Hours: Dinner Thursday through Monday.
Appetizers: $8.50 to $12.95
Entrees: $19.95 to $31.95
Wines by the glass: $7 or $7.50
Reservations requested.

Mirko's is a serious restaurant run by a husband and wife team, the husband cooking, the wife running the front of the house with great geniality. It's definitely expensive, but it's very good. on a winter night, the little restaurant has a warm light like somthing out of a Courrier & Ives print. In the summer, there's a tranquil outdoor patio.

The service must be mentioned because it is an unobtrusive and totally proffesional level that is seldom encountered on the South Fork.

Best Picks
Appetizers: Croatian Stuffed cabbage (the chef is Croatian)— a big helping of a single dish. Shrimp in straightjackets of bacon with a lemon, shallot and white wine sauce. Calamari in a lemom. The winner: A Napoleon of potobello mushrooms, secured to a heap of wild rice and pecans by a rich compote of tomatoes and shallots was no less than a circus act of lively flavors and textures.
Entrees: Braised short ribs. Roast duck, Horseradish-crusted codfish with perfect mashed potatoes, topped with an amuzing frizz of deep-fried, shredded leeks. Pan-roasted salmon beautifully cooked and served with roast fennel and a noteable Swiss chard. The winner: Pork tenderloin flavored with sage, served with a delicate apple compote.

Hours: Dinner seven days.
Appetizers: $3 to $8
Entrees: $15 to $25
Wines by the glass: $6 or $7
Reservations requested.

When you step through the door of Palomas you could be in some hideaway in Puerta Vallarta, with terra-cotta tiles and painted mirrors. Relatively new to the South Fork, Palomas has gained an enthusiastic following.

Palomas is friendly and the food ia authentic. Adding to the charm, and unusual these days, is that it is family-run. Paz Baranovitch and her three daughters, the Palomas(doves), manage the dollhouse-sized restaurant with willing but occasionally haphazard service.

Wine/Beer
The margaritas are terrific and there is a good selection of Mexican beers, Spanish wines, and that great summer thirst quencher, sangria by the pitcher.

Best Picks
Appetizers: Guacamole. Vegatable quesadillas—subtle flavor and enough for two. Corn empanadas served with salsa, creme fraiche, queso fresco. sala, and quacamole—featherlight..

Entrees: Chicken mole or chicken enchiladas covered in a smoky mole sauce were wonderful concoctions of hand-ground spices, pumpkin seeds, tahine chiles, and bitter chocolate—this is truely a palate pleaser. Mexican lamb chops served with enchaladas and roasted vegatables. Seafood paella. Red snapper—perfectly cooked and light. Pork tenderloin burrito. Beef fajitas marinated for 24 hours in oil, garlic, lime, and hot peppers was excellent and the size would have daunted an Olympic weightlifter.

Hours: Dinner seven days.
Appetizers: $9 to $14
Entrees: $21 to $34
Wines by the glass: $7 to $9
Reservations amust on weekends.

Eating at Robert's evoked exclamations of surprise and coos of satisfaction. it remains the peak of many, many meals on our reviewing schedule over the last few years.

Robert Durkin, the chef-owner, serves the kind of seafood-oriented food you might find in Tuscany. The dining space, with its exposed beams and low ceiling, meanders from one room to another, which makes for cozy intimate spaces and good acoustics.

A large Tuscan loaf, hot from the oven, kept us happy while we studdied the menu. Robert's is expensive but you get what you pay for and the menu allows room for maneuvering. You could just have delicious pasta and a glass of wine, for example, and be quite happy. On the other hand, some entrees are not served with side dishes, an extra-for-vegatables lark that seems a bit unfair in an expensive restaurant.

Best Picks
Appetizers: Delicate white bean with basil pesto soup. An inspired salad of trevisiano, a long, narrow-leafed radicchio. Freshly hulled fava beans with thin strips of pecorino cheese. The winner: Baby squid in a sauce of white beans with cherry tomatoes and red and yellow peppers that were almost caramelized.

Entrees: Whole roasted sea bass with vernaccia and olives. Local striped bass with oven-dried tomatoes, ramps (wild onions), and pea shoots. rouper, not often seen in these parts, with porchini mushrooms, sweet corn, and real peas, taken off the pod by hand. Roasted chicken with a Gorgonzola polenta—one would gladly sell one's grandmother for it. Hand-made fettuccini with fresh baby artichoke hearts, asparagus, and peas in a cream sauce—
so-o-o-o-o good.

Desserts: "Fallen" chocholate hazelnut souffle cake. Irresistible almond cake with rasberry sauce.

Hours: Dinner six evenings. Closed tuesdays.
Appetizers: $11 to $14
Entrees: $24 to $34
Wines by the glass: $6 to $8
Reservations required.

This funky spot, with it's railroad car bar, offers something on other restaurant can—a reliable 8:37 p.m. thrill as the train passes within three yards of your table. The pretty, hexagonal dining room, with its high domed ceiling and frosted glass chandelier, and the adjoining screened porch make this a most enjoyable place.

The menu is American fusion. Expensive? Yes. But that must be immediately qualified by saying that the appetizers are worth every penny and the entrees are very large. The service is snappy, the presentation charming, and food, on the evening we were there, ranged from good to superlative.

Best Picks
Appetizers: Steamed mussels in a roasted corn, tomato, and hot and sweet chili broth was a real eye-opener. Tempura lime marinated shrimp with cashew-flavored soba noodles. Tuna tartare served with paper thin pappadams. A tiny salad of seaweed and green beans. A timbale of sesame couscous. The winner: Sesame-crusted lemongrass and scallion crab cakes—
these makes my personal Top Ten list.

Entrees: Chilean sea bass. Salmon mairnated in honey, sesame oil, and soya—as moist as if it had been hooked that afernoon.

Desserts: Pistachio nut cheesecake. Very rich chocholate mousse, Be warned to share.