PERU'S FLAVOR COMES ALIVE.

Byline: Larry Lipson Daily News Restaurant Critic

You don't need much more than an order of ceviche and a bowl of chupe de camarones to realize that La Rosa de Nautica prepares some pretty good Peruvian food.

The Encino restaurant's ceviche de pescado ($7.50) may take awhile to get to your table. That's because the fresh halibut is doused in the citrus juice marinade immediately when the kitchen is notified of your request.

Colorfully combined with onion and cilantro and heaped on lettuce leaves, the tart, refreshing chunks of firm-fleshed fish are flanked by a thick piece of yuca on one end of the platter and an equal-size wedge of chilled yam at the other.

It's worth the wait.

Moving from cold to hot, the sizable bowl of Peruvian shrimp soup ($6.50), easily enough for two or three to share, arrives as a reddish-toned peppery broth, steaming hot and full of half a dozen medium-size shrimps in the shell, plus potato, peas, egg shreds and at least one whole yolk.

Applause is due to the kitchen that sends out shrimp of good crunch and reasonable flavor, especially when in soup. Most of the time, shrimp in soup are horribly overcooked and taste like bits of sotted cardboard.

As for the rest of the shellfish here - octopus, squid, clams and mussels being those most commonly used - they can all be had at one time on a plate of picante de mariscos ($7.50), the shrimp smaller than in the soup but handled just as well.

Both the clams and mussels, served in the shell, were admirable specimens in this dish one day, possessing texture, taste and chewability.

The octopus, however, was a little tougher, but still chewable. The squid, inconsistent that day, was, for the most part laudable, but the plate possessed a few pieces that were more than a little rubbery.

A separate plate of well-executed white rice accompanies the plate of mariscos that floats in a subtly flavored pinkish sauce studded with tiny specks of sweet green pepper.

In the attractive dining room (furnished with tall-backed, white metallic, faux-cane chairs), traditional Peruvian dishes of saltado, which has meat or shellfish sauteed deliciously with onions and tomatoes, and served mixed with a handful of french fries, can be thoroughly enjoyed with a cold Peruvian beer. The saltado de camaron ($8.50) comes studded with crunchy, deveined shrimp, the saltado de pollo ($6.50) with moist pieces of chicken.

For dessert, the rare Peruvian fruit lucuma provides the basis for one ice cream and cherimoya, the other. (Ask for a scoop of each, $2.75.)

Thankfully, neither of these are overly sweet.

If you want something sweeter, either the crema volteada ($2.75), the Peruvian version of flan, or the Peruvian-style cakey roll called ``pionono'' ($2.25) should do the trick.

MEMO: Larry Lipson's restaurant news reports and reviews are broadcast at 3:47 p.m. each Monday through Friday and 11:47 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays on K-NEWS (KNNS-AM 1260 and KNNZ-AM 540).

THE FACTS The restaurant: La Rosa de Nautica.

Where: 15627 Ventura Blvd., Encino.

When: Open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily except Sunday, for Sunday brunch from noon to 4 p.m., for dinner from 5 to 11 p.m. nightly.

Recommended items: Ceviche de pescado, calamar frito, chupe de camarones, saltado de pollo or camaron, picante de mariscos, pinono, lucuma or cherimoya ice cream, crema volteada.

How much: Appetizers from $3.75 to $7.50, soups and entrees from $5 to $8.50 except jalea criolla seafood platter ($13.50), dessert $2.25 or $2.75. Full bar. Entertainment Wednesday through Sunday. All major credit cards.

Wine list: Applaudable list of 44 labels has 29 bottles under $20. Cristal Peruvian bottled beer or Red Wolf on draft recommended.

Reservations: Suggested. Call [phone].

Our rating: Three Stars for food; Three Stars for service; Three Stars for wine.

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Photo

Photo: La Rosa de Nautica owner Morris Zanazanian, left, ch ef Tony Kanashiro and manager Luis Miguel Vallejo display samplings of the Encino restaurant's Peruvian fare.

David Sprague/Daily News