By MERIDITH FORD
Journal Restaurant Critic

EAST PROVIDENCE -- Every so often, I crave the spicy sauce that accompanies the Portuguese dish known as carne de porco a Alentejana. When made well, it has a smoldering heat that's hot -- but not too hot.

At Estrela do Mar, you'll find an excellent version of this famous dish, as well as many other Portuguese specialties.

Over the past few years, this longtime favorite Portuguese restaurant (the name means "Star of the sea) had nearly fallen off the culinary radar screen. Once a popular gathering place for Rhode Island's Portuguese community, it had begun to lose its luster.

But two years ago it was bought by chef/owner George Rodrigues, and things have been turning around.

For starters, the dining room has been completely renovated to exude a Mediterranean atmosphere -- bathed in tones of tan, the open space is accented by linen-covered tables, large windows framed by gilded drapes and a colorful floral arrangement on a center table.

The food encompasses most of Portugal -- from regional dishes such as the porco a Alentejana to the few dishes that the Portuguese might call national: caldo verde, ameijoas a Espanhola (clams with pepper and onion in red wine) and the variety of dishes that beautifully utilize bacalhau (salt cod).

Portuguese restaurants are known for serving well past traditional American dining times -- a custom held over from Portugal, where dining is usually done late at night. The scene at Estrela do Mar is no different. As we were finishing our meal around 9 p.m., most of the customers were just starting theirs.

Rodrigues's food is splashed with earthy flavor. A simple dish of clams in white wine and garlic is peppered with a mustard-like pungency, the clams perhaps a little too chewy, but beautifully presented in an earthen bowl. Another of Portugal's favorite imports, it is called ameijoas a Bulhao Pato, after the beloved Portuguese poet.

More rustic earthenware holds a caldo verde, a creamy soup rich with potatoes and kale. At the bottom of the bowl, three thick slices of mildly spicy chourico are just waiting to be gobbled up.

Tender, chewy lulas fritas -- fried squid rings -- have a vinegary Tabasco-like spiciness, studded with sliced black olives and rings of hot cherry peppers. More of the hot sauce, often called molho de piri-piri, is ready in a tiny bowl for dipping.

Brazil borrowed many of Portugal's methods of preparing seafood, and one Brazilian dish that has become well loved in both countries is mariscada, a seafood stew of mussels, shrimp, clams, squid and lobster. At Estrela do Mar, it is lavishly served in a paellera -- the same kind of two-handled pan in which paella is often served.

It brims with the flavors of the sea -- a succulent half-lobster sits atop a brothy concoction filled with mussels that have absorbed the spiciness of the liquid, along with squid rings, shrimp and fish. A few things -- like the fish -- had lost their texture from the heat of the dish, but it was worth ordering just for the snappy onion-and-garlic flavor of the broth -- a perfect match for dipping soft tufts of bread.

As for the porco Alentejana, its pungent flavor was spiced just right to soothe my wanting tastebuds. Man-sized chunks of pork are buried under a thick blanket of potatoes, with clams intermingled like small jewels in a treasure chest. On top are pickled carrots, celery and cauliflower -- a puckery twist I'd never had in this dish before.

Few of the desserts are made in-house -- a slice of espresso cheesecake wasn't worth the effort of eating it. But the flan is exquisitely eggy, with a yin-yang of slightly firm, slightly feathery texture and lots of deep caramel flavor from the sugar.

Estrela do Mar, 434-5621, 736 North Broadway, East Providence. Casual. Reservations accepted. Smoking in separate lounge only. Wheelchair accessible. Open Sun-Thu for lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sat-Sun from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. V, MC. Ample parking. Highchairs and booster seat available. Appetizers, soups and salads are $2.50 to $7.95; entrees are $10.95 to $18.95. Desserts are. There is an ample wine list with Portuguese wines such as vinho verde for .