Quick Meals : Now that fast food has gone ethnic, you can eat your way across continents without leaving the neighborhood.

Serious eaters once sniffed at the prospect of eating fast food. It was high in calories, they said, and low in nutrients. The snobby ones insisted it had no taste at all.

Today, however, that’s all been changed. Even the most hard-core foodies are elbowing their way up to the counter for a closer look--now that fast food’s gone ethnic.

You know something is up when even conservative McDonald’s has added an Oriental chicken salad. And in Los Angeles, arguably the fast-food capital of the world, you can eat your way across continents without having to leave the neighborhood.

What to eat is a much bigger issue than where to eat, because there’s just so much to choose from. Furthermore, choosing can be a major trauma when you’re short on time, or if the kids are decorating the floor with Cheerios while you’re trying to make up your mind. Maybe the following fast tour through some of L.A.’s ethnic fast-food eateries will help.

Naturally, it’s incomplete--a comprehensive listing would fill volumes--and subjective. It’s designed to whet your appetite for what’s out there, and hopefully, some of the area’s best have been included.

To qualify as fast food, a restaurant needs a counter, a cafeteria line, a take-out window, or a drive-through, and food must be ready in five minutes or less. Lastly, it must be inexpensive. If you’re going to have to make a trip to the bank just to pay for it, you might as well relax in an opulent dining room.

CHINESE

When no one can decide what they want, Chinese food is always a crowd pleaser. The sheer variety and colorful presentation make it a solid choice.

Mandarin Deli, 727 N. Broadway, 109, Los Angeles (213) 623-6054, 9351 Reseda Blvd., Northridge (818) 993-0122.

Peer in the window at the Chinatown location and watch the dumpling chef ply his trade, stuffing and rolling those beautiful packets of dough. If you don’t get hungry, see a doctor. Mandarin Deli is a near-unanimous choice for boiled, fried, or steamed Chinese dumplings, and they’re ready in seconds. Everyone from food critics to 5-year-olds love the boiled meat dumplings (10 for $2.75), because they are soft, moist, tender and yielding, as delicate as the ripest fig in season. Pan-fried dumplings (8 for $2.95) have a crispy skin and a juicy filling. There isn’t a more satisfying snack in Los Angeles.

Fong’s Burger, 326 N. Garfield Ave., Monterey Park (818) 280-0015.

This improbably named food stand specializes in carry-out dim sum, those delectable Chinese tea pastries, and they’re big, overstuffed, and absurdly inexpensive. Giant baked pork buns (45c) are a favorite with Westerners, according to manager Loy Ma, and the buns are a wonder--sticky and soft, swollen with minced, barbecued pork. Also outstanding are steamed chicken buns (40 cents), a ball of minced chicken wrapped in fluffy, steamed dough, and har gow, shrimp dumplings with a diaphanous noodle wrapper. Fong’s also sells quick fried rice noodles with a variety of toppings, sit-down-food you can munch on at the tables on the side of the building.

Hoy’s Wok, 7105 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles (213) 850-6637.

Los Angeles is bursting at the seams with Chinese take-out restaurants, but this one is a cut above. It’s located on a busy intersection, and maintains a bright, clean appearance, with floors of spotless white tile, and a sprinkling of white clothed tables. The food is Mandarin style, and fiery hot. Szechuan chicken salad ($3.25) is gigantic, loaded with chicken and crushed peanut, in an orange flavored dressing. Deep-fried pot stickers are a crunchy treat. Hoy’s Lo Mein is a dish of thick noodles, swimming in a thick meat sauce. Hot-spiced dishes, starred on the menu, like hot shredded pork, would make Rambo beg for ice water. The owners are ethnic Chinese from Korea. That explains that.

FRENCH

Perfect for a beautiful day, when a nice cool breeze is blowing, and a light entree like quiche or salade Nicoise would make life as gay as Paris in the spring.

Pioneer Boulangerie, 2012 Main St., Santa Monica (213) 399-7771.

A huge complex with two outdoor patios for relaxed al fresco nibbling, just blocks from the ocean, and mobbed on weekends. The famous on-site bakery produces wonderful sourdough, baguettes, and a variety of croissants, and you can pick them up in a cafeteria line filled with Gallic goodies like imported brie, country pate, and freshly made soups. There are also innumerable pastries, small, double-crusted pies, and elaborate, multilayered cakes. The quality is not earth-shattering, but the atmosphere is pleasant, the setting is quintessential, and the parking is free, a rare Westside commodity.

Julienne, 2649 Mission St., San Marino (818) 441-2299.

Susan Campoy, who does the bulk of her trade catering picnics and parties to well-heeled local residents, runs this small, rustic, country French sidewalk cafe and take out, inconspicuously set into a quiet commercial block. If this were on the Westside, you’d need reservations just to order out, the quality is that high. Choose from a selection of salades composees, summery fare like minted pea, chicken Normandie, roasted vegetables, or a grainy, peasant-style potato salad. Save space for Campoy’s dazzling array of pastries, flaky pear-almond tart,

crusty French apple pie, densely rich chocolate hazelnut cake, and buttery, outsized scones. You’d have to be dead not to like this stuff.

La Rotisserie, 121 N. La Cienega Blvd., 802, in the Beverly Center, Los Angeles (213) 657-0404.

The specialty here is roasted game, crispy skinned duck a l’orange, or Cornish hen stuffed with an herbed rice pilaf, and it all works surprisingly well. Dinners, which start at under $5, are accompanied by a pile of steamed vegetables, and if you’re lucky, garlicky pan-roasted potatoes-- vaut le voyage, or worth the detour, as the Guide Michelin says. Also good are country dishes like lamb shank in tarragon cream, and thick, pureed soups. Try Mme. Morovati’s tarte tatin, the caramelized apple pie. At $2.95, it’s over half the price of many of her dinners. One bite, and you’ll understand why.

ITALIAN

Italian food means a lot more than just pizza today, and all you have to do to find that out is to try these places.

Il Panino, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 250 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 617-1844.

Magnificent outdoor dining in a stunningly designed setting, served from a cafe menu put together by Celestino Drago, bambino terribile of his own Beverly Hills trattoria. Panini are Italian sandwiches on crusty rolls, creative gems like portofino, buffalo mozzarella, tomato, and black olive dressing, sprinkled with fresh basil. Other sandwiches feature delicacies like smoked chicken, roasted pepper, prosciutto, and mascarpone cheese. For lighter appetites, there are many salads and antipasti. Dessert is irresistible; gelato in tiny cups, and sumptuous pastries like tiramisu or Italian muffins. Bravissimo.

Gianfranco, 11363 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, (213) 477-7777.

An Italian cafe with a carnival-like atmosphere, better suited to New York than Los Angeles, perhaps, but delightful all the same, with hanging cheeses, gaudy wall art, and assorted Italian paraphernalia. This is as good as steam table Italian gets, especially the fresh pastas like green fettuccini al pesto--the redolent green sauce with pine nuts, sweet basil, and peccorino cheese--and stuffed shells with homemade meatballs. Pastries are run-of-the-mill, but there is terrific Italian coffee and imported chocolate, and you’d have to be greedy to expect more.

Giovanni’s, 810 Vermont Ave., Los Angeles (213) 660-6545.

If you must have pizza, look no further. For more than 10 years, Giovanni Bica has been making the best pizza in Los Angeles, sold by the slice for $1 (Sicilian style $1.10), with an additional 30 cents charge per topping. Bica is originally from Sicily, but he learned his art in New York City, and it shows. His pizza is a red and white tapestry of tangy rich sauce, and elegant whole-milk cheese. Regular pizza has a perfect crust, and Sicilian style is puffy and yeasty, no relation to the doughy, undercooked goo found in franchised parlors. “I cook pizza the way I like it,” Bica says. You will too.

INDIAN

This mysterious and wonderfully varied cuisine is suited to the adventurous palate, and as fast food it’s steadily gaining in popularity. Here are three excellent examples.

Curry Express, 10034 Venice Blvd., Culver City (213) 839-2841.

Fast food elevated to its highest level, worthy of dining rooms in first-class establishments. Owner Baldev Khosla is obviously a perfectionist; he’s a Hindu Punjabi from Kenya, and a maniac for cleanliness and presentation. Standouts include chicken pakoras, a chickpea battered fritter, chicken tikka masala, boneless marinated chunks of pure pleasure, and a terrific combination vegetarian plate. The decor matches Khosla’s Curry Cuisine in the Marina, pink tile and modern fixtures. The mango lassi, a thickened yogurt drink, beats any milk shake in the city. One meal here, and you may never be satisfied with hamburgers again.

Ambala Sweets, 18433 Pioneer Blvd., Artesia, (213) 924-9944.

The most impressive display of Indian sweets and snacks you’ll see in this hemisphere, prepared by a Bengali kitchen staff from Bangladesh. Glass cases are jammed with rainbow-colored snacks; gatia, puffy garbanzo flour noodles, chevra, a crispy snack of nuts and spiced cereals, masala cashews, pistachios, and every kind of milk based sweet imaginable. Hot snacks can be eaten at the narrow counter, like masala dosa ($2.50), a paper-thin lentil crepe with potato curry inside, or toothsome channa, a stewed chickpea eaten with puffed bread and cucumber salad. Chum-chum , tennis ball sized orange sweets, rolled in coconut, are incredible.

Chutney’s, 2406 S. Barrington Ave., West Los Angeles, (213) 477-6263.

Chutney’s is yet another Indian take out of inspiring quality. Everything has a homemade flavor, and you can watch the Indian women whipping things up behind the counter while you wait. Snacks are especially good, like samosas (90 cents), stuffed, savory pastry triangles, and pakoras, deep-fried vegetable fritters. Dahi chicken ($4.65, a half) is marinated in yogurt and spices, then cooked slowly on a charcoal brazier. It should be eaten bareheaded, kneeling. Don’t forget to sample the little chutneys at the chutney bar. The spice of life, you know.

JAPANESE

Watching your weight? Have a daughter who wants something really light? The Japanese have done it again.

Sushi-tron, 719 West 7th St., Los Angeles (213) 623-5452.

And you thought you’d seen everything. This isn’t the best sushi in town but it’s the most unusual, thanks to an extraordinary manner of service. You sit at a light-sensitive board on which pictures of various sushis are duplicated. Then you key in commands to a control center with a light-sensitive pen. It’s so simple that only a child can do it. Better bring the kids. Recommended are tuna, salmon, scallops, and yellowtail, all of which, thank heaven, are still prepared by a live chef. Horn and Hardart, eat your heart out.

Moc-moc, 1431 W. Redondo Beach Blvd., Gardena, (213) 329-5138.

Bento is the Japanese box lunch, usually eaten from a lacquered tray, and eaten by the millions daily in Japan. Moc-moc is modest at best, the meals come in plastic, and the prices are scandalously low. Still, the food is tasty. Broiled salmon ($2.20) and broiled eel ($4.95) are surrounded by Japanese short grain rice and homemade pickles, with little clumps of salad and a plastic thimble of soy thrown in for good measure. Makunouchi bento ($3.55), sumo watchers favorite, is a snack box of bite sized treats like pork cutlet, meatball, egg cake, and salted plum. Chopsticks are included.

Juraku Ramen House, 333 S. Alameda, 333, in Little Tokyo Square, Los Angeles (213) 680-2043.

Now wait a minute, what are those giant bowls of noodles being hoisted about by waitresses barely big enough to carry them? Ramen, naturally, one of Japan’s favorite snack foods.

This is not the instant kind, of course, but rather fresh noodles in a savory broth, with a choice of toppings. The soup base begins with dashi, made from seaweed, shiitake mushrooms, and shaved bonito, and there’s plenty of garlic thrown in for good measure. Top with roast pork, cooked egg, seasonal vegetables, hot bean paste, or sweet corn, just like the Japanese do. Under $5, and enough for the heartiest eater.

MEXICAN

The days of hard-shell tacos and tasteless ground beef are gone forever. Ideal for a hot day, or before seeing a hot movie, like “La Bamba.”

Yuca’s Tacos, 2056 N. Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles (213) 662-1214.

Socorro and Jaime Herrera hail from Merida, Mexico, in the Yucatan, the state most Mexicans consider the best for regional cookery. The Herreras do their home state proud at this tiny stucco hut, where equally tiny tacos are inhaled under a portable canvas canopy. Try Mama’s cochinita pibil, Yucatan-style pork cooked with achiote seed and steamed in a banana leaf, or her carne asada, little bits of steak browned, crisp and flavorful. Enjoy them in a fresh, soft taco shell, or in a burrito with frijoles a la olla, whole beans in sauce. Even the chili burger is magnifico.

La Salsa, 8267 Sepulveda Blvd., Van Nuys (818) 892-7289, Irvine Ranch Market, Newport Beach (714) 640-4289, and various Westside locations.

For a small chain, La Salsa gets top marks, All the ingredients are prime and fresh. Succulent chicken tacos ($1.50) are served with a cebollita, or charbroiled scallion, and a tiny piece of juicy lime. Sauces are excellent, especially salsa gringo, hotter than a Durango sidewalk in mid-July. La Salsa has other fine specialties, like the torta, a sandwich with pork, black bean, sour cream, and avocado, and also horchata, a milky-white soft drink made from boiled rice water and cinnamon. Good coffee, too.

Fast Taco, 37 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, (818) 795-5370.

Lives up to its name, and does it with flair. The No. 1 attraction in this sleek, handsome taco parlor is pastor, toothsome chunks of marinated, spiced, grilled pork, wonderful in a soft tortilla, or wrapped up in a large, sloppy burrito. Exquisite, fluffy rice and limpid, juicy black beans make a decided improvement over the usual accompaniments, the tired refritos most places serve as an afterthought, and unspeakable rice. Salsas are first-rate, and, to wash everything down, there are Koala fruit drinks from Australia, and Penafiel soft drinks from Mexico.

MIDDLE EASTERN

“Dad,” says the youngest, “red meat is bad for you.” “Let’s get something made with healthy ingredients.” How about this?

Me and Me, 10975 Weyburn Ave., Westwood, (213) 208-7716; 465 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles (213) 655-4748; 6687 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 464-8448.

Falafel, the most popular sandwich in the Middle East, is deep-fried ground chickpea balls spiced with a variety of tongue-tingling flavors, then sandwiched into a round of unleavened pita bread already crammed with salad and sesame sauce. At $2.25, it’s one of the cheapest, most filling, and most nutritious sandwiches in town. Me and Me popularized them in Los Angeles, and it is an enterprising, Israeli-run business, always full of students. Vegetarians can have a field day with the various salads--Turkish, mushroom, and eggplant, to name a few--and non-veg folks can go for the ground meats with Arabic seasonings.

Middle East, 645 E. Main St., Alhambra, (818) 576-1048.

This converted teriyaki stand serves the tastiest Middle Eastern food around. The owners are two guys from Lebanon, both with an international restaurant background, and you can peer in at them through a tiny take-out window. Kebabs, and other enormous sandwiches are ready in minutes, including exotic items like kubbeh , meat-filled balls of bulgur wheat, and fabulous, honeyed pastries. Try mamoul , a shortbread-like cookie with a filling of ground walnut. Outrageous.

Carnival Restaurant, 4356 Woodman Ave., Sherman Oaks, (818) 784-3469.

“Eighty percent of our clientele is Middle Eastern,” boasts owner-chef Afif Hakim. “Saudis, Jordanians, Israelis, they all come here to eat,” he says with a broad smile. No wonder. This 60-seat restaurant does a brisk take out deli business, thanks to ready to eat delicacies like hummus bi-tahini, mashed chickpea and sesame dip, blended with lemon juice, and labanah, a chopped parsley, tomato, and cracked wheat, and is big in the summer. For sitters, there is a muddy Turkish coffee.

MISCELLANEOUS

Here are a few local oddities for the days when you really don’t know what you want. They are in a class by themselves.

Mawar Deli, 534 E. Valley Blvd., 8, San Gabriel, (818) 573-0506.

Feel like a bizarre treat on a hot day? Then visit this hole-in-the-mini-mall, owned and operated by Natur Nasir of Djakarta, Indonesia. In addition to a glass case of Javanese snacks-like lemper, a sticky rice roll with minced chicken, and spicy beef croquettes, Mawar’s has delectable shaved ices, Indonesian style, to dazzle the eye and clear the palate. Ice Shangha ($1.75) is a multicolored concoction with raspberry syrup, condensed milk, young coconut, palm seed, grass jelly, and red bean. Ice Teller has jack-fruit and fresh avocado with vanilla syrup. They cool you off with amazing speed.

Janet’s Original Jerk Chicken Pit, 1541 W. Martin Luther King Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 296-4621.

Jerking is a special Jamaican method requiring grilling, after using a dry marinade of assorted peppers, pimento, and thyme. There can be jerked pork, or goat, too, but Janet’s limits the menu to chicken and pork.

Sanford and Janet Bragg run the business with diligence. Janet is from Montego Bay, and she actually goes home to fetch certain spices. Dinners come with densely fried bread and the usual trimmings, but for an extra dollar or so you can add island exotica like yams or plantains. Avoid drinking the cloying ginger beer, because their lemonade is de best, mon. Some of the tastiest chicken in Los Angeles.

Singapore Satay, in the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, 404 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, (213) 624-5111.

This engaging little restaurant stand, located on the fourth floor of the hotel complex, specializes in satay, skewered, finely trimmed meats marinated in an unusual mixture of coriander seed, ginger, garlic, and cloves. It’s popular all over south Asia. The restaurant is owned by Singapore native Eddie Lim, and his partner, Othman Lasim, a Malay, who shares cooking chores with his wife. Satay (4 for $3.95) can be chicken, pork, beef, or shrimp, and are served with ketupat, compressed rice cakes, and gado-gado, an unctuous peanut sauce. An exotic treat.