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Once a cabbie hangout dominated by a busy bar, Krik Krak has become a proper Haitian eatery. There are approximately twenty-five with white tablecloths; the soft yellow walls are hung with colorful paintings. The food is straightforward, though attractively presented. The Haitian staple griot, astonishingly greaseless fried hunks of pork attached to unctuous, fatty skin to be dunked in sharp, spicy vinegar, is piled haphazardly on a plate (and is as good as any you'll get in town); kingfish with salty and tangy tomato-based sauce arrives as just fish and sauce on a plate. The Sunday special lambi, a spicy stew of tender conch, is well executed. But the best dish is whole red snapper in a yellow-tinged broth of sour orange and enough heat from chilies to tickle your throat but not enough to burn your mouth. The spicy, salty, and sour flavors are subtle enough to highlight, not overwhelm, the fish's delicate flavor. For dessert, skip pasty sweet potato pudding and end with watermelon juice spiked with lime, a drink whose flavors are in such exquisite balance that you might even call it elegant. — JJ Goode

Griot, $12; red snapper with sea salt, sour orange, and hot pepper, $17.95; lambi, $22; watermelon juice, $3