11175 S Vermont Ave
Los Angeles
323-755-3070
Etna Fish Market is your typical "you buy, we fry" fish market that are popular in areas of Los Angeles with a large African-American population. It's a take out place with a good selection of fish; sole, talapia, catfish, and red snapper seem to be the most popular. Etna is located a about two blocks from Jim Dandy Fried Chicken, which was rated the top fried chicken in Los Angeles by LA Weekly, and not too far from Mom's Bar-B-Que.
The store is fairly large but there are no tables to sit and eat. You order at the counter and your items are cooked to order. Yes, The New Diner has been to eight of the Top 10 fried chicken places listed. Mom’s Bar B Q House, Donahoo's Golden Chicken, Pann's Restaurant, Bertha's, Honey's Kettle, Flossie's Southern Cuisine, and Kyochon.
Etna Dinner Special, $11, 4 pieces of red snapper, 8 medium shrimp, 3 hush puppies, and fries. The batter used is cornmeal but this was a bit too salty for my tastes. But, it was nice crunchy texture, some places put too much batter, but Etna but the right amount. The fish and shrimp were very fresh. I was impressed with the quality and freshness of the seafood. The hush puppies were standard, nothing special about them. The fries were frozen, but the portion size is huge. They had only packets of tartar sauce and no cocktail sauce for the fried shrimp. They gave me packets of salsa!! Come on now, I want cocktail sauce for the shrimp.
Service needs improvement. If you walk in for the first time, you don't know the ordering system; first come, first served or take a number. Well there were about ten people inside the store and they all were waiting for their orders. When they finally came around to take my order, I wasn't greeted, they just looked at me and asked what I would like. A simple "Hi, how can I help you?" would be more than enough. When my order was ready, the guy, who I think is the owner's son was too busy talking on the phone to say Thank you.
While I thought the cornmeal batter was a bit too salty, I would have come back to Etna but with the bad service, I won't return. There are many other fish markets with better service and food, like Ann's Fish Market or The Fish House.
