Hell's Kitchen BY CARLA SPARTOS Westway Diner 614 Ninth Ave., between 43rd and 44th Sts. 212-582-7661 Nothing fancy, just diner staples like eggs, omelettes, lox, and pancakes done right, 24/7. • See details in main article L'Allegria Ristorante & Trattoria Italiana 623 Ninth Ave., at 44th St. 212-265-6777 The brick-oven pizza at this Ninth Avenue trattoria comes crisp, airy, and lightly cheesed. • See details in main article Island Burgers and Shakes 766 Ninth Ave., between 51st and 52nd Sts. 212-307-7934 Burgers any and every way you like 'em—except with fries, that is. • See details in main article Good & Plenty To Go 410 W. 43rd St., between Ninth and Tenth Aves. 212-268-4385/86 Butterscotch pudding, strawberry scones, sugary maple walnut cookies, and buttery croissants—need we say more? • See details in main article Tulcingo Del Valle Restaurant & Deli 665 Tenth Ave., between 46th and 47th Sts. 212-262-5510 All manners of beef, chicken, and pork rolled up with fresh cilantro, guac, hot sauce and sour cream. • Minimum: $10, $2 delivery charge below 33rd St. and above 57th St. • Delivery area: 18th St. to 63rd St., Fifth Ave to Twelfth Ave. • Hours of delivery: 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. (Sun. - Tue.), 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. (Wed. - Sat.) • Credit cards: no • Keeps address on file: yes • Delivers alcohol: no Ariana Afghan Kebab 787 Ninth Ave., between 52nd and 53rd Sts. 212-262-2323 Afghani Afghani cuisine may sound exotic, but its meat-and-starch combos ensure democratic appeal, even among culinary wimps (read: visiting out-of-towners). At Ariana, the substantial charred kebabs (chicken, beef, lamb, fish; $9.95 and up) arrive on a heaping mound of fragrant basmati rice, along with focaccia-like flatbread and a simple green salad perked up by a squirt of lemon and a dose of tart yogurt dressing. But vegetarians will fare equally well: The rich zucchini stew ($7.50) mingles with tangy tomatoes and onions, and a slick broth makes for satisfying bread sopping. Minimum order: $10 Delivery area: 38th St. to 62nd St., Twelfth Ave. to Fifth Ave. Hours of delivery: noon - 11 p.m. Accepts credit cards: yes Keeps address on file: no Delivers alcohol: no Note: large-group catering, vegetarian-friendly El Deportivo Restaurante 701 Ninth Ave., at 48th St. 212-757-0819 Spanish, Caribbean El Deportivo is one of several old-school Hell's Kitchen restaurants dishing out comfort food to the neighborhood's sizable Hispanic population, and also one of its most dependable. All the usual suspects are here, including a simple Camerones Enchilados (Shrimp in Tomato Sauce, $11.50), a flavorful Churrasco Steak ($14.45), and Mofongo, the mashed green plantains that are a Puerto Rican house specialty ($5 - $14.75). And don't forget soft and soupy beans that perfectly adhere to its yellow-rice accompaniment. Refreshing tropical Batidos (Fruit Shakes, $3) and a rotating list of daily specials ($7) like Pernil Asado (Roast Pork) and Carne Guisada (Beef Stew) round out the menu. Minimum order: $7 Delivery area: 61st St. to 30th St., Twelfth Ave. to Fifth Ave. Hours of delivery: 11 a.m. - 10:30 p.m., daily specials until 5 p.m. Accepts credit cards: no Keeps address on file: no Delivers alcohol: no Good & Plenty To Go 410 W. 43rd St., between Ninth and Tenth Aves. 212-268-4385/86 American If you fancy yourself a Hell's Kitchen gourmand, then program Good & Plenty onto your speed dial: The daily menu rotates, but you're liable to find unwieldy Croque Monsieurs ($7), luscious apricot chicken salad sandwiches ($7.50), and bubbling tins of macaroni and cheese ($6.95)—even better might be the butterscotch pudding ($3.25), strawberry scones ($2.25), and sugary maple walnut cookies ($1.95) that will satisfy the most treacly of sweet tooths. The staff will even cater your next dinner party with dishes like Chilean sea bass or tamale pie. Minimum order: $10 Delivery area: 10-to-12-block radius Hours of delivery: 7 a.m. - 8 p.m. (Mon. - Fri.), 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. (Sat. and Sun.) Accepts credit cards: yes Keeps address on file: yes Delivers alcohol: no Note: corporate accounts, large-group catering Grand Sichuan Int'l Midtown 745 Ninth Ave., between 50th and 51st Sts. 212-582-2288/3071 Chinese Don't be put off by the menu's laundry list of exotics, including beef tripe, diced rabbit, and sliced conch—and that's just the appetizers. It's a testament to Grand Sichuan's authentic regional cooking, and for the squeamish, there's even an entire section labeled "American Chinese Food." The General Tso's Chicken special ($4.95 lunch; $6.45 dinner) is sweet and tangy without being syrupy, and comes with a cabbage-and-pork stuffed egg roll that's suprisingly ungreasy; if you're feeling bold, try the Ghi Zhou Spicy Chicken ($8.55), a Sichuan specialty. More delicate palates will enjoy Prawn with Citrus Sauce ($14.95), laced with the faintest hint of orange, while fans of heat must try the Sichuan Wonton with Red Oil ($3.50). Unfortunately, the hot-and-sour soup, though serviceably spiced, is too gravylike in consistency. Minimum order: one entree Delivery area: 15-block radius Hours of delivery: 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. (Mon. - Fri.), noon - 11 p.m. (Sat. and Sun.) Accepts credit cards: yes Keeps address on file: yes Delivers alcohol: no Island Burgers and Shakes 766 Ninth Ave., between 51st and 52nd Sts. 212-307-7934 American, Hamburgers With 63 combinations on the menu, and just as many waiting to be dreamed up, it could take a while to decide how you want your juicy, flavorful hamburger or churrasco (grilled chicken breast) dressed, so here are some suggestions: The scalding "Napalm" (blackened, bbq, jalapeņo, cheddar, habeņero sauce; $8); the pungent "Frog" (Boursin, bacon, onions; $7.25), or the comforting "Sans Spud" (bacon, cheddar, sour cream, chives; $8). Skip the fries (all they've got are chips and baked potatoes, anyway) for a sweet, gloppy black-and-white milkshake, but expect long delivery waits at peak hours and the definition of "medium" to veer wildly among visits. Minimum order: $6 Delivery area: 40th St. to 63rd St., Fifth Ave. to West End Ave. Hours of delivery: noon - 10:30 p.m. (Sat. - Thu.), noon - 11 p.m. (Fri.) Accepts credit cards: no Keeps address on file: no Delivers alcohol: no Note: corporate accounts L'Allegria Ristorante & Trattoria Italiana 623 Ninth Ave., at 44th St. 212-265-6777 Italian, Pizza With neighborhood pizza ovens firing up disappointingly doughy specimens (excepting, perhaps, Nick and Tony's West, 212-967-6813, where the odds of getting a classic New York pie are about 50-50), you'll be thankful that this run-of-the-mill Avenue trattoria has a brick-oven annex (where a more economical slice can be had at the tiny counter). It's a bit pricey by local standards ($14.12 for a large plain pie that's so airy and lightly cheesed it's only guaranteed to feed two), but worth it. Just make sure you start preheating your oven as soon as you place your order—burn-the-roof-of-your-mouth temperatures are necessary for proper maintenance of the crisp crust. Minimum order: no minimum Delivery area: 34th St. to 55th St., Twelfth Ave. to Fifth Ave. Hours of delivery: noon - midnight (Mon. - Sat.), noon - 11 p.m. (Sun.) Accepts credit cards: yes Keeps address on file: no Delivers alcohol: no Manganaro's Hero Boy 494 Ninth Ave., between 37th and 38th Sts. 212-947-7325 Italian Eating at Manganaro's is like visiting your Italian aunt in Yonkers: Not only is dinner dependably good, but there'll be plenty of family gossip to be had. You see, the Manganaro brothers have been feuding for years, and since neither can decide who owns the rights to the family name, they both operate under it—right next door to one another. Window signs alert naive passerby that the two establishments aren't affiliated, but to their credit, they both fill distinctly different (and delicious) niches: One Manganaro's is a beautiful old-world Italian deli with a small takeout menu, while Hero Boy is a massive Sbarro's-like undertaking with trays of perfectly-cheesed, al dente Baked Ziti ($7.50) or immensely satisfying Chicken Parm Subs ($6.50) —and they deliver, too. Minimum order: $30, $2.50 delivery charge Delivery area: 12-block radius Hours of delivery: 9 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. (Mon. - Sat.), 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. (Sun.) Accepts credit cards: yes Keeps address on file: yes Delivers alcohol: no Note: large-group catering Pam Real Thai Food 404 W. 49th St., between Ninth and Tenth Aves. 212-333-7500 Thai There's no shortage of top Thai in Hell's Kitchen, but none beat Pam Real when it comes to pricing, freshness, and flavor. Start with the piquant BBQ Thai Style ($5.95), thin strips of spicy beef that you coat, along with hunks of iceburg lettuce, in a zingy vinaigrette, or the toothsome Deep Fried Tofu ($3.95), accompanied by a sticky-sweet hot-chili sauce. We've yet to run into a mediocre dish, but the sinus-clearing curries (ask for them "too spicy") deserve special mention, including the Vegetables Red Curry ($5.95), a fiery broth packed with so many steamed vegetables there's barely room to ladle in your rice. Minimum order: $10 Delivery area: 10-block radius Hours of delivery: 11:30 a.m. - 11 p.m. Accepts credit cards: no Keeps address on file: no Delivers alcohol: no Note: large-group catering Queen of Sheba 650 Tenth Ave., between 45th and 46th Sts. 212-397-0610 Ethiopian Hell's Kitchen boasts two perfectly good Ethiopians, but we prefer Queen of Sheba's yeasty, bubbly "injera," which resembles a ready-to-flip pancake, to the critically acclaimed Meskerem, just down the block. The injera acts as a remarkably self-contained utensil, with which you scoop up a variety of meat and vegetarian stews, or "mesob centers". Newbies will want to order the "Taste of Sheba" meat ($16) or vegetarian mesob ($11.50): Both contain dollops of just about every filling—making it easy to target dishes meriting future exploration. Unless, of course, you're spice-averse, in which case you'll want to stick to the menu's milder options (like a creamy whip of split peas). Your loss, though: the fiery "berbere" is something for your mouth to (be)hold. Minimum order: one entree Delivery area: 40th St. to 56th St., Broadway to Eleventh Ave. Hours of delivery:11:30 a.m. - 11 p.m. (Sun. - Thu.), 11:30 a.m. - 11:30 p.m. (Fri. and Sat.) Accepts credit cards: yes Keeps address on file: no Delivers alcohol: no Note: vegetarian-friendly Westway Diner 614 Ninth Ave., between 43rd and 44th Sts. 212-582-7661 American, Greek, Hamburgers, Italian, Seafood, Steakhouse At some of the neighborhood's newfangled diners, you get the dejected feeling that what you're really tucking into is zapped McCain's grub, and drunk at 4 a.m., you may not even care. Fortunately, the food at Westway never poses such a conundrum, sober or otherwise. Here, you get old-fashioned New York diner mainstays and not much else: The hulking burger deluxe ($6.80) arrives with proper crispy steak fries (although unavoidable container steaming makes it a mixed blessing); huge souvlaki platters ($8.05) come equipped with chunks of salty feta and creamy Tsaziki sauce; and, excepting McDonald's maybe, the breakfast sandwiches ($3.45) are the best you're gonna get delivered. Plus, how can you not like a dining establishment that wears a huge banner reading, "Voted #1 by Daily News Readers"? Minimum order: no minimum Delivery area: 36th St. to 54th St., Eleventh Ave. to Sixth Ave. Hours of delivery: 24 hours (daily) Accepts credit cards: yes Keeps address on file: no Delivers alcohol: no Note: corporate accounts Zen Palate 663 Ninth Ave., at 46th St. 212-582-1669 Asian, Health Food, Vegetarian This branch of the popular veggie chain is a neighborhood temple for all things tofu and soy: The Dumpling Soup with Vegetables ($5.95) is a meal unto itself, while the Basil Moo-Shu Rolls ($2.50) have a delightful texture and nutty, delicate flavor. Unlikely ingredient combinations include the creative and tasty Shredded Melody (soy gluten, celery, carrots, zucchini, and pine nuts in a spicy sweet sauce; $7.50), as well as the more familiar-sounding Shepherd's Pie Croquettes ($8.85), fried mashed-potato balls with a minced-veggie center. And vegan-friendly desserts like Banana Pie ($3.50) made from non-dairy yogurt make for a shockingly sinful finish. Online Menu: zenpalate.com Minimum order: $8 Delivery area: 57th St. to 30th St., First Ave. to Twelfth Ave. Hours of delivery: 11:30 a.m. - 12:40 a.m. (Mon. - Sat.), noon - 9:40 p.m. (Sun.) Accepts credit cards: $10 minimum Keeps address on file: no Delivers alcohol: no     Published October 4, 2004