The following are summaries of recent Times...

The following are summaries of recent Times restaurant reviews.

Be-Bop Burgers, 18575 Beach Blvd., Huntington Beach . (714) 842-1958. Open daily 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., 11 p.m. on weekends, with car hop service every night from 7 till closing.

Pinky’s Hamburger Grill, 4115 Campus Drive, Irvine . (714) 854-4632. Open Tuesdays through Thursdays 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. , Fridays and Saturdays till midnight, Sundays and Mondays till 10.

Be-Bop Burgers and Pinky’s Hamburger Grill are part of a wave of “nostalgia” hamburger joints currently engulfing Orange County, and both are longer on atmosphere than food. The Be-Bop burger is a good value, a full quarter pound of lean beef on a seeded bun that just drips with condiments. Pinky’s beach burgers are charcoal grilled and really taste good. Other sandwiches in both restaurants are less competent. Luckily, both restaurants exude energy, plus the mindless fun of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

Black Sheep Bistro, 303 El Camino Real, Tustin. (714) 544-6060. Open Tuesdays through Fridays 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Tom Harrison and his wife Maribeth are not your typical restaurant couple: He is bearded and professorial, she is demure and wholesome. Together they have created a charming little neighborhood bistro, and things would almost be perfect were it not for the spotty and eccentric food, some of which borders on the amateurish. Paella Tom’s way has hardly any rice in it; homemade pate is served with saltines. Still, the restaurant may win you over with its good pastas and desserts, and the delightfully engaging manner of the owners. They are awfully nice people.

Duang Dara, 8924 Bolsa Ave., Westminster. (714) 891-8775. Open daily 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Westminster’s Bolsa Avenue is known as Little Saigon, but its culinary treasures are not restricted to Vietnamese restaurants. Duang Dara, a Thai restaurant in the neighborhood, is authentic and accomplished. Try the larb , a spicy appetizer made from ground chicken; it will blow the top of your head off. Somp tum , made from shredded papaya, is another memorable experience. There are more than a hundred dishes to choose from on this large and diverse menu, created by Vietnamese Beau Dolan and his Thai wife Penkae, but don’t ask Dolan how they taste. Thai food is just too spicy for him.

Sorrento Grill, 370 Glenneyre St., Laguna Beach. (714) 494-8686. Open Mondays through Saturdays 5:30 to 10 p.m., Sundays 5 to 9:30 p.m.

Sorrento Grill is one of the best new restaurants around, a virtual lock for local stardom. The restaurant is a high concept operation, and it pushes all the right buttons: a stunningly designed open kitchen, post-modern vastness, and a decibel level even Phillip Glass would object to. The food is wonderful. Young, innovative chef Roseanne Ruiz uses the finest ingredients, Chino ranch vegetables, carefully selected poultry and fish, and she prepares them with the finest olive oil and utmost care. Desserts like an amazing creme brulee are brutally rich. Expect lines and unbridled enthusiasm.

PoFolks, 279 E. Orangethorpe Ave., Fullerton . (714) 992-1515. Open daily, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

This PoFolks is the first of a projected 50 to be built in Southern California: The chain is off to a good start. This is a high quality family restaurant, with prices so low they are frightening. Chicken and dumplings a dollar nineteen? Yes, you read it right. Some of the best things here are a giant bowl of seafood gumbo, chocked full of shrimp, rice, and chunked okra, priced at $2.19, and a lightly breaded chicken fried steak. Such accompaniments as corn muffins, biscuits, and many side vegetable plates all are done with skill. Just don’t ask anybody what a moon pie is. If you do, you’ll be sorry.

La Vie en Rose, 240 S. State College, Brea. (714) 529-8333. Open Mondays through Fridays 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 to 10 p.m. (Mondays till 9 p.m.), Saturdays 5 to 10:30 p.m., Sundays 5 to 9 p.m.

La Vie en Rose is supposed to be fashioned after a Normandie farmhouse, but the building is a masterpiece in kitsch: It looks like a swap meet replica of the Mt. St. Michel. Luckily, the food is good. Spinach salad sizzles with natural flavor. Salad Perigourdine , a simple dish of mixed greens, sliced, preserved duck, and a heady garlic dressing, makes a terrific lunch. Fish are prepared with delicacy. The veal chop is wonderful. Service is flawless and attentive. The only major drawback is the noise level, which befits, well, a swap meet. Moderately expensive.

Taiko, 14775 Jeffrey Road, Irvine. (714) 559-7190. Open daily 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m.

Taiko, a trendy sushi bar in an Irvine shopping mall, actually is the rara avis among Japanese restaurants that seems to appeal to both Japanese and American taste. It is a cultural encounter every time you dine. The menu has both the exotic (baby crab, deep fried abalone with vinegar sauce) and the mundane (chicken teriyaki), but anything prepared by the white-hatted chefs is apt to be done with style. If you want the best of Taiko, you had better sit at the long sushi bar. Many of the most interesting items are not brought to the tables. The Japanese have never been long on compromise.

Magic Island, 3505 Via Oporto, Newport Beach. (714) 675-0900. Open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 6 p.m.; Sunday brunches at 9:30, 10:30 and noon.

There is no shortage of illusion at Magic Island, a onetime private club that has been recently opened to the public, but the illusion of dining often fails to materialize. The evening begins with a snappy show featuring first-rate magicians, and then proceeds to one of the myriad dining rooms where a stuffy, often overextended menu is offered. Less is more here: Simpler fare like grilled meats and plain salads tend to upstage the flashier performers, like anything stuffed or sauced. You are going to have a good time at Magic Island, but at present, it is the kitchen that needs magic. Expensive.

Pascal, Plaza Newport, 1000 Bristol St., Newport Beach . (714) 752-0107 . Open Mondays through Fridays , 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Sundays through Thursdays, 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays till 10:30 p.m.

Pascal is the latest, brightest and most engaging of the small area restaurants serving unadulterated French cuisine. You don’t have to worry about being terrorized by the waiters or cream-sauced to death in this charming country cottage. The chef, Pascal Olhats, is a Bocuse protege with solid area experience, and uses no artificial anything in his kitchen. Don’t miss a delightful Provencal fish soup appetizer, or a lamb salad redolent of sweet basil. An entree of sea bass, coated with thyme, and served in a tomato coulis, vaut le voyage (is worth the trip). Desserts are light and guiltless.