Meatloaf

Good, nourishing beef soups can be found in many different cultures. Here are some of the best available in the Los Angeles area:

* Guelaguetza: At both branches of this excellent Oaxacan cafe, there’s beef soup (caldo de res) made with beef, beans, tomato, corn and a delicious full-bodied broth. (Caldo de res, $4.) Guelaguetza, 3337 1/2 W. 8th St., Los Angeles, (213) 427-0601; 11127 Palms Blvd., Palms, (310) 837-8600.

* Battambang: This Chinatown Chinese restaurant has a Cambodian bent, and makes an especially flavorful and assertive hot and sour beef soup with bitter greens. (Hot and sour beef soup, $7.) Battambang, 648 New High St., Los Angeles, (213) 620-9015.

* Sanamluang Cafe: Beef tendon noodle soup here is so hearty as to be almost medicinal--it comes with flat rice noodles, chunks of tasty beef and tendon, whose chewiness and richness can become a passion. (Beef tendon soup, $4.50.) Sanamluang, 5176 Hollywood Blvd., (213) 660-8006.

* Pho 79: There are a dozen kinds of of pho, the classic Vietnamese beef noodle soup, available at this Chinatown cafe. You can have any or all of the following added to your basic noodle soup: rare or well-cooked beef, tripe, tendon, brisket, flank steak or meatballs. (Pho, $3.75 to $4.50.) Pho 79, 727 N. Broadway #120, Los Angeles, (213) 625-7026; 881 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, (310) 559-5305; 11 E. Main St., Alhambra, (818) 289-0239; 535 W. Valley Blvd., San Gabriel, (818) 289-0657.

* Golden Deli: Another wonderful pho cafe with a dozen pho options incorporating your choice of rare and well cooked beef, tendon, tripe and beef ball in a gloriously tasty broth. (Pho, $3.75 to $3.95.) Golden Deli, 815 W. Las Tunas Drive, San Gabriel, (818) 308-0803.

* Petrelli’s: This Culver City steakhouse does its own butchering and makes use of its beef bones and trimmings by boiling them up into a hearty beef noodle soup. The soup comes with every dinner, or can be ordered a la carte (Beef noodle soup a la carte, bowl, $2, cup $1.25.) Petrelli’s, 5615 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, (310) 397-1438.

* Arirang: This attractive Korean restaurant in Pasadena offers a beef short rib soup, a spicy beef and spring onion soup, and oxtail soup. All are served in large portions for sharing--or hoarding. (Beef soups, $9.95.) Arirang, 114 W. Union St., Pasadena, (818) 577-8885.

* Broadway Deli: A beefy shiitake mushroom barley soup is not as consistently terrific as we’d like--some days, the cook pours in too much Worcestershire sauce--but on a good day, it’s about as hearty and satisfying as soup gets. (Shiitake mushroom and barley soup; cup, $2.50; bowl, $4.25) Broadway Deli, 1457 Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, (310) 451-0616.