Mardi gras

With a blend of Southwest, Italian, and Cajun, Cafe Abba's menu is hot and spicy

535 Main Street, Worcester, 799-9999
Daily 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
Major credit cards
Full bar
Handicap accessible

by Jim Johnson

Two lunches and one dinner later, I'm now a major fan of Cafe Abba, one of downtown Worcester's latest dining endeavors and certainly one of its boldest. Fusing a Southwest focus with a variety of cuisines -- Cajun, Creole, Italian, and Asian among them -- Abba turns even the most familiar dishes into intriguing delights.

For example, the poached chicken breast ($11.95), which could be dangerously bland elsewhere, comes in a garlic lime sauce at dinner. Likewise, the Texas T-bone ($15.95) avoids the need for A1 with an intriguing wild-mushroom salsa. Sea scallops don't come topped with bread crumbs served en casserole; instead, they're coated with tortilla bits, cooked to a crusty finish, and served with crawfish sauce and dirty rice.

Folks looking for pure Southwest cooking will find the hickory smoked barbecued baby-back ribs ($11.95) quite to their liking, and N'awlins fans will rejoice at the seafood gumbo ($3.95 for a bowl). Lovers of Italian food will find plenty of choices, like fried calamari ($9.95), a broad range of dishes served with angel-hair pasta, and a variety of creative pizzas and calzones, like the rimini, with seasoned shrimp and onions, and the bidshabi.

Lunch-goers can take full advantage of kitchen creativity with items like seared salmon (a paltry $7.95) with roasted tomatillo (a Mexican tomato with hints of apple, lemon, and herbs), angel hair, and a fried oyster garnish.

Portions are huge -- even at lunch. Likewise, presentations are delightful with a keen eye for color, texture, and balance. Service, I found, was consistently cordial, sincere, and knowledgeable.

The setting, too, is modern, cheery, and welcoming: art deco lighting, Southwestern prints, peach-colored tabletops, and paisley, vinyl seats.

My first visit, lunch with two co-workers, started with a basket of complimentary "pizza bread" followed by three appetizers. The cured salmon on grilled tortilla ($4.95) was a delightful mixture of flavors and colors: red roasted tomatoes, pink salmon, green-yellow avocado, and tawny tortilla. The salmon was tender (and surprisingly plentiful for the price), its accompaniments were an unusual pleasure. The smoked chicken quesadilla ($4.95) balanced between crisp and moist, the flour tortilla was browned just right, the cheeses gooey and tasty.

But the third appetizer, seafood gumbo ($3.95 for a bowl) was my favorite. Its stew-like stock started with a hearty brown roux, the result of slow-cooking flour and fat. The chef added plenty of shrimp, crab, catfish, oysters, and andouille sausage -- plenty for each spoonful. Filé powder was added at the last minute to add a woodsy flavoring to the smoky and somewhat nutty stock. A scoop of basmati rice added the perfect fragrance.

We moved on to three entrées. The cilantro and lime marinated chicken breast ($6.95), although weak in the spice and citrus departments, was still fully pleasing. The chicken was tender, the sliced avocado and fresh greens the perfect complement. The grilled Kansas City sirloin strip ($7.95) was cooked to order, served with plenty of roasted chili, grilled onions, and fries served amidst a musky wild-mushroom ragoût.

My choice was the winner, of course: the blackened sea scallops ($7.95). A plateful of scallops had been encrusted with tortilla bits, rolled in fiery Cajun spices, and broiled. The coating was zesty, the scallops tender, surrounding a mound of angel-hair pasta with onions, peppers, jalapeño pieces, and scallions.

During a repeat lunch visit, I tried a basic pizza with tomato sauce and cheese. Its simplicity allowed me to focus on the basics -- a perfect crust with perfect ingredients. More challenging pizzas are also available.

A final, solo visit, for dinner, started with grilled marinated shrimp ($5.95) served on corn-tortilla strips, scallions, and salsa verde. I then had a half-smoked chicken ($10.95). The chicken, pasted with Asian barbecue sauce with hints of hoisin, was accompanied by asparagus spears drizzled with butter and herbs and by rice mixed with shredded veggies.

One dining companion wished that some dishes could have been spicier. Making sauces or sliced hot peppers available on the side would indeed have added a perfect touch.

I'll be back -- again and again.