Forget about paella and risotto. There's a much more exciting rice dish at Bangla Bazar & Restaurant on West Third Street in the strip known as Little Bangladesh. It's goat biryani, spicy rice studded with gamey-tasting, bony pieces of goat. The rice is like a spice market on a plate, studded with the heady aromatics you find in Indian-Bangladeshi food: whole cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and big, black cardamom pods. Spicy chile, too. And dribbles of yellow splotching the rice like sunshine. This in-your-face food commands attention. To do it justice, you should eat with your hands — right hand only, please — like the Bangladeshis around you, because the tactile sensation is as important to the flavor as the spices. All you need to turn this into a perfect meal is a bracing cup of chai, which the restaurant provides, and a hand rinse when you're done. —Barbara Hansen

4205½ W. Third St., Koreatown, 90020. (213) 380-4070, facebook.com/pages/Bangla-Bazar-Restaurant.

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