ARMENIAN OOH LA LA COMB THROUGH SASOON MENU FOR GREAT SHWARMA, KEBABS, SOUPS AND MORE.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

FREE ENTERTAINMENT in the form of numerous, cutesy, humorous sayings like ``40 isn't old ... if you're a tree'' and ``Prices here subject to change ... according to customer's attitude'' dot the walls along with a photo gallery at the tiny Sasoon restaurant in Tarzana.

But the core of this casual, neighborhood Armenian cafe's worth is its conscientious kitchen, which turns out marvelous Middle Eastern-style food at ridiculously low prices.

The signage humor gives first timers a lot to talk about initially. But the conversation quickly changes to lauding the dishes that come forth as promised, obviously cooked from scratch the old-fashioned way, starting with a superb Armenian fresh vegetable soup ($2 or $4).

The true vegetable broth extracts the natural sweetness and perfume from each ingredient, giving every drop and bite wonderful tastes and textures, each spoonful seemingly better than the previous one.

Lentil lovers will feel the same way about Sasoon's Armenian lentil soup (also $2 or $4 sizes), smooth and satisfying, as enjoyable as this type of soup could ever get.

When it comes to shwarma (seasoned, marinated meats, vertically broiled), Sasoon does the opposite of the expected. Most restaurants produce better chicken shwarma than beef, but Sasoon's beef shwarma ($7 per plate, $4 per sandwich) is possibly the best you'll ever taste. It's slightly crispy around the edges, the remainder amazingly tender.

That doesn't mean that the chicken shwarma (same price as beef) comes up lacking. It's just that the beef surprisingly overshadows it.

Sasoon's menu gives the diner an opportunity to sample both of them on a combination plate ($10) that not only includes rice pilaf and a small salad but also offers the chance to taste the kitchen's first-class hummus, its delicious football-shaped Armenian meatball with a cracked-wheat coating and a nicely executed stuffed grape leaf.

Sasoon also produces the expected kebabs, the fine-quality lamb version ($10) being my preference.

For diversity, you might want to try another lamb dish, this time lamb's tongue ($8) with the uniquely textured meat delivering a triumphant taste treat bathed in a piquant lemon and garlic sauce.

Chicken comes whole ($8.50) or half ($7), skillfully rotisseried, relatively moist, with garlic and/or tahini saucing on the side. And there's an unusual and effective beef treatment here called ``rasna'na'' ($8) where very finely ground, spiced beef has been pressed flat, charbroiled and served with a lemon and garlic mixture similar to that of the tongue.

There are so many appetizing diversions, you know you have to keep coming back to Sasoon to try something else.

One time for us it was labneh or kefir cheese ($8), a premises-produced yogurt concentrate with a consistency somewhere between sour cream and cream cheese.

On another occasion it was the familiar baba ghanoush or muttabbal eggplant dip ($6), here fashioned with more character, a touch more roughly textured than the usual too-smooth puree, and neatly topped with a scattering of toasted pomegranate seeds.

You can always add one or two little thin lahmajun Armenian pizzas ($1.50 each) and an Armenian or Lebanese beer ($2.75) to your table.

Or if you like beans, a gratifying dish of fool mudammas ($5) made with cooked, seasoned favas.

The latter might be paired with a glass of cooling, refreshing tahn ($1.25) the Middle Eastern-style, slightly salty yogurt shake.

Sweet pastries (baklava, nammoura, ma'mool, ghorebieh) run between $1 and $1.50 each for those who want a sweet ending. And, like everything here, they're baked fresh daily, out of a kitchen that insists it uses no preservatives, additives, food colorings, lard or MSG.

Consequently, they go fast.

So get over here quickly.

The Sasooner the better.

Larry Lipson, [phone]

larry.lipson(at)dailynews.com

SASOON

Food: three and one half stars - Wine: one star - Service: three stars - Value: three and one half stars

Where: 18970 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana.

Hours: Open for lunch, dinner and snacks from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily except Sunday.

Recommended items: Soups, fava bean stew (fool mudammas), hummus, eggplant dip (muttabbal/baba ghanoush), shwarma (beef or chicken), lamb shish kebab, Armenian meatballs (kufteh/kebbeh), Armenian pizza (lahmajun), yogurt cheese (labneh), Armenian pastries.

How much: Nothing over $10. MC, V.

Wine list: Limited to house wine and a few assorted bottlings. Armenian and Lebanese beers available. Corkage: $5.

Reservations: Helpful. Call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2) Strategically placed whole garbanzo beans accent Sasoon's hummus, above. Available combinations include borag and falafel, right.

Hans Gutkneckt/Staff Photographer