ASSOCIATE DEAN KEN ROSENBLUM'S PICKS

Chicken soup better than your grandmother made, with glorious fat globules floating on the surface and chunks of chicken and veggies clogging the bowl. (Note to squeamish: this is true peasant cooking, so some of the chicken parts may be internal organs). Probably the best pollo ala brasa (chicken grilled on a spit) on Long Island. Not much English spoken, but friendly, willing staff.

Newsday: The phrase mi tierrita means, in English, "my little village." Does the name refer to a village in Colombia? To Brentwood itself? It hardly matters, for anyone who goes to the restaurant cannot help but experience its warmth and sense of community. You leave feeling that it is, indeed, your little village, and that you will, indeed, return.

Get there before this one gets discovered, but bring a note from your cardiologist to this carnivore’s paradise. Grilled Argentine meats, huge portions (try the half entrana - skirt steak - with roast potatoes) served with chimichurri, the characteristic Argentine dipping sauce made from parsley, olive oil, vinegar, garlic and peppers. Empanadas, the ubiquitous South American meat pies, make a great starter. In the unlikely event you have room for dessert, try chaja, a Uruguayan cake made with meringue, peaches and dulce de leche (caramelized milk).

Eat in the formal white tablecloth dining room, or chow down with Portuguese construction workers watching soccer games on satellite TVs in the informal bar of this warm, authentic slice of Portugal. Huge portions, come prepared to share. Wash your meal down with vinho verde, the typical Portuguese sparkling white wine - Casal Garcia is a reliable producer.

New York Times: O Pinheirinho, which means little pine tree, is an authentic little Portuguese gem of a restaurant. The small pine tree making a brave stand in a sea of asphalt outside is symbolic of the restaurant itself, setting its own distinctive course on Long Island ... Recommended dishes: Flamed Portuguese sausage, clams Portuguese style, shrimp in garlic sauce, house-style steak, fried pork scaloppini, pork and clams in brown sauce, lobster in Port wine, mariscada in white wine sauce, shrimp in green sauce, shrimp with brandy sauce.

This is not a unique ethnic gem, but your basic reliable, lawyer and court personnel hangout.

Zagat.com: Gaelic goodwill is the order of the day at this ... Irish pub in East Islip, a bi-level “warren of rooms” where “plentiful” servings of “surprisingly good” Continental eats please the local crowd, and “attentive” servers “take care of problems with a smile”; with its warm wooden paneling, three fireplaces and folk music on weekends, the “popular” place is “just about perfect in winter.”

It’s Q and it’s close. Informal bar-restaurant with excellent ribs, pulled pork, a terrific but not necessarily tidy lunch.

Newsday: There is nothing quite like barbecue cooked low and slow in a smoker. At Tennessee Jack's BBQ in East Islip, the hickory-smoked ribs, brisket, chicken and pulled pork are as down-home seductive as the Southern roadhouse ambience.

Lovely, quiet, serene, Long Island’s top-rated Thai restaurant is just minutes away.

Zagat.com: “(T)he “sublime” food is “so full of flavor” (“ask for the heat and you’ll get it”) that a meal is “great from start to finish”; add in “personalized” service from owner Danny Poom and his “gracious” staff, and the combo is “worth the trip from anywhere” laud loyalists.

Long Island’s top Q-joint, brontosauran portions, reasonable prices.

Zagat.com: “Al Horowitz knows ’cue” boast barbecue buffs, who beatify the owner-pitmaster for the “exceptional”, “slow-cooked” “sinfully smoky meats” he “piles high” at his Bay Shore “roadhouse with a bit of class”; with “adorable” hog-themed decor, “aromatic”, “jazzy” atmosphere and prices that are “so reasonable”, it’s no wonder this place is so “popular”; unfortunately, “great grub combined with a no-reservations policy” equals sometimes-“intolerable” weekend waits.