MORE BITES

In these capsules of recent reviews, dollar signs indicate the price of a meal for one, without beverages.

$: less than $10.

$$: up to $20.

$$$: up to $30.

$$$$: more than $30.

MAMA ROSE: Walking into Mama Rose is like walking into a family Italian restaurant in the East. The three cozy dining rooms are themed separately, and the walls are covered with intimate family portraits. Chef Richard Lombardi’s cooking is in the abbondanza style: big portions with lots of sauce, oil and garlic. The best dishes include stuffed dried tomatoes, roasted peppers and pistachio crusted rack of lamb.

* Mama Rose, 2346 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa. (949) 650-1949. Open for dinner only, 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. $$-$$$

THAI PORN: This restaurant is named for its owner, Pornpan, whose name means “blessing.� But Isarn (northeast Thai) dishes are the the real blessings here. This disarmingly simple restaurant is the place to come for raw green papaya salad (som tam), Thai barbecued chicken, the chopped meat salad larb or anything made with the homemade sour pork sausage.

* Thai Porn, 1739 W. La Palma ‘Ave., Anaheim. (714) 956-8105. Open 10;30 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. $

THE QUIET WOMAN: The Quiet Woman leads a sedate life, but it is one of the area’s most consistently good dining spots. Entrees, mostly cooked on a mesquite grill, include Angus beef steaks, fresh fish and a terrific rack of lamb. There are good salads, excellent homemade soups and fine desserts, too. Don’t miss the homemade pumpkin pie in season and the fudgy Toll House pie all year.

* The Quiet Woman, 3224 Pacific Coast Highway, Corona del Mar. (949) 640-7440. Lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday; dinner 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, and 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. $$$

TAPS: Taps is one of the most ambitious brew pub/restaurants ever to open in northeast O.C. It’s a 14,000-square-foot establishment featuring gleaming copper fermentation tanks, a centrally located oyster bar and a large, hangar-like dining room. Fresh seafoods, good side dishes and the dozen-plus house beers are best bets. Starters, pizzas and pastas are often either muddled or bland.

* Taps, 101 E. Imperial Highway, Brea. (714) 257-0101. Open 11 a.m.-11 p.m. daily. $$$

GOLDEN MAIZE: Golden Maize is a charmer, a Victorian house dolled up with decorations celebrating the humble ear of corn, a staple in Colombia. The Colombian food includes arepas, seafood stews, grilled meats, a hearty pot roast and flat corn griddle cakes stuffed with cheese.

* Golden Maize, 264 N. Glassell St., Orange. (714) 532-5955. Lunch 11 a.m.- 2:30 p.m. daily, dinner 5-10 daily. $$

INDIA COOK HOUSE: One of our more cheerful Indian restaurants, though it holds no real surprises. The best dishes here are the meats and bread cooked in the tandoor, or cylindrical clay oven. But there are also good chutneys, vindaloos, a few nice vegetable dishes and fine homemade desserts. Don’t miss gulab jamun, gold-colored cheese balls served warm in syrup.

* India Cook House, 14130 Culver Drive, Irvine. (949) 857-4858. Daily 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., 5-10 p.m. $$

ALCATRAZ BREWING CO.: One of the most eye-catching places at the Block in Orange. You dine under a stunning replica of the Golden Gate Bridge, sipping well-made beers such as a chocolaty stout and a hopsy red ale. And surprise: The food is quite good, especially the brick-oven pizzas.

* Alcatraz Brewing Co., 20 City Blvd. West, Orange. (714) 939-8686. 11 a.m. through 10:30 p.m. daily. $$-$$$

REGATTA GRILL: Terrific-looking dining room with a nautical theme, and a great location, on a bluff overlooking Dana Point Harbor. Sunday brunch is great and a good buy at $21, but dinner is pricey and erratic. Chef Jeff Littlefield has good ideas but, one suspects, lacks the staff to back them up. Seafood stew and pan seared halibut are two of the better efforts.

* Regatta Grill at Marriott Laguna Cliffs Resort, 25135 Park Lantern, Dana Point. (949) 661-5000. 6:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 6:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. $$$$

CAFE TU TU TANGO: This cavernous, high-octane space is filled with art created on the premises by working artists. The eclectic, all-appetizer menu includes smoked ham and crab fritters, great rosemary lamb and Jim Beam wings and ribs. Live entertainment also surfaces (“spontaneously,� to quote management). Is this a taste of the 21st century?

* Cafe Tu Tu Tango, the Block in Orange, 20 City Blvd. West, Orange. (714) 769-2222. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. $$-$$$

WOODY’S AT THE BEACH: This eatery features a pleasant deck and a stunning ocean view. There’s a great Sunday brunch complete with Ramos fizzes, waffles with poached pears and penne with smoked salmon. Dinners are delicious and eclectic, with anything from Moroccan lamb fricassee to ono with basmati rice in a lemongrass broth.

* Woody’s at the Beach, 1305 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. (949) 376-8809. Dinner 5:30-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 5:30-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday; brunch 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. $$$

IMPERIAL INKA: Here is more evidence of the ongoing explosion of ethnic restaurants. Its best dishes are the salads of citrus-marinated raw seafood (ceviches) that you eat with vinegar-splashed onions and parsley. Kam-lu wonton reflects the Chinese influence in Peruvian cooking, but the asado is so close to pot roast that it could have been prepared by a Maine grandmother.

* 15070 Edwards St., Huntington Beach. (714) 899-5541. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. $$

TACO MESA: From the outside, the Orange branch of the Taco Mesa chain is a disarmingly simple storefront, but it serves some of Orange County’s best Mexican food. The tortas come on yeasty homemade rolls. The steamed pork, blackened calamari tacos and terrific burritos are all served with great rice, beans and fresh tortillas. Nothing on the menu costs more than $6.

* 3533 E. Chapman Ave., Orange. (714) 633-3922. Daily 10 a.m.-10 p.m. $

SAGE: This intimate little charmer is tucked into a corner of Newport’s Eastbluff Center. Chef-owner Richard Mead comes from a long stint on the Westside, and he’s cooking dishes that were trendy up there in the early ‘90s--ahi, portabello mushrooms, penne and so on--but he has a way with colors and grilled meats, and the desserts, though few, are fairly spectacular.

* 2531 Eastbluff Drive, Newport Beach. (949) 718-9650. Monday-Saturday 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-10 p.m. $$$