ANYTHING GOES AT FILIPINO CAFETERIA.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

THERE MAY NOT BE many of those old-style cafeterias like Ontra, Furr's and Clifton's around anymore, perhaps because when you got to the end of the line the tab was always much higher than you thought it would be.

But in Panorama City (and several other locales) budget-minded diners are quickly finding out they can feast any time of the day at D.J. Bibingkahan (open for breakfast, lunch and dinner) for a mere $2.99.

Basically, what you get is a white disposable plate partitioned three ways that holds a heap of rice and any of two other choices from as many as 50 different items plus a bowl of hearty cabbage soup.

For example, one day I picked a creation called binagoongang pork, which turned out to be delicious chunks of meaty pork soaked in an accommodating anchovy sauce.

My vegetable choice that day was ampalaya, made with bitter green melon sprinkled with an egg-white topping mixture.

The binagoongang, I later found out, usually translates into eggplant with anchovy sauce, but for those who don't like eggplant, there's this delightful pork version.

If you add things, your bill goes up, but never by much.

Filipino sausage - called longanis - probably a better choice at breakfast, was tried that same day. Though the couple of sausages weren't bad, a finer, denser filling would have been preferred.

The huge array of profferings may cause lengthy pangs of indecision when D.J. Bibingkahan is visited for the first time by someone unfamiliar with Filipino fare.

With a fairly constant line of hungry customers behind you, you'd better make up your mind fairly quickly.

But it isn't easy. There are no descriptions, just loads of different casseroles and stews interspersed with an occasional familiar food like lumpia, the Filipino egg roll (they're pretty good here) or curried chicken (I liked it, too).

But the Bibingkahan cooks make such interesting treats as chicken in pea sauce (pinatisang manok) and chicken in tamarind sauce (sinampalukang manok) along with popular chicken adobo.

However, these dishes are rotated and only when you become familiar with the restaurant will you know on what days certain dishes will appear.

Eating here can be an adventure, that's for sure.

The traditional roasted pork recipe called lechon, with its crispy fatback like Mexican chicharrones, is always available.

And pancit bihon, thin rice noodles with chicken and vegetables, is another likely regular.

Whole fish, usually tilapia, looks inviting but may be too dry. It was almost inedible one time.

And you have to be careful here, especially if you're a picky eater.

That's because you could easily end up with a heavy, tomato-sauced stew named callos containing potato, tripe and pork snout.

Personally, I'd stay with such things as the house spicy beef dish called caldereta, the popular sliced beef steak made with soy and lemon.

Or, on a more daring day, kare-kare, the peanut butter-flavored stew that might have beef shank, oxtail or tripe in it ... or all three.

Yet, when you think about it, for $2.99, even $3.99, anything goes.

D.J. BIBINGKAHAN

Food: Three stars. Value: Four stars

Where: 14417 Roscoe Blvd., Panorama City; [phone]. (Also in Panorama City East, West Covina, Los Angeles and Cerritos. Soon in Carson and Las Vegas.)

Hours: Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Recommended items: Lumpia, binagoongang pork, lechon, ampalaya, curry chicken, kare-kare, pork or chicken adobo, caldereta.

How much: $2.99 for two items plus rice. No alcohol. All major credit cards.

Reservations: Not taken. First come, first served.

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