Coconut Shrimp

Cabana Zagat 1999
Food: 20, Decor: 19, Service: 18, Cost: $28.00
Eastsiders flock to this "delicioso", "spicy, fruity, different Cuban-Caribbean" that recreates the "fun food" and "tropical decor" of the Forest Hills original; plan on "crowds" and "super sangria."

Resident
Valentine's Day   
The Sweet Spot by Cynthia Fabian
For a sizzling atmosphere, try Cabana (107-10 70 Rd., 263-3600) for romantic and fun Cuban, Jamaican and Caribbean cuisine at moderate prices. A wide variety of tropical coladas and margaritas serve as a prelude to your romantic, tropical Valentine's Day evening.

BQ by Peter M. Gianotti
WITH A WHIMSICAL BURST of gold and blue. Cabana celebrates the cooking of the sun and the sea. All it needs is a tanning salon.
The playful, noisy and very, very bright eatery is a spirited addition to the neighborhood and the borough. It's definitely unlike any restaurant in the immediate vicinity.
And, given the lighthearted decor and the partying mood in the dining room, it differs markedly from most of the Queen eateries that evoke the Caribbean.
Cabana doesn't have the edge of authenticity. But the place...and the food often is good. This is the Caribbean for vacationers. The walls are a brilliant hue of yellow beaded for gilding. The ceiling suggests a dreamy color for the sky, even though duckways interrupts the hallucination.
Stylized paintings of tropical scenes dot the spot. A banquet covered with fabric that would make wildflowers appear tame.
You can forgo the margarita and go the colada route or stay with any of the beers. They've got slushy, nonalcoholic drinks with flavors such as coconut and banana, too.
For a starter with verve, try the spicy chicken wings. They're dubbed Jamaica jerk, as if to ensure that you don't mistake them for expatriates from Buffalo. The meaty wings are marinated and grilled, slathered with a jazzy barbeque sauce.
Coconut crusted shrimp are considerably milder and sweeter. The shellfish also are short on crunch. Instead, sample baccalaitos, or light codfish cakes paired with a tasty avocado salsa. The Bahamanian conch fritters are the size of small zeppoles, battered and accompanied by peppery dipping sauce.
Vegetable fritters are paired with a dipping sauce that's spiked with cilantro. But the dish is a little limp. Jamaican beef patties, which conatin ground, spiced beef, have a fine filling .
The house's chicken soup is generous with white meat and vegetables, in a fragrant broth. Heartier is the meaty, reddened conch soup.
A serving of long-cut plantain chips goes with the drinks. Have them immediately, because the crispness vanishes faster than a bottle of Dos Equis after you have accidentally downed a Scotch bonnet pepper.
Those incendiaries are part of the cooking here. But they must be used so sparingly that a genuine ignition rarely occurs. Ask for the full blast and you're likely to get it in the Jamaican jerked chicken and jerked pork, two husky and tingling entrees.
Ropa rieja, the shredded skirt steak stewed with tomatoes, peppers, and onions, is ample and very good. But charrusco, a thin, grilled tenderloin, charred outside and red within, is even better. The beef is marinated with plenty of garlic and herbs.
Sancocho translate's into a gutsy beef stew, thick with fresh yuca, corn and yams. It's one of Cabana's entrees to hold in reserve for a chilly evening.
Chicharrones de pollo, deep fried chunks of chicken, are hefty but could be crunchier. Coco Cabana chicken means white meat in coconut milk, spiked with curry and hot peppers. The two flavors are surprisingly mild. But it's good chicken.
The fish of the day may be salmon, glossed with a tangerine glaze. The salmon steak is moist and flavorful, and the citric accent is restrained. The slab is on a mount of sweetish coconut rice. Have the finfish before diving into the house production of paella or the jumbo shrimp simmered in wine and garlic...