eat + drink

'This place can't decide whether it is a sports bar or a fine dining restaurant," proclaimed my friend Jim, with a slight tone of befuddlement. Looking around Trocaderos, the new nightclub and restaurant in the Minneapolis Warehouse District, I could see his point: Most of the menu, and the quality of the cuisine, definitely said fine dining. But the three flat-screen monitors above the bar, and the big banners in the window, sponsored by Coors Light and Rolling Rock, said sports bar, as did the very casual dress of the clientele.

Which side of Trocaderos' split personality you are most likely to encounter depends in good part on when you visit. If you go on a weekend, when a band like the R Factor is on stage, the disco ball is spinning and there's a big dressy crowd on the dance floor, and you sit at a table on the balcony overlooking the excitement below, Trocaderos will likely seem to be a stylish, even glamorous upscale restaurant/nightclub -- especially if you order some of the more gastronomic dishes from British-born chef Howard Parker.

But if you visit on a weeknight when business is slow and only the small downstairs dining room is in operation, and you order the chicken wings, you'll get that sports-bar feeling. And if the curtain separating the dining room from the darkened dance floor is open, you'll feel that high-school gymnasium ambience.

This split personality is reflected on the menu, where chicken wings and deep-fried calamari are offered side-by-side with peaky-toe crab cakes and fresh Asian spring rolls. Less adventuresome eaters can stick to the steaks, simple pasta dishes or wild-rice-crusted walleye, while the more gastronomically inclined can opt for entrées such as hot smoked duck breast with braised lentils and green peppercorn sauce, or vanilla-scented seared sea scallops with wild mushroom fricassee and sweet potato medallions (both recommended). Prices are surprisingly reasonable: all of the pastas are under $15, and except for the steaks and rack of lamb, all entrées are under $20.

A variety of entrée salads are offered, ranging from a classic chef salad with turkey, ham, Swiss cheese and all the usual accompaniments, to a lively and colorful Southwestern shrimp salad, tossed with black beans and red, black and gold corn chips.

Either way, the food is surprisingly good. Even the sports bar-type starters are excellent: The crisply fried spicy chicken wings are dry-rubbed with a fiery blend of seasonings, while the tempura-battered calamari are light and tender and not at all greasy. Also recommended are the wild-rice-crusted walleye strips, but take a pass on the bruschetta and the artichoke dip.

Nearly all the entrées we sampled were winners. The linguine with clams was prepared with bacon, shallots, chives and generous quantities of fresh plump littleneck clams in the shell, rather than the usual canned chopped clams. One friend's filet mignon, ordered medium rare, arrived exactly as ordered and was a very tender and flavorful cut of beef. Next time, though, I'd ask for one of the sauces -- green peppercorn or brandy mushroom -- that are available on request. The fire-roasted prawns with yam-stuffed Anaheim pepper and a shrimp veloute sauce were also a tasty combination -- spicy but not overpowering.

Even dishes that fell short of perfection were good enough to be enjoyable: My roast chicken ballotine, rolled with crawfish and basil, and accompanied by an acorn squash risotto, was a bit dry, but still an imaginative and enjoyable dish. Same for the vanilla-scented scallops: a little heavy on the vanilla, but still delightful.

The desserts we sampled -- banana bread pudding and a blueberry and blackberry crumble -- were a bit of an anticlimax, but the New York cheesecake looks promising.

The lunch menu offers selections from the dinner menu at reduced prices, plus hot dogs, a Troc burger and sandwiches, including deli sandwiches with meats from New York's famous Carnegie Deli.

Service is friendly but sometimes a bit slow.

Best time to go to Trocaderos is when there is live music -- Friday and Saturday nights, and sometimes Thursdays, starting at 9:30 p.m. (check the website or call for the exact schedule). There's a $6 cover charge on those nights, starting at 9:30 p.m., but it's waived for diners. On Wednesdays and the remaining Thursday nights, a D.J. picks the music. On other nights, the music is an eclectic mix that can range from Paul Simon and Wilson Pickett to the Eagles and New Age electronica.

Trocaderos Nightclub & Restaurant ***

Location: 107 3rd Av. N., Minneapolis, 612-465-0440.

Hours: Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday 11 a.m. to midnight, Saturday noon to midnight. Closed Sundays.

Atmosphere: Fine dining meets sports bar.

Sound level: At times pretty loud, but it's still possible to have a conversation.

Recommended dishes: Calamari, spicy chicken wings, seared sea scallops, smoked duck breast.