Fish King

Fish King
722 N Glendale Ave
Glendale, CA 91206
818-244-2161

A friend told me about Fish King in Glendale. She liked the grilled fish she got.  So, I decided to give them a try!  Fish King has three sections to the store/restaurant.  You walk into the fish market- you can get fresh seafood- to the left is their sushi department.  They make fresh sushi and rolls.  To the right is the galley- where you can get fried or grilled seafood.

There are tables at the sushi and galley.  It's a casual setup, with the food served in paper boats, and paper plates.

Calm chowder bowl- $5.95- Very thin and runny.  A decent amount of clams and potatoes.  There is no bacon in this clam chowder.  They could thicken the chowder and add a bit more seasoning.  A small portion for a bowl!

Crunch Jumbo shrimp- $3.25.  The thick batter is the same as the fish and crab cakes.  This was about 75% shrimp and 25% batter. Along with the other fried items I ordered, they weren't fried to order.  They were cooked and sitting under heat lamps. 

Crunch fried fish-$3.95- The fish used is cod.  But, this also lacked seasoning and the batter was too thick for the amount of cod.  I'm guessing 65% fish and 35% batter. 

Half order crab cakes- $5.50- I've never had deep fried,  I was expecting all batter, but there was a good amount of crab mixture.  This wasn't all crab, but a good amount of crab, not jumbo lump but claw meat.

Service was very unfriendly!  The lady who took my order never smiled and had a mean look on her face the entire time.  Not very welcoming.  I was shocked when she politely answered my questions. The food arrived in a good amount of time.

I may go back to King Fish to try their grilled fish and sushi. I wasn't impressed with any of their fried seafood items.

The Tackle Box Southern Seafood & More-Closed

The Tackle Box Southern Seafood & More
17620 Bellflower Blvd
Unit B108
Bellflower, CA 90706
562-804-0736

I found out about The Tackle Box Southern Seafood & More when LA Eater published a story about them opening a store, after having a food truck for many years! It's a small galley style restaurant with the counter and the kitchen on the left and the dining room on the right side of the building.  It's dark with the only lights, the daylight from the windows.

Fish and Shrimp tackle box-$15 plus $10 for lobster, with mac and cheese.  You have your choice of fried or grilled seafood. I got the grilled lobster and the fried shrimp.  The shrimp was very good! Good flavor, and huge pieces of shrimp! The batter was very good, not as hard as other cornmeal batter.  This could have been great if this was made to order.  The shrimp was maybe warm, not hot.  But, fresh out of the fryer, this would be great!!

The lobster was good.  A bit on the small side, but tender and flavorful.  It was grilled with lemon butter.

Service is ok.  The lady taking the order is just going through the motions.  She isn't mean or unfriendly, but you know she doesn't want to be there!  They also charge extra, I think 45 cents if you use debit or credit cards!

I would go back for the shrimp and to try the fish, but I won't rush back. 

Plaza Fish Market

Plaza Fish Market
3282 W Slauson Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90043
323-295-9368

With the tragic shooting death of rapper Nipsey Hussle, I went down to his clothing store to pay tribute.  I planned to go Off Da Hook Fish House, which replaced, the now closed, The Fish House, but I found out that Off Da Hook is closed too.  I don't eat meat anymore, so I couldn't go to Woody's BBQ.  But, luckily I found Plaza Fish Market.  It's on the Ralph's shopping center on the southeast corner of Crenshaw and Slauson-where the new Metrorail Crenshaw line Slauson station will open up in 2020.

Plaza Fish Market is another "You buy. We fry." place.  They have a big selection of fish-everything from sole, to red snapper to catfish.  It's a to-go location, as there is no seating inside.

Lunch special shrimp combo- 4 medium shrimp, 2 pieces of dover sole fish, hush puppies, and fries-$8.50.  This was a ton of food.  The shrimp was very good.  Well fresh in a cornmeal batter.  One of the pieces of the sole was too mushy and soggy.  The other was good-with a good crunch and flavor.  There were a ton of fries.

Service was good.

I would go back to Plaza Fish Market, but wouldn't order dover sole.  I should have gotten the red snapper!

Village Inn Fish & Chips

Village Inn Fish & Chips
6406 E Stearns St
Long Beach, CA 90815
562-430-2977

Village Inn Fish & Chips used to be H. Salt, the fish and chips chain, that was once popular!  My go to place in Long Beach for inexpensive fish and chips is England Fish and Chips.  I wanted to see how Village Inn compares.

A small place with 4 tables.  It's mostly a take out place.  Parking can be tight in the area with a pizza place, and a bar in the complex.

Tuesday special-6 pieces of fish for $8.95.  Regular price-$2.49 per piece.  The fish is Alaskan pollock.  The pieces of frozen pieces of fish, with a medium coat of batter.  It's pretty good, but England is better with a bigger portion.

Jumbo shrimp-$2.25 each.  This was ok.  The shrimp was chewy.  Not as crunchy and a bit oily.  I'm guessing the shrimp went into the fryer when the oil wasn't the correct temperature.

Service is good.  The owner arrived about 25 minutes late.  But, he apologized and added an extra piece of jumbo shrimp.  The fish is cooked to order, so expect at least a 15 minute wait.

Overall Village Inn Fish & Chips is a good alternative to England Fish and Chips, but England is still the best place in Long Beach for fish and chips!

The Chippy Fish & Grill

The Chippy Fish & Grill
440 S Anaheim Blvd
Anaheim, CA 92805
714-603-7865

Located in the Packing House and across the complex from Umami Burger, is The Chippy Fish & Grill.  They are in the main Packing House, which is really a mall food court on steroids.  They are all kinds of food inside the Packing House.  It can be very busy and parking is a nightmare!

I originally went to the Packing House to go to Hans’ Homemade Ice Cream, so I didn't want to order a ton of food.  So, I only got a piece of fish and shrimp.  I skipped the fries!

Cod fish, $3.35 and jumbo shrimp, $1.99.  My tastes buds have evolved, so now I can tell if fried fish and shrimp, is frozen or made fresh.  Without a doubt this is from a frozen batch.  While the batter for the cod was light and there were a lot of cod, it was way too oily and greasy.  I'm guessing the frozen fish was placed into the oil before the oil was hot enough.  The jumbo shrimp was huge, frozen but for some reason not nearly as oily as the fish.  This was fine, and actually a good price for the size of the shrimp.

Service was OK.  The cashier knew his stuff.  There have been so many times when I've asked what kind of fish they used for the fish and chips, and the person had no clue.  That is bad training by the management.  When I got my food, the guy was ok, but he could have said sauces are over to the right.  Instead he just gave me my order.  I would think management would tell him to tell customers, many like me we are first timers, that the sauces are on the end of the counter. 

I wouldn't go back to The Chippy.  Frozen, greasy fish?  No thanks!

Fish N More Seafood & Grill-Closed

Fish N More Seafood & Grill
1123 E Alosta Ave
Azusa, CA 91702
626-335-1111

Fish N More Seafood & Grill used to be Falafel ME.  Of course, there was a change in concept and I'm pretty sure the owners of Falafel ME were the ones who changed to a seafood place.  Located in a Stater Bros. shopping center, Fish N More has a small dining area with some booths along the back wall, and counter seating.  You order at the counter and the food is delivered to you.  They offer a variety of seafood- from poke, fried, and grilled seafood. 

Fish & chips-$7.99 with coleslaw.  Fish is swai.  Two huge pieces of fish, nice and moist.  Not as crispy or crunchy as I would like.  Fried were undercooked and had been sitting under heat lamps for too long.  I didn't touch the coleslaw.  Overall a ton of food for the price.

Shrimp and chips-$8.99. Eight jumbo shrimp that came from the freeze to the fryer.  The shrimp was fine, but again, already fried and sitting under heat lamps.  I realize people are in a hurry, but fry these to order!  People do not mind the wait!  Fries were the same undercooked fries like the fish and chips.

Two things about the menu I want to mention.  On the menu they have fish and chips for $7.99 and white fish (swai) for $8.99.  I asked what is the difference and was told the white fish is one piece and the fish and chips is two pieces.  Then I asked what kind of fish is used for the fish and chips and was told swai.  So what is the difference? 

In the Grill & Garden section they list the protein and sauce-Mediterranean, House, Caesar, and ORIENTAL!  What?  Are back in the 1950's?  Who uses ORIENTAL anymore?  That went out with Negro and bell bottoms.

Service is pretty good- nice friendly people.

I realize they just recently changed concepts but they have work to do.  Portion size and prices are fine, but they need to fry items to order and not keep them under heat lamps! 

Etna Fish Market

Etna Fish Market
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.