BY NATALIE HAUGHTON >FOOD EDITOR

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On a small commercial/residential stretch off Sepulveda Boulevard in North Hills, the unassuming Casa Don Rolando has opened. Unless you're familiar with the area, you may pass it by and need to turn around due to inadequate signage.

Not sure what to expect, we found what appeared to be a totally redone, comfortable, updated restaurant with a bar, new wooden tables (set with red placemats and cloth napkins), chairs and attractive chandeliers, painted terra cotta-colored walls and Mexican paver tile floors, plus an outdoor patio area. The restaurant hasn't caught on yet (on a recent Saturday night, it was virtually empty except for one other table) -- and it's too bad. Rolando Gonzalez, formerly the executive chef at Madre's (Jennifer Lopez's Pasadena restaurant) for 5 1/2 years, is serving Cuban fare reflecting his homeland. A native of Holguin, Cuba, he helped his mother cook recipes handed down to her -- and has worked in restaurants in Spain and Mexico -- before coming to this country in 1989. Among traditional Cuban seasonings are oregano, cumin, garlic, bell peppers, onion, citrus juices (lemon and lime), salt, pepper, tomatoes and culantro (a flavor similar to cilantro), notes the chef.

To start, a basket of Cuban cracker bread -- small, puffy, paper-thin rounds (made on the premises) filled with air (like a mini pita of
sorts) -- along with small bread rounds arrived at the table accompanied by a mixture of vegetable oil jazzed up with a little lemon and chopped garlic designed for dipping, along with some butter.

For a taste of Cuban appetizers, order the Casa Don Rolando sample platter ($13), which includes two delicious mashed potato balls filled with ground beef picadillo cooked with Spanish olives, onion, garlic, and red and green bell peppers (also offered as an entree),breaded and fried until dark brown; four deep-fried ham croquette fingers; both a chicken (white meat) and beef (more picadillo) friedempanada; and a Cuban tamale. The empanadas were good-size and delicious, with plenty of well-seasoned filling. It's a super menu deal (if you can handle fried foods) as it easily serves two or three.

A small traditional Cuban salad ($6) with romaine, tomato and cucumber slices was flavorless and nothing different. All that could be detected in the supposed Cuban-style dressing was oil.

The entree selections range from beef, pork, fish and chicken to vegetarian. All are served with separate dishes of white rice and
black beans or congris rice (a combo mixture of black beans and rice) and a choice of green (not so sweet) or yellow (sweet) fried
plantains, yucca or French fries.

El volcan ($19) turned out to be seven large shrimp (tails on) in a spicy tomato mixture arranged on top of a pile of steamed, mashed
green plantains (mixed with a little oil, garlic and salt) shaped like a volcano or mountain that was blah and dry (especially as it
cooled off). The black beans, delivered in a separate bowl, were very liquidy -- and rather soup-like, but had delicious flavor from the
bacon and chorizo within. The mound of white rice came on a plate with a few fried soft plantain pieces that were a little too oily and
rather unappealing.

An unusual choice, technique- and presentation-wise, was vaca frita ($16) -- shredded flank steak cooked in oil with citrus juices and
topped with lots of thin sauteed onion slices. It had loads of good flavor, as did the accompanying wonderfully smoky congris rice mound, with its appealing dark brown confetti-like color. French fries, one of the option choices, were excessive.

Dessert choices here are mostly puddings and custards ranging from rice pudding to bread pudding, Spanish custard and Cuban flan. Natilla, a Spanish custard ($4) was presented in a dish, without a garnish (could have used a whole strawberry on top), surrounded by four mini pastry tarts with the same mixture -- and a few small dabs of strawberry puree. A slice of flan, with a thin caramel coating on top, and more drizzles of strawberry puree on the plate, looked attractive, but the flan was a little too gelatinous -- and frankly lacked flavor, as did the custard.

At its best: Traditional Cuban cooking with flair and attractively presented. The restaurant aims to please, and the server eagerly
explained menu selections as needed.

Could be better: Location. Larger signage on restaurant would be helpful. More diners. Less starchy accompaniments with some entrees. Desserts could be more flavorful, appealing and inspired.

Natalie Haughton, (818) 713-3692
natalie.haughton@dailynews.com

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CASA DON ROLANDO

>Rating: Two stars

>Details: 8755 Parthenia Place, North Hills, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Closed Monday. (818) 920-2272;
www.casadonrolando.com.

>Cost: Appetizers $5 to $13, salads $6 to $14, entrees $10 to $32,
desserts $3 to $6.

>Noteworthy: Cuban food with an upbeat twist, attractively presented. The chef, a native of Cuba, is competent and passionate about his country's cuisine. No bar/wine/beer; liquor license pending. Until then, diners cannot bring their own bottles of wine or other liquor.
Parking in a lot adjacent and in back of the restaurant -- even though you'll encounter "no parking signs.''

Caption: Photo: Rolando Gonzalez turns up the heat in the kitchen of his ambitious new Cuban restaurant, Casa Don Rolando, in North Hills. Gonzalez is the former executive chef of Jennifer Lopez's Pasadena restaurant, Madre's. David Crane/Staff Photographer

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