) is superb, and there's more of that terrific, tart and sweet tamarind, this time also via a dipping sauce.

Sauteed string beans, called dau dua ($4.50), have more of a citrus flavor than the familiar Chinese version with its hot peppery finish. And an interesting entree called bun cha ($15) brings forth sliced, marinated pork on very thin rice vermicelli noodles. Call this creation delicately satisfying.

I thoroughly enjoyed the small spring rolls filled with banana ($6.50) for dessert here.

But I was surprised to find that red wine bottlings from a rather intriguing list were much warmer to the touch than they should be. Which probably caused one of the wines, a 1990 Chateau Le Devoy Martine ($25), to have a barnyard nose and distasteful flavors. Slightly better was the initially warm Didier Fourneroul Bourgogne 1994 ($22). And that was after it was momentarily chilled in an ice bucket.

Perhaps Vietnamese food in a plantationlike setting really favors a beer accompaniment anyway. Or chilled white wine.

THE FACTS

The restaurant: Le Colonial.

Where: 8783 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood.

When: Open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily, for dinner from 5:30 to 11 p.m. nightly, to midnight Friday and Saturday.

Recommended items: Spicy and sour prawn soup, ginger-marinated roast duck, marinated pork on rice vermicelli, sauteed beans, banana spring rolls.

How much: Starters from $5 to $9, entrees from $12.50 to $25, desserts from $5 to $6.50. Prix-fixe lunch is $15. Full bar. All major credit cards except Discover.

Wine list: Interesting list of seemingly well-chosen wines. Eight whites and seven reds under $25. Questionable temperature control. Beer, however, is a good choice with this food.

Reservations: Needed. Call [phone].

Our rating: Three Stars for food; Three Stars for service; Two Stars for wine.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) Le Colonial chef Gary Bao displays two of his culinary creations.

(2) The flavor comes through at Le Colonial in such dishes as Vietnamese crisp seared whole red snapper with a light spicy and sour sauce.

Tina Gerson/Daily News