PATAGONIAN PLEASURES TARZANA EATERY IS ON TOP OF FARE FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

CHEAP AND GOOD, that's what most restaurant-goers are looking for. The tiny Patagonian Gourmet in Tarzana certainly exemplifies such qualities.

Patagonia, the southern part of Argentina, may not be internationally renowned for its gourmets, but this little 22-seat cafe should convince any food fancier that at least one has surfaced in Southern California.

Diners should start with such traditional Argentine starter dishes as matambre ($6.50), the cold rolled beef stuffed with carrots, peas et al., sliced into thick rounds and presented with the wonderfully tart dipping sauce, chimichurri and crusty rolls.

There's also a flavorful version of chicken escabeche ($6.50) - with carrots, onions and olive oil - that's sometimes brought to the table in mini-servings as a complimentary appetizer.

If you're familiar with the Italian appetizer vitello tonnato (cold sliced veal in a tuna sauce boosted with anchovies and capers) then you'll immediately recognize ``vitel thone'' here made with thin slices of eye of the beef round. It's so good I found myself mopping up the remaining drops of sauce with pieces of bread.

Also in the starter category, unless you're popping in for a snack, are the nicely made empanadas ($1.49 each), available with 13 different fillings. I liked both the blue cheese with celery and corn with bacon renditions best. These empanadas have a fluffy, crispy character, are of medium size and are in no way ponderous and pasty as some empanadas tend to be.

Other tasty ones are the ham and cheese, the chicken, and the caprese (mozzarella, basil and tomato). Untried are those filled with broccoli, with onions and cheese, with salmon, with creamed corn, with spinach, with hot beef and with mild beef.

Also worth tasting are Patagonian's savory pies ($3 and $3.50). There are four of them (a spinach quiche called ``pascualina,'' ham and cheese with onions, a corn pie and my pick, the zucchini pie).

Ask specifically for Patagonia's regional specialties and you'll find yourself eating either a hearty Patagonian-style lamb and onion stew cooked in white wine ($12) or thick, brandy-soaked, soft-textured lamb chops with mushrooms ($15) that pair well with the house mashed potatoes.

Incidentally, the lamb chop dish is the highest-priced entree on a well- rounded menu that shockingly has steaks priced as low as $10.

Simple grilled items - always enhanced by the ever-present chimichurri sauce - include a giant portion of four not-so-short ribs ($12), a thick and flavorful filet mignon ($13.50) that perhaps should be ordered rare, because medium rare here comes up more like medium.

You can also procure a generous portion of grilled sweetbreads ($6), accompany them with crispy fries ($1.50) or mashers ($2) and you've got a satisfying main plate.

Milanesa (thin, lightly breaded cutlet) three ways is probably most satisfying with tomato, ham and mozzarella ($8.50). It can also be had as the straight breaded cutlet with either veal or chicken ($7.50 each).

As for finales, the caramel dulce de leche crepes ($3.50) unquestionably grab the No. 1 spot from the list of dessert options. But the kitchen also makes a fine apple crepe ($3.50) on occasion that goes well with a scoop of Argentine-style gelato.

Chocolate lovers will pounce on the intensely flavored chocolate gelato. Subtly crunchy, it actually has tiny pieces of chocolate in it.

Yep, there's no argument whatsoever. Those Patagonian gourmets sure know how to eat well.

Larry Lipson, [phone]

larry.lipson(at)dailynews.com

PATAGONIAN GOURMET

Food: Three and one half stars - Service: Three stars - Value: Three and one half stars

Where: 19527 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana.

Hours: Open for lunch, dinner and snacks from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Recommended items: Vitel thone, chicken escabeche, matambre, milanesa, Patagonian lamb stew, lamb chops in brandy, short ribs, sweetbreads, empanadas, zucchini pie, dulce de leche crepes.

How much: Starters and snacks from $1.49 to $8.50, pastas and entrees from $6.50 to $15, desserts from $3.25 to $5. No alcohol license. All major credit cards accepted.

Reservations: Suggested. Call [phone].

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2) Elsa Villa, chef at and owner of Patagonian Gourmet in Tarzana, displays an assortment of her reatuarant's dishes, including lamb chops with brandy and mushrooms, above.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer