A Short Trip to Havana or Buenos Aires

Traditionally, tapas are delightful morsels you can eat in two or three bites. In Spain they’re usually offered as a bonus each time you order a drink, although they’re sometimes lined up under a glass display case to tempt you. They’re usually pretty unassuming--a little dish of black olives, a thin wedge of tortilla de patata (potato frittata), a slice of baguette topped with marinated sweet peppers--although they can certainly take on more elaborate forms.

In this country, tapas tend to become appetizer plates in a Latin, but not necessarily Spanish, manner. But what the heck, I don’t particularly care whether food is authentic as long as it’s good.

The tapas at Y Arriba Y Arriba in Downtown Disney certainly pass the taste test. Y Arriba is a nightclub-restaurant hybrid, the sort of place where the food usually plays second fiddle. Remarkably, here it doesn’t. The menu offers an array of stylized Latin dishes culled from south-of-the-border cuisines from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego and the Caribbean, with the cocktails following suit.

The room is cavernous and fulfills every fantasy of a high-rolling nightclub in some Latin American never-never land. It’s Buenos Aires, pre-Castro Havana and Mexico City rolled into one, with a house dance troupe whose performances border on the risque. The decor is similarly fanciful, with a huge mural of what I took to be an Andalusian beauty in a billowing skirt demurely holding a fan.

My friends and I entered to find ourselves sonically awash in the nuevo-flamenco stylings of a group called Incendio, whose sets were interspersed with routines by the house dance troupe performing in camouflage bikinis and tights. (A friend dubbed them the Dancing Sandinistas.) On weekends, a salsa group plays in the band shell hovering high over the dance floor.

There’s a nice selection of cocktails of the tropical persuasion. They’re $7.50, but there’s no denying they’re powerful, and it’s worth taking into account that there’s no cover charge here. The Pisco Sours pack a wallop, as do the frothy Pina Coladas and the refreshing Mojitos, a concoction of rum, lime juice, sugar and mint.

Across the board, the food is remarkably consistent and consistently good. Churrasco is a grilled skirt steak served sliced with a garlicky vinaigrette dipping sauce, and there’s a nice rendition of lechon --moist chunks of Cuban-style roasted pork served with a well-balanced mojo of garlic, lime juice and oregano. The chicharron is not the typical deep-fried pork skin but glorified chicken nuggets, breaded and spiked with oregano.

Order the entremeses for a sampling of more traditional Spanish tapas, including Serrano ham, Manchego cheese and soft, plump Spanish olives. Of the six versions of ceviche, the two I sampled were basic but excellent, and I’d recommend the mixto --shrimp, scallops and sea bass--in particular. The prices are restrained. What you spend depends on how much you order. Tapas run $5.95 to $10.95.

Y Arriba Y Arriba, Downtown Disney, Anaheim. (714) 533-8272. Open 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily.