![\"Fish](\"https:\/\/missionvalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/California-Fish-Grill-interior.jpg\")
<\/a>Customers are faced with numerous wild-caught and farm-raised choices, all listed conveniently with descriptive tasting notes. Varieties range from swordfish and sea bass to salmon, ahi, ono and giant shrimp. Among the flakier options are swai and tilapia, not to mention Louisiana catfish and Idaho trout. Although aside from shrimp, the company draws the line at pricier shellfish such as crab and lobster, which you won\u2019t find on the menu.<\/p>\n
In my first meal with hubby in tow, we stuck to the \u201cgrilled\u201d section of the menu. When doing so, you can opt for a finishing sauce (or seasoning) such as garlic butter, chimichurri or Cajun spices. The plates also include two sides, with excellent fire-roasted street corn in the offing for an extra $1.75. It\u2019s worth the up-charge.<\/p>\n
He ordered ahi tuna cooked rare and chose seasoned olive oil as his flavor component, which was so inconspicuous we couldn\u2019t detect it. Just as well because the substantial cut of tuna, with its attractive grill marks on the outside and ruby flesh inside, tasted as clean and fresh as any you\u2019d encounter at a reputable sushi bar.<\/p>\n
Rounding out the meal were a few sheaths of beautifully grilled zucchini, a bowl of lightly seasoned white beans served in their own juices and a slice of white bread for mopping up everything.<\/p>\n I gravitated to the giant shrimp, served butterflied and with parsley-rich chimichurri as my sauce choice. As the most expensive item on the menu ($13.99), it featured five or six of the jumbo crustaceans, grilled expertly with half of their shells on as a means of adding a little extra flavor. Combined with two sides \u2014 the street corn and spicy garlic fries \u2014 I\u2019ve paid nearly double for the equivalent of this meal in full-service seafood restaurants. This was worth every cent.<\/p>\n I\u2019m often asked what establishments in San Diego serve the best fish and chips. Outside of The Corner Drafthouse in Bankers Hill or KnB Wine Cellars in Del Cerro, I find most to be afflicted by something; they\u2019re either greasy, dry, soggy or over-battered. (Sorry Shakespeare\u2019s and Princess Pub. You\u2019re frequently guilty of at least one of those crimes.)<\/p>\n Assuming I didn\u2019t happen to just get lucky ordering them right after the deep fryers were refilled with new oil, I\u2019ll gladly vouch for the fish and chips here because of quality and price ($8.99).<\/p>\n The swai white fish was super-light and moist, like puffy cumulus clouds encased in delicate batter that was filling and crunchy yet without shellacking your mouth in oil.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the bonus of slathering your fried fish in two different tarter sauces available at the condiments bar. The house version is speckled with sweet relish and red bell peppers while the classic New England-style is tangier in comparison. Both are thick and mayo-based and paired swimmingly with the long, thin french fries. Also included with the meal is decent coleslaw strewn with (yawn) fresh kale.<\/p>\n After ordering at the front counter and being handed a buzzer, you pick up your meals on large, metal cookie sheets from a buffet table fronting the semi-open kitchen.<\/p>\n The latter half of that system works well, although because customers are faced with decisions \u2014 grilled versus fried; plates versus tacos or bowls, etc. \u2014 the order line can move painfully slow, as though everyone ahead of you is opening a mortgage. Additional staff and cash registers are sorely needed since this isn\u2019t quite as easy as ordering a Filet-o-Fish at McDonald\u2019s.<\/p>\n Other menu options include Asian shrimp and Cajun salmon salads; breaded shrimp, pollock or calamari; fried catfish; various fish tacos including ono Veracruz; and rice bowls filled with proteins such as cilantro-lime salmon or \u201cdynamite\u201d shrimp.<\/p>\n Chicken breast is also available, and served either straight off the grill or in salads, bowls and tacos. Beverages include a limited selection of craft and domestic beer, plus titillatingly flavored tap sodas by Stubborn and house-made lemonades and iced teas.<\/p>\n California Fish Grill is the kind of chain eatery fish lovers have long deserved, a bright and modernly designed place that is affordable, yet with some exquisite dishes that you\u2019d be more apt to find in gastropubs and full-service restaurants.<\/p>\n \u2014 Frank Sabatini Jr. es el autor de \u201cSecret San Diego\u201d (ECW Press) y comenz\u00f3 su carrera como escritor local hace m\u00e1s de dos d\u00e9cadas como miembro del personal del antiguo San Diego Tribune. Puedes localizarlo en fsabatini@san.rr.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By\u00a0Frank Sabatini Jr. It\u2019s the El Pollo Loco of seafood, a proliferating West Coast chain that uses various species of fish in plates, tacos, salads and bowls. In two recent visits, the place favorably snagged my palate.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":234428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11557","_seopress_titles_title":"Fish for all tastes","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11557,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-234427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-mission-valley-news","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n