MR. CHOW'S PALACE; NEW EUROCHOW IN WESTWOOD A SIGHT TO BEHOLD.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

The new Eurochow in Westwood is such a stunning visual scene, there's almost no way the food can ever match the looks.

Restaurateur-designer and bit actor Michael Chow of the upscale Mr. Chow Chinese restaurants in London, New York and Beverly Hills, has achieved what the late Mauro Vincenti did when he turned a former elite haberdashery with Lalique glass doors in the historic Oviatt Building downtown into Rex Il Ristorante (now Cicada).

Chow perceived the aesthetic potential of the domed ex-Bank of America structure and poured some $4 million into it. The result is an incredibly appealing dining emporium where white on white, reflection on reflection, marble, stainless steel, mirrors, a giant obelisk, backlighting, stairways, parapets and balconies join to form an amazing tableau of glamour and gastronomy.

In such a setting, the expectations are much higher than usual. Consequently, every service and kitchen gaffe seems more pronounced, more difficult to overlook.

A burned dish had to be replaced one evening. Someone else's order came to us by mistake another time. A patron said he'd had food spilled on him and no apology was forthcoming although payment of the cleaning bill was offered.

Of course, such things tend to occur at brand-new restaurants.

Eurochow's fare is a mix of mainly Italian and Chinese, not separated in any way on the menu and not a fusion kind of thing.

Many of the items give a clue to their heritage by their menu description, i.e. prosciutto di Parma is obviously Italian and Shanghai Little Dragon unquestionably Chinese.

There are a few dishes, however, that beg for further explanation, like butterfly pillows with chicken ($7.75).

This turns up as an artistically devised plate of five bao-type little buns stuffed with a chicken mixture, the whole dish dramatically covered with a baked egg-white ``sheet.'' There's also a soy-based dipping sauce.

You're right. It's not Italian.

This creation has more style than substance. But if anybody knows how important the proverbial sizzle in presenting food is, it's Michael Chow.

If there's any one overall weakness here, it's probably portion size.

Sitting at the communal table - which incidentally, provides a great opportunity to watch and analyze the restaurant and see close at hand how diners react to their dishes - I heard at least two people complain about the stinginess in main courses. One time it was the Chilean seabass ($19.25), the other time linguine alle vongole (pasta with clams, $14.50).

Yet in both cases, the customers insisted that the dishes were otherwise wonderful.

There's no doubt that the pastas/noodles of Eurochow are the superior, wet, tender, softer kind, freshly made from scratch. But that doesn't help a dish of pappardelle ($9.99) with a veal bolognese saucing escape from its inherent blandness.

Much better in both taste and satisfaction is the beef-topped flat rice noodle, a Chinese chow-fun-style dish ($12.75), definitely worth the extra $2.76.

However, if you're a shrimp fancier, you should go for a couple of the Chinese efforts here, either the crunchy prawns with XO sauce ($18.25), or what is perhaps the most memorable of all dishes tried to date, Eurochow's magnificent glazed prawns with toasted walnuts ($10.50), an appetizer. It features prawns that are just as crunchy, but these possess a superb sweet coating on each one and arrive paired with a small scattering of delicious walnuts.

Eurochow has good raw oysters ($2 each), though not always a complete supply of the ones listed, and makes excellent soups, both minestrone and shrimp wonton ($5.75 each).

I like the kitchen's lobster with cannellini beans and arugula starter ($9.99), also the aforementioned Shanghai Little Dragon offering of half a dozen dim sum-style little flour purses stuffed with a seasoned pork mixture.

Eurochow's kitchen, weighted a bit more on the Italian side than the Chinese, brings forth a respectable version of salt and pepper frog legs with yam strings ($9.99) and a passable but rather sloppy presentation of terrine of house-produced foie gras ($14.50).

Pizzas ($10 to $13.50) are OK here, though this hardly seems the setting for one unless it could be topped with white truffles or something equally indulgent.

But it's hard to fault a beautifully cooked, top-quality veal chop ($19.99), even though it sits in soupy soft polenta. And there's a casserole-style dish of baked tagliolini with prosciutto and cheese ($14.25) that gratifies immensely.

Panna cotta is preferred over panettone bread pudding ($5.50 each) as a sweet ending. And noticeably, the gelati ($5.50) looked pretty good while being devoured by a trio of young women at the communal table one evening.

The elusive Michael Chow - I've never seen him at any of his Mr. Chow restaurants and I've been to all three, the local one many times - finally was spotted hovering at a large table of seemingly VIP customers during the final review visit.

Yes, there really is a Mr. Chow, believe me, and his latest restaurant is alive and well in Westwood.

THE FACTS

The restaurant: Eurochow.

Where: 1099 Westwood Blvd., Westwood Village.

When: Open daily for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., for late lunch from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m., for dinner from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. and late supper from 10:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Behind the scenes: Michael Chow is owner-designer. Executive chef is Andrea Rogantini.

Recommended items: Soups, lobster with cannellini beans, Shanghai dragons, glazed prawns with walnuts, rice noodles with beef, tagliolini with prosciutto, veal chop, prawns in XO sauce, panna cotta.

How much: Starters from $5.75 to $14.50, pastas and entrees from $10 to $20, desserts from $5 to $6. Full bar. All major credit cards.

Wine list: Well-chosen selection of 75 labels of sparkling, whites, roses and reds with good price range from $18 a bottle (four options) to $295 ('94 Lafite). Try the Les Verges Muscadet '97 ($20) with raw oysters. Corkage: $10.

Reservations: Necessary for tables and booths. Not taken for communal table and patio. Call [phone].

Our rating: Three stars for food; Two and one half stars for service; Three stars for wine; Four stars for decor.

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Photo: (1--2) International restaurateur-designer Michael Chow, above left, backed by chef Andrea Rogantini, has transformed a former bank building in Westwood Village, below, into an impressive food emporium.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer