ECLECTIC EATING

You want to go out to eat but can’t decide what you want? Try one of these recently reviewed restaurants--their menus are eclectic enough to satisfy any appetite. AUTHENTIC CAFE (7605 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, (213)939-4626). This itty-bitty, stools-only diner features upscale cooking and downscale prices. The owner is Moroccan, the head cook Puerto Rican and the decor Southwestern. Moroccan bastilla , filo pastry chicken bits, and the excellent hot and spicy Sichuan dumplings make irresistible appetizers. Entrees include fresh corn tamales, meat loaf and Yucatecan chicken in a citrus marinade. There are also pizzas, pastas and pies--try the chicken casserole pie covered in a fabulous cornmeal crust. Other menu regulars are a healthful ragout of fresh vegetables and Santa Fe-style soft tacos. The cooking is especially light on fat and slightly undersalted. The desserts are homemade and surprisingly good. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. Cash only. No liquor. Street parking. Dinner for two, food only, $15-$25.

CENTRAL CITY CAFE (601 S. Central Ave., in Triangle Plaza Center, Los Angeles, (213)627-4482). The Triangle Plaza’s eye-shocking, green-and-magenta paint job has considerably brightened this industrial part of downtown Los Angeles. Inside, the cafe is factory-casual--the kitchen, tile and flooring are new, but the roof and brick walls remain from the original half-century old building. For breakfast, try French toast or the Mexican omelet stuffed with cheese and salsa. Later, munch on stuffed baked clams with fried onion rings (made with a batter that keeps its crunch); seafood rotelli , which is pasta mixed with pesto, chunks of haddock and a marinara sauce; Cajun meat loaf; Chicago pork sandwich; New England pot roast and Buffalo hot wings. For dessert, you can’t go wrong with the Hershey Bar pie. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. Cash only. Beer and wine. Valet parking at lunchtime only. Lunch for two, food only, $10-$20.

COCOLA (410 Boyd St., Los Angeles, (213)680-0756). This artists’ hangout is located in a semi-wrecked downtown neighborhood and owned by Angus Chamberlain, son of the well-known artist John Chamberlain. In fact, one of John Chamberlain’s metal sculptures, elegantly suggesting all the cars on the Harbor Freeway compacted together, is behind the bar. For the most part, Cocola serves surprisingly conventional American food--meat is grilled rather plainly, for instance. Foreign touches pop up in the tacos (great grilled chicken tacos, good lobster tacos); nicely grilled lamb chops, flavored with garlic and rosemary, which might be considered slightly Greek, and a roast chicken with an elusive apple-like sweet flavor that might be some exotic sort of soy. The all-American fries, just browned and full of potato flavor are one of the best things on the menu. For dessert, try the good chocolate-chocolate cake or, because the restaurant is so close to the Produce Market, there’s always a good fresh fruit selection. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. American Express. Full bar. Parking lot. Dinner for two, food only, $10-$45.

FLAGS (8800 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (213)657-2083). Flags has a spare look composed of concrete, glass and an open kitchen. It is large and crowded and the noise of the room comes roaring at you. The menus are mimeographed and stuck into plastic folders. It looks like a bar for the late ‘80s. True to its up-to-the-trend interior, Flags serves food from all over the Pacific Rim and it does it with style; plus nothing on the menu is over $8.50. You’ll find French fries, Singapore noodles, California pasta, grilled Japanese mushrooms, Peruvian steak, Senegalese soup and good old American Caesar salad. The Pacific paella , a big mound of saffron-colored rice tossed with shrimp, Manila clams, sausage and pieces of squid, at $8.50, is a real bargain. The red snapper is nicely grilled and served with a light pineapple-mint salsa. Desserts are Flags’ strong suit; don’t leave without at least a bite or two of the coconut flan, a square that is flavorful and not at all sweet, or the gooey and wonderful hot caramel sundae, made with lots of ginger. Lunch and dinner daily. MasterCard and Visa. Beer, wine and champagne. Validated parking. Dinner for two, food only, $15-$25.

REFLECTIONS (734 Foothill Blvd., La Canada, (818)790-5355). Reflections is bright and airy with big windows, lots of plants, and a long salad bar. On the back wall, behind a brass rail, there’s a cozy rotisserie with a battery of chickens constantly spinning. Each menu item is a mixture of plain old-fashioned American food and exotic experiments. A BLT here means pancetta instead of bacon, romaine instead of iceberg lettuce, pesto instead of mayonnaise and cherry tomatoes. There’s also a nice, warming “Southwestern pasta” of fusilli in a cream sauce made with roasted ancho peppers, roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic and roasted chicken. In the quaint department is grilled ahi-ahi with a pear and mint beurre blanc. Reflections also serves some very good desserts. All are worth a try, but the papaya and berry tart in a zippy raspberry sauce, the “apple souse cake”--a sponge-like tort in apple-flavored caramel sauce--and the black bottom cake, layers of chocolate pudding and vanilla Bavarian cream surrounded by a puddle of intense bitter chocolate syrup, are especially ambitious. Lunch Mon.-Fri. and dinner daily. All major credit cards. Full bar. Parking lot. Dinner for two, food only, $20-$55.