The Fish Shop Hermosa Beach

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People are often surprised when I tell them that there isn’t an abundance of seafood restaurants in Los Angeles. And in my opinion the surprise is completely warranted because LA is right next to the Pacific Ocean….

The list of beaches in and surrounding LA goes on and on so why wouldn’t there be more seafood restaurants? I don’t know the answer to that, but I can tell you that I’ve found a really great seafood joint, The Fish Shop Hermosa Beach that is serving up some of the freshest seafood I’ve had in a while!

Situated just a few blocks away from the Hermosa Beach Pier at the corner of Pier Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway is the Fish Shop. You’d expect it to be located on the actual pier, but when I sat down with the restaurant owners Brian and Vera; they let me know that the reason they aren’t located on the pier is because they wanted to keep the atmosphere casual and family friendly. And that’s exactly what it is. It’s the perfect casual dining spot to bring your kids/family to, and also great for a night out with the girls, guys, and/or significant others. The restaurant really prides itself in serving the freshest fish and highest quality ingredients. All their fish is sourced locally, and they hand make all of their seasonings and sauces and hand cut their fries and onion rings daily. The experience starts with picking a fish from their daily list of selections and pairing with it with one of their eight marinades offered. You can then pick a style to have it in a taco, a sandwich, a salad, or on a plate (comes with two sides). My friend Monicah and I decided to start with the ceviche. I’m always often leery of eating ceviche because I’m not always sure how fresh the fish will be, but let me just say this… it was so FRESH! Vera recommended that we get the mixed ceviche which comes with shrimp and mahi mahi, and it was bursting with flavor. The creamy avocado really added a nice touch; I’ve never had avocado in ceviche before. Next we sampled another side, The Fish Shop Shrimp. This was my favorite of the day! Their fish shop seasoning (which is a secret recipe and I understand why cause it’s bangin!) really made the shrimp shine. It was sweet and caramelized, and the chipotle aioli dipping sauce was the perfect accompaniment. I know since it’s a side you could probably share, but if you’re greedy like me you probably wont want to because it’s just so good!

We then ordered the New England Clam Chowder. It came two ways the classic new England style and Cajun style with andouille sausage. At first I thought andouille sausage might taste weird in the clam chowder, but it was actually really tasty! The soup was hearty with lots of chunks of clam, and I think the sausage ended up giving it an extra boost of flavor. I decided to try one of their most popular items, the award-winning TKO Taco. Inside was mahi mahi marinated with the fish shop seasoning and it was topped with a mango salsa. I’ll be honest, it was pretty good I just wish it had more flavor. The mango salsa brightened it up, but I couldn’t help but wish for more seasoning on the fish. I think more of the fish shop seasoning would have made it even better! Overall, I was completely impressed with my trip to The Fish Shop Hermosa Beach. The owners are amazing and really care about being a pillar in the Hermosa Beach community. The food was excellent and fresh, and service was on par too!