Eric Parsons / Star staff [ STAND OUT }

Here's a look back at Rita Moran's recent restaurant reviews, in chronological order. Moran visits restaurants unannounced and pays for her meals.

Harvard Cafe, 650 W. Harvard Blvd., Santa Paula. 921-0400. The modest cafe has a menu that covers breakfast, lunch and dinner at reasonable prices. It also offers the occasional surprise among its daily specials and regular menu. Fans applaud the soups; the cream of broccoli is a winner. Service is prompt and helpful, and the atmosphere is basic but welcoming.

Bistro Ella, 1714 Newbury Road, Space E, Newbury Park. 498-2500. The cozy, elegant bistro is the creation of restaurateur Peyman Afshar, who also owns Leila's in Oak Park. Chef Richard DeMane oversees the food at both spots, explaining the bistro's similar focus on the fresh and the fanciful as it leans toward Eastern Mediterranean touches. The bistro demonstrates a distinctive character, from the simple but very tasty lavash crackers that are brought to the table in a glass globe at the start of the meal to the last bite of lemon crème brûlée. Ahi tuna carpaccio and artichoke soup decorated with swirls of red pepper coulis are beautiful to look at and appealing in taste. Unusual takes on familiar dishes include Ella's "Waldorf" salad, with strips of celeriac taking the place of traditional celery.

Vietnam Noodle Cafe, 476 W. Los Angeles Ave., Suite B-10, Moorpark. 523-3145. The tiny but tidy spot offers freshly prepared Vietnamese food with gracious service. The array of ethnic specialties includes a particularly good peanut-hoisin sauce with the shrimp and pork spring rolls and the Chinese sausage fresh rolls, both unfried items wrapped in edible rice paper. Some items that could be stand-alone entrees at other spots are blended into the cafe's noodle and/or rice soups, including chicken curry rice vermicelli soup and lemongrass beef stew rice noodle soup. The tasty results are modestly priced.

Experi-mental Cafe, in the Woolworth building at Fourth and A streets, Oxnard. 385-3605. Woolworth building owner David Feigin has converted the site's corner space into an eccentric cafe, featuring food choices that meander from egg cream to chicken shwarma wraps, with terrific pastrami-wrapped hot dogs and an amazing Twinkie-based dessert. There's a lunch counter and booths on the food-serving side, and a collection of mid-20th-century curios on the Woolworth "museum" side, which is also where live music prevails Tuesday through Saturday nights.

Farm-dinner series at The SideCar Restaurant, 3029 E. Main St., Ventura. 653-7433. Chef and co-owner Tim Kilcoyne, who grew up on a farm in Acton, shines the spotlight on local, seasonal produce by presenting once-a-month dinners, each devoted to a specific grower in the Ventura County area. Coming up: fruits and vegetables from Underwood Family Farms (April 16), and produce from Tomai Farms (May 21). Reservations are $55 per person; $75 with wine paired to each of the four courses.