On the face of it, finding restaurants in La Jolla that serve only seafood should be a simple task, located as we are on the brink of the blue Pacific. Virtually every one of them has a selection on the menu but they include other items as well, so it turned out to be a tough job as I ate my way around the Village. EL PESCADOR I started with El Pescador, about as pure a spot as I could find. Opened 23 years ago by Sean Shannon, who had no prior experience other than having worked for the Del Mar Fishmarket, El Pescador is a place where everyone knows your name. The tiny spot has a few tables and chairs and two showcases filled with ice, displaying every kind of fish. In the back room are refrigerators holding whole fish to replenish supplies as the showcases are depleted. Originally, Sean sold only raw fish. But when hungry patrons sought sandwiches and the like, he devised a simple menu and, before long, a lunch and later, a dinner trade was born. Two soups are on the menu: New England clam chowder and cioppino, the latter filled with veggies and chunks of fish in a spicy tomato broth. A selection of cocktails, the seafood kind, include scallop ceviche, well seasoned with cilantro, tomato and red onion; and Dungeness crab or shrimp and other combinations. Sandwiches on sourdough or torta rolls are layered with lettuce, tomato and green onion. Chargrilled items include snapper, calamari, halibut and Hawaiian ahi, and the one I chose, soft shell crab. I don’t know his secret but that unadorned soft shell outshone any of the wine-sauced sauté versions I have had, proving that simplicity can be perfection. There are other items on the menu, including tacos, mussels, clams and sashimi. Sean admits he is a happy man with his one store, although given customer response he could open others. His attitude is “I’m not trying to conquer the world.” His 17-year-old daughter works in the store when she is not busy with school, and Sean is there at least three days a week, given his work force of six or eight each day. He is a man who is living his dream; a business he enjoys, a family he can spend time with while they are young and a community of friends. El Pescador is located at 626 Pearl St. and is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Orders can be placed by calling (858) 456-2526. MARISCOS Sit on the shaded, fenced patio, surrounded with huge palm fronds, and soon the sounds of traffic begin to sound like ocean waves. Step inside the simple dining area and the vivid blue-painted walls continue the illusion. The décor is minimal, like the painting depicting an island someplace in the Pacific, and the oversized clay pot with a turtle on top in one corner of the room. Then glance at the plain paper menu, written mostly in Spanish, and you are transported to Mexico. The place is Mariscos Seafood, Baja style, Costa a Costa and you are in for a treat. This tiny place opened just six months ago and is slowly being discovered by the local cognoscenti who miss their jaunts down the Baja coast. Mariscos is a haven for fans of the area that can now re-live the experience via the expertise of Chef Celestino Dominguez, trained in Vera Cruz. Cast your eyes on the array of dishes offered, like oysters, fish and shrimp ceviche (and other ceviche combinations) on the appetizer list, then choose from the seafood burritos assortment. My choice was lobster, a monster stuffed with Baja lobster, avocado and red cabbage, flavored with mayo and fresh salsa for a total of $9.95, served with a side of salad and rice. It will be difficult to finish in one sitting. A selection of tacos and tostadas, from $2.95 to $6.95, is available but if you prefer seafood solo, sans tortillas, there are cocteles, in any combination of seafood, the most expensive being the ubiquitous shrimp and octopus, paired with scallops and oysters. Feel the need for soup? There are four on the menu. Every possible preparation of shrimp is available, one of the favorites being parrillada, a grilled combination featuring virtually anything on the menu, done simply and tastefully and served with salad and rice. The rice, by the way, is moist and flavorful, with sprinkles of corn kernels as an extra touch. Don’t overlook the chips and salsa, both made in house and to order, as is the guacamole and every dish ordered. Fish filets, prepared almost a dozen different ways, will win the hearts of healthy eaters. That’s not all; there is a selection of Mexican platters plus, for early risers, a huge breakfast menu, all of which include rice and beans. Currently only soft drinks are available but a liquor license is pending. Stop by at Mariscos, 5656 La Jolla Blvd., or call (858) 456-3900. NOZOMI If you were tempted to try every delectable sounding item on the menu, you would need to return to Nozomi twice a day, every day, for weeks and even then you might miss a few. I stopped counting all the items listed when I reached 100, but I have never been in a sushi restaurant before with such an extensive menu. Take, for example, some of the imaginatively named ones like Mr. Nice Guy Roll, with spicy tuna, crab, cucumber, avocado, gobo and kairware topped with fish egg and mrugai; Bill Gates roll, also with spicy tuna but including izumidai, tamago, avocado, shrimp tempura, gobo, crab and mamenori for the inside roll version or cucumber and ponzu sauce if outside is your pleasure. In the mood for a cooked roll? Take a gamble with the chicken run roll, made with spicy chicken inside and dressed outside with spicy crab, cilantro and special hot sauce, or the Texas BBQ, combining sliced BBQ, red pepper, cucumber and gobo, topped with more BBQ and vegetables. There are black, and white, tiger rolls, Washington rolls and spider rolls — even a White House roll (it doesn’t specify Democrat or Republican), as well as crunch rolls (I had one of those, filled with avocado, crab, cucumber and sprouts, sprinkled with chirachi sauce and topped with a sweet, caramelized crunch). Chirashi salad came highly recommended, and rightfully so, filled with sashimi slices sitting with greens and sprouts, then sprinkled with the exotic, spicy nozomi sauce that gives it pizzazz. The owner/manager, Sunny Han, recommended a taste of their charcoal-grilled chicken teriyaki, although I was concentrating on seafood, but this was special – juicy and full of flavor. Nozomi has been in the neighborhood, on Regents Park Row, across from the La Jolla Marriott, for three years now. Sunny’s husband, Han, is the chef who, along with his mother, created the dishes that fill the pages of the menu. In the time that they have been here, they have drawn from UCSD students, office workers and an even wider audience at dinner. Outside the small restaurant is a fenced, glassed-in patio and inside there are a few tables adjacent to the sushi bar. Their food is Japanese fusion, according to Sunny, and is extremely popular in the surrounding community. Try them and you will be pleasantly surprised. Nozomi is located at 4150 Regents Park Row, telephone (858) 452-7778. SUSHI BOAT Kids, in particular, are fascinated by the belt bearing a variety of small sushi dishes that constantly revolve around the center counter, where chefs create fresh food to order. Adults watch it too when they tear their eyes away from the various TV sets featuring sports of one kind or another. But the focus here is food. Opened by the Kims, chef/owner Paul and his wife manager Yumi, approximately four months ago in the heart of the village, Sushi Boat has been creating a special niche in the ever-growing market for sushi by featuring smaller-sized portions of nigiri at a very affordable price. When I was there recently, they had been advertising an additional 20 percent off the already low prices. For instance, two pieces of items like spicy mussel, spicy octopus or spicy scallop, normally $2.95, for the time being were $2.36. One could fill up nicely and economically with a few of those. Prior to arriving in San Diego, Paul Kim had worked at his sushi restaurant in Oregon for ten years and obviously felt the market here was ready for it. Not only is the novelty appealing but the food has great appeal, too. Besides the small nigiri portions, full-sized ones like the five-piece spider roll and six-piece Alaska roll at $7.95 are on tap as well. And for the more hearty appetite, there are a series of special rolls at $12.95 with provocative names like Beauty and the Beast, Oh No! roll or La Jolla roll, which I felt would be a perfect one to try. And indeed it was. A tempura shrimp tail extended from each end of the eight-piece roll, which featured bites of the shrimp body, matchstick cucumber pieces and crab salad inside with slices of tuna, salmon and avocado around the top, sprinkles of masago and mayo for seasoning – excellent – and for contrast an order of calamari, which turned out to be another version of the Chinese salt-and-pepper squid that I love, with a side of spicy mayo. On another visit I tried the baby octopus nigiri, salmon roe and spicy tuna, and as with all sushi, I ate with my eyes first and then let my palate do the talking. There are boat specials, ranging in price all the way up to $100, and on the other end of the scale, appetizers and, as already noted, two-piece nigiri plus bento boxes for lunch and dinner. Sushi Boat is open for lunch seven days a week and for dinner as well. It is located at 2161 Avenida de la Playa and can be reached by calling (858) 551-8481.