A ROTATING GUIDE TO RESTAURANTS WE LIKE Navigator: Northwest | Southeast | Northeast | Downtown/Southwest | Suburbs | Late Night $: up to $15 per person, beverage and tip included $$: $25 and under $$$: $35 and under $$$$: above $35 WW reviewers have visited these establishments recently and can recommend them. The restaurant world is squirrely; please call for reservation information and hours. Northwest BASTA'S TRATTORIA Basically, you will not be disappointed at Basta's, a place that's in alliance with the slow-food movement but certainly not pokey. A few of our favorite things here include penne with plum tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella, spaghetti with clams, the roast-venison special, any risotto special, tiramisu, crème caramel and any of the nebbiolo wines. One dish we're not crazy about (there aren't many) is Uncle Vittorio's Ragout. This Umbrian classic with baby-back rib meat could stand to be more flavorful. Italian 410 NW 21st Ave., 274-1572. $$-$$$ CELADON This classy little restaurant serves Japanese food with a touch of Korean thrown in for extra spice and heat. You'll find some of the city's best sushi here, especially in the temaki, little ice cream cone-shaped rolls of seaweed wrapped around the standard sushi ingredients; by all means try the spicy tuna. Appetizers may be the stars here: Soft-shell crab is coated lightly with tempura batter that preserves the delicate crunch of the crustacean, and is served with a pungent dipping sauce; calamari stuffed with bean sprouts and then grilled in teriyaki sauce is an innovative way to do squid. Be sure to top off your meal with the welcome lightness of green tea ice cream, one of many items both on the menu and in the decor whose color reiterate the restaurant's name. Japanese 1203 NW 23rd Ave., 464-9222. $$-$$$ SWAGAT Indian meals can be overwhelming in terms of sheer volume, and Swagat is no exception. All entrees are available à la carte or as the Thali dinner, which includes heavenly naan, vegetable curry du jour, thick lentil soup, raita, dal, and dessert. Go for the dinner, even if you're not ravenous. The enchanting variety of textures and flavors defines Indian cuisine, and at three bucks extra, you can hardly afford to miss out. Of course, you could always opt for the lunch buffet, when you can try it all. Indian 2074 NW Lovejoy St., 227-4300; 4325 SW 109th Ave., Beaverton, 626-3000. $-$$ Southeast BOMBAY CRICKET CLUB This well-established Indian restaurant has colonized the west end of the Hawthorne District. The vegetarian curries reign supreme, especially saag paneer, fresh spinach sauteed with homemade cheese, fresh tomatoes and ginger. The chicken masala is also good, with just enough garam masala spice in the sauce to enliven the meat without overpowering it. However, meat entries grilled in Bombay's tandoori oven, such as the chicken and the mixed grill botee, can be a little dry. And watch your bread orders--the naan is as abundant as the gin. Indian 1925 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 231-0740. $$-$$$ CASTAGNA In the year and a half since Castagna opened, it has established itself in the firmament of Portland's top restaurants. The food is a smart blending of French, Italian and Northwest. Accompaniments are matched to the main item, and in their simplicity complement but never attempt to star in their own right. There's one exception: The Himalayan plate of shoestring potatoes is worth trying almost no matter what you order. Desserts are always wonderful. All in all, Castagna is a lovely treat for the eyes, the soul and the body general. Northwest 1752 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 231-7373. $$-$$$$ COZZE For four years this unassuming Southeast Italian restaurant has been the site for chef/owner Peter Roscoe's Big Night dinners, based on the delicious film, and this may have both attracted and scared away diners in equal measure. The kitchen is able to make miracles out of such seafood staples as calamari and mussels. The "Ooh La La" sauce, composed of such disparate ingredients as curry paste, lemongrass and jalapeño, is used in more than one dish. This zingy, creamy gravy is a surprisingly good fit for the lasagna di mare, a deep and dishy bowl of assorted seafoods separated only by "Ooh La La" and sheets of pasta. This isn't old-school American/Italian, nor is it the regional cuisine so popular in Portland; Cozze dishes out experimental Italian, and it works. Italian 1205 SE Morrison St., (503) 232-3275. $$-$$$ STICKERS ASIAN CAFE You'd have to be palate-challenged not to enjoy a nice dumpling. So get to Stickers, a veritable house of dumplings. There are the regular ol' pot stickers, lightly browned little half-moons filled with beef or vegetables that you dunk in a vinegar-infused soy sauce, and there's also a spicy version in hot oil. Don't forget the har gow, dainty little pillows with a shrimp filling. Stickers also offers various other Asian treats, such as pad Thai and Korean barbecued beef with a side of kim chee. Asian 6808 SE Milwaukie Ave., 239-8739. Dinner. $-$$ North/Northeast COLOSSO Portlanders love Colosso. It's a fun, raucous place that's perfect for first dates--and big groups, too. Since tapas are small and inexpensive, the best dinners happen when you have enough hungry bods to consume a variety of "little plates." Start with what sounds best, be it spicy chorizo, roasted nuts, the traditional Spanish egg-and-potato tart (nice and hearty here), and order more as necessary. The food and beverage menus are as long as the crowd can be loud, and frequent customers are rewarded with regular updates. Try an eclectic drink or stick with the cheap but delicious table red. While this isn't the most refined tapas in town, there's not much risk involved when the prices are so reasonable. Tapas 1932 NE Broadway, 288-3333. $$ METRONOME Perfectly seared scallops paired with a mouth-quizzing mix of tart cherry polenta and vanilla-saffron butter sauce start a visit to this Broadway cafe off just right. A stylish balance of cuisine styles, Metronome also scores with its Thai nod, a coconut curry soup that teases the taste buds with lime and lemongrass accents. For the meat lovers, try a half-pound beef burger or amp up your carbs with a nicely balanced spinach linguine. Eclectic 1426 NE Broadway, 288-4300. $$ Downtown/Southwest ATWATER'S This is high-court cuisine, a multicultural, "New American" version (mostly inflections of Asia) of what one might have expected at Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV. Desserts are the highlights of a meal here, especially a stunning chocolate mousse with a mint crème brûlée concealed beneath it, the creamy disk hedged 'round with thin broken walls of chocolate. And it is a delight to find, in a simple salad of arugula, beets shaved so thin you think at first they are red cabbage leaves. As connoisseurs know, the Atwater's wine list is magnificent, especially in its numerous verticals of choice Bordeaux and its vast holdings of West Coast reds. American 111 SW 5th Ave., 275-3600. $$$-$$$$ PAZZO At Pazzo a solid lineup of Italian dishes takes advantage of great local ingredients, including fresh buffalo-milk mozzarella, flown up from California and served simply with roasted peppers and arugula. Our own ocean delivers great calamari; here it's quickly grilled instead of deep-fried, and it's really good. A handful of standup pastas, the risotto del giorno, and a half-dozen entrees with something for everybody round out the selection. An excellent touch are the contorni, the Italian side dishes that nicely complement a meal, available à la carte. Italian 627 SW Washington St., 228-1515.$$-$$$ Suburbs PAVILION GRILL & TRATTORIA The one meal of the week to which this spacious, almost barn-like structure seems best suited is, of course, Sunday brunch. We're talking the matriarch of holy-day feasts, replete with the "all you can eat" subhead so coveted by God's American people. If stretched table to table, end to end, the smorgasbord at Pavilion would be somewhere near 50 feet long; needless to say, you have a significant number of options. Look out, stomach, it's Sunday morning and I hear Pavilion calling. American 10700 SW Allen Blvd., Beaverton, 626-4550. $$-$$$   Late Night CASWELL Uh-oh, here we go again. The clock just struck 10--the witching hour of the dining world--and you're all dressed up with nowhere to go. Well, there is a place to go beyond the common fare of burgers and fries. With a full menu until 1:30 am, Caswell offers real-meal relief to the waitstaff that just worked the dinner rush, and all you regular late-night laggers, too. Relax as the jazz classics croon in the background and you enjoy a range of plumply portioned goodies from pasta to thick-crust pizza, steak to scampi, and to-die-for brownies. American/Eclectic 533 SE Grand Ave., 232-6512. Open until 2 am daily. $$