IT'S ALL ABOUT `U' AT INTERACTIVE EATERY UWINK.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

Six of us traipsed over to the new uWink in Woodland Hills last week to eat dinner and play games.

The amusingly named uWink is the pilot restaurant for a projected chain, the creation of entrepreneur Nolan Bushnell, who founded Atari and Chuck E. Cheese.

I suppose it may even get to be known as the adult version of the famous Mr. Cheese.

Basically, it's a simple concept: tabletop touch screens with various videos and games for the diners to play while eating and drinking, plus the somewhat sensible use of the screens to put orders directly into the kitchen.

However, when you have half a dozen friends, most of whom are interested in tasting each other's dishes, things sometimes get a trifle chaotic.

``Did anyone order a soup?'' yells one.

``Hey, I've already ordered the calamari,'' snorts another.

Before you know it, the food starts arriving, and, for the most part, it's pretty good.

The plates even look like those pictured on the screen.

But because they were ordered helter-skelter, they arrived that way, some entree items being delivered before starters.

But so what? We were having fun, and really, in a place like this, that's a priority.

And the food exceeded expectations.

We passed around appetizers -- crispy, seasoned tater tots with a spicy ranch dressing ($6.50), little pulled-pork sliders with a slaw and barbecue sauce ($8.25), and a colorfully arranged and nicely executed Asian (called Vietnamese) shrimp salad topped with crispy rice noodles ($11.50).

And yes, we received two orders of deep-fried calamari ($8.50) -- not at the same time -- the first one seemingly fluffier, lighter-toned and less oily than the second.

At a second visit with only a threesome this time, we sampled uWink's two soups ($4.95 each), one an excellent tortilla soup made with a tomato base, the other a butternut squash puree, perhaps a trifle too sweet for some, but surely acceptable to a sweet-toothed person.

The uWink kitchen tries hard to please, and the friendly dining room staff happily and patiently explains how everything works.

Entrees on the current menu are limited to five at present -- four meat and one fish (pan-seared salmon, $15.95).

Of the meat items, most of the votes went to the braised boneless short ribs on mashed potatoes with wild mushrooms ($14.95), a true comfort dish.

Both the Korean-style marinated skirt steak perched on ginger-coconut rice ($15.95) and pounded, marinated chicken breast in a tomato-fennel sauce with couscous, possessed reasonable moisture, correct texture and definitive flavor.

The latter, called ``provencal,'' was enhanced by the addition of capers and pieces of artichoke.

But the 12-ounce New York strip steak ($23.95) came up a little too dry, though ordered medium-rare.

Burger fanciers, however, can enjoy a field day here, being able to make their half-pounder just about any way they like it. ``Build your own,'' invites the alluring option. Just touch the screen and you get what you want here.

Even your horoscope.

Larry Lipson, [phone]

[e-mail]

uWink

Food: Three stars - Service: Three stars - Wine: Two and one half stars

Where: Westfield Promenade, 6100 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Woodland Hills.

Phone: [phone]; www.uwink.com.

Meals/hours: Open for lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to midnight daily, to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Food type: International comfort food.

Cost: Starters and sandwiches from $5 to $11.50, pastas and entrees from $9.25 to $24, desserts $5 and $6 each.

Credit cards: All major.

Patio dining: Planned for future.

Parking/valet: Free parking in shopping center lot.

Full bar: Yes.

Wine/Corkage: Single-page list of 29 labels ( $13 to $84) with no vintage dates, offers 20 of them by the glass ($4.50 to $10). Corkage: $8.

Music/entertainment: Interactive games. Interesting, changing projected photographs as wall art.

Takeout/delivery: Yes on takeout, no on delivery.

Reservations: Not taken. First come, first served policy.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2) Shantal Arechederra delivers food to diners at uWink. The Woodland Hills restaurant features touch-screen computers, above, at each table for ordering and game playing.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer