NeoMeze in Old Pasadena is a stylish late-night dining spot with a menu heavy on appetizers.

BY ERIC NOLAND >RESTAURANT CRITIC

Think of this menu as Middle Eastern tapas, the waitress said on her first visit to our table at NeoMeze in Old Pasadena. Meze style, she added, means the dishes come out as soon as they're ready.

OK, small-plates dining is popular all over Los Angeles, but this as-soon-as-it's-ready approach is a bit of a cop-out for any establishment.

This was found to mar the dining experience at NeoMeze - which, in its defense, bills itself more as a late-night lounge experience than a conventional restaurant. We ordered courses that would constitute a well-paced dinner - two cold meze plates, one hot meze plate, and one entree, all of which would be shared.

S'mores on the dessert menu at NeoMeze is a bit more exotic than the version you whipped up around the campfire.

It seemed like an awfully long wait for an assemblage of chilled ingredients (roasted pepper, apple salad, endive) that are all prepared far in advance.

At last it arrived, but we'd had just one silvery fish each when ... here came a hot entree of red mullet ($17) and a cold meze of goat cheese brulee ($10). About two more minutes passed when a hot meze plate of grilled orange quail arrived ($18).

In such a situation, it only makes sense to eat the hot stuff first. It's not often that you find a restaurant daring enough to put mullet on the menu, and this was superb, with a crispy skin that imparted rich flavor to the moist flesh. It was accompanied by parsley and almond stuffing; a salad of orange, onion and artichoke; and a jolt of applewood bacon. The quail from the hot meze menu was impressive, too - and about the same portion size and price of an entree, which was a bit confusing. It was meaty and lightly browned, with a glaze preparation that certainly didn't skimp on the salt.

We found ourselves gazing longingly at the barely touched dish of marinated anchovies. How nice it would have been to start slowly with that, savoring each bite as an appetite-stimulant. Instead, we had to treat this cold appetizer as a chaser to the hot dishes. Same with the goat cheese brulee, a cheesy mousse with roasted beets and rocket lettuce.

New chef MaryAnn Salcedo, who was sous chef to Gordon Ramsay on the Fox TV show "Hell's Kitchen," has a nice touch with the preparations. However, among the dessert selections, it's doubtful Salcedo or anyone else in the kitchen would want to take the blame for the caramel crepes ($12), which were horrid. They were so leathery they could barely be cut with a spoon - the only utensil, unfortunately, served with them.

At its best: Clever convergence of first-rate ingredients.

Could be better: The random stampede of courses creates an unconventional, and disconcerting, dining experience. A solution might be ordering as you go, but when this place gets busy that could mean long gaps between courses.

Eric Noland, (818) 713-3681

eric.noland@dailynews.com

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NEOMEZE

>Details: 20 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Open Sunday through Wednesday from 5 p.m. to midnight, Thursday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. (626) 793-3010, www.neomeze.com.

>Cost: Cold meze $8 to $14, hot meze $10 to $18, entrees $15 to $18, grill items $8 to $22, platters $14 to $24, desserts $8 to $12.

>Noteworthy: Dazzling decor with chairs that resemble cushions and a high-back banquette that is also richly cushioned. Wine list is grouped by selections that work well with particular foods on the menu, and has a strong Old World presence. DJs present different musical styles each night of the week - for example, '80s on Tuesdays, Rat Pack on Wednesdays, Top 40 on Saturdays, jazz on Sundays.