by MARK SLUTSKY

Housed in a dismal grey apartment block just around the corner from Concordia's downtown campus, Café Rococo does not, at first glance, appear to live up to its name - at least visually. Inside, the place is small and somewhat undistinguished-looking, though after spending some time there I started to appreciate the small flourishes, like the curtains draped everywhere, the tourist posters of Budapest and the discreetly piped-in classical music. And you've got to appreciate a place that includes a shaker full of paprika alongside the salt and pepper on your table.

As the above-mentioned posters (and the paprika!) would indicate, Café Rococo is a Hungarian restaurant, and curiously enough, one of the only ones in a city where they were once far more common (though I do know of some Hungarian delis still around). The food is fresh, hearty and hot. And, crucially, Rococo also offers a very fine selection of Hungarian baked goods, which are all made on the premises.

There are plenty of appetizers and other starter items to start your meal off right; bean, chicken, goulash and napi leaves soups are all available for around $3–$5, and there are plenty of salads too. I'd suggest, however, going for one of the two palacsinty options. The palacsinty is a thin, crêpe-like pancake, and Rococo offers a couple very different variations on the theme. The salmon palacsinty ($5) consists of a rolled, sliced pancake filled with smoked salmon, cream cheese and lettuce, accompanied by olives, raw onions and tomatoes. Served cold, it's a great way to rev up your palate. The other palacsinty, the mushroom pancake ($5.50) is a different beast indeed. A folded crêpe filled with sliced onions, it's liberally coated with mildly spicy paprika sauce and is quite the savoury treat.

Many options await you on the menu's next few pages. For the health-conscious, there's a special little menu put together by local health guy Dr. Joe Schwarcz; ranging between $7–$10 in price, the most notable dish it includes is a vegetarian goulash.

There's lots to try if you're feeling a little more heedless, though. The lecso debrecenivel ($8.50) is a stew of sliced sausage and green peppers, served with what the menu calls gnocchi, though you might know the little wheat-based mini-dumplings as spetzl, or spaetzle - most of the dishes feature it as a side. The peppers and the sausage blend together beautifully, and the dish is rich and satisfying.

Rococo gets that quintessential Hungarian dish, paprikas csirke, or paprika chicken ($9.50), very right. Consisting of extraordinarily tender chicken soaked in - what else - a creamy paprika sauce (the same sauce as the mushroom palacsinty, actually), the dish has a deep orange hue and is somehow very comforting to eat. As is the marha porkolt, or beef goulash ($9.50), featuring tender cubes of beef flavoured subtly with caraway. The meat's just tender enough without going mushy, and if you're a goulash fan you shouldn't miss this one.

Perhaps the most intriguing dish on the menu was the vadas, aka sauerbraten ($10.50). A plate of roasted beef and fluffy bread dumplings coated in a pale sauce that had a distinct tang of carrot, the vadas was perhaps a bit sweet for my taste, though the meat and the dumplings were soft and tasty.

You'd be doing yourself a great disservice if you were to eat at Rococo and skip dessert. You can choose from a variety of sweet palacsinty, or amble over to the counter and pick out a little cake or pastry, beautiful little sweets made with cherry, walnut, chestnut, caramel or various other flavourings. I was particularly charmed by the walnut-flavoured "opera" cake, with a musical clef inscribed on the top in icing, but there's quite a variety to choose from, ranging from cherry cake to sweet poppy roulades. Top off your meal with one of these sweet treats or bring 'em home with you for later - you won't regret it.

Café Rococo
ADDRESS: 1650 Lincoln (just west of Guy)
PHONE: 938-2121
HOURS: Mon-Fri 10AM–10PM, Sat 11AM–10PM
BEST FEATURES: Beef goulash and fresh-baked pastries
(though not together), paprika shaker.
ALCOHOL: Yes
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes
VEGETARIAN FRIENDLY: Yes
CREDIT CARDS: Yes
NO-SMOKING SECTION: It's all non-smoking
PRICE: $8–$15 per person, before tax, tip or wine
RATING: *** out of ****