Fish King

"Fish King is a tremendous Glendale market with a massive supply of fresh and frozen fish, crustaceans, and shellfish. You can check their website for the day’s selection, but they’ve usually got around 75 options at their multi-room seafood counter, including a few different kinds of sushi-grade fish, six or seven different oysters, and tons of wild, Pacific-caught fillets. They also have prepared foods, if you don’t feel like cooking - any of the fried fish plates are excellent, as is the Hawaiian-style poke." - brett keating

"This Glendale staple opened in 1948 as both a restaurant and fish market. Opt for the charbroiled or fried fish or shrimp and chips, but the secret deal is the handmade sushi that sells out daily." - Rebecca Roland, Matthew Kang

"It’s impossible to spot every excellent restaurant in Los Angeles, especially when so many of them are hiding in plain sight. But it’s kind of our job, so whenever we’re stuck in traffic, we’ll look over at a strip mall, take a mental picture, and then pretend we’re on a crime procedural and enhance the image. Except instead of trying to see some bank robber’s eye color, we’re trying to zoom in and spot the restaurants hiding in between the pawn shops and ophthalmologist offices. Fish King, a seafood market and restaurant in Glendale, is one of those hard-to-spot places. It’s in a strip mall, and from the street, it’s virtually indistinguishable from the adjacent appliance store. But inside, there’s no mistaking what you’re here for. When you walk in, you’re greeted by a massive case of seafood - six different kinds of oysters, five kinds of poke, shrimp, scallops, halibut, hamachi, swordfish, salmon, snapper - and a huge board that tells you all the different ways you can order those things (fried, grilled, occasionally raw). If you’re looking for a new washer/dryer combo, you’re definitely in the wrong place. But if you want fish, this is the spot. When we’re here alone, we usually order some poke. Poke has become so ubiquitous around LA that it feels like every other restaurant on Third St. has some version of it on the menu. But this is true, Hawaiian-style poke (which makes sense, since the owner’s family is from Oahu), meaning there’s no option to customize it with taro root or guacamole - it’s basically just a scoop of the freshest fish around, over rice and seaweed salad. Our favorite is the Hawaiian, with perfectly oily sesame tuna, but get whatever looks good to you. photo credit: Jakob Layman Chances are that, in addition to the poke, it’ll be hard to resist the urge to order everything in the “fried” section. So just let it happen. The scallops taste like fried sea butter, the oysters hold their brininess well through the light breading, and the calamari is super juicy (although we wish they served the tentacles, not just the bodies). The fried “Crunch” fish sandwich is also a winner, and a lesson in simplicity - just fried whitefish, tomato, mayo, and lettuce on a toasted roll, it’s like if the Filet-O-Fish was actually fantastic. In addition to being a damn good restaurant and fish shop, Fish King is also a distributor, so if you’ve eaten great seafood at a restaurant recently, there’s a good chance they bought it from these people. We’re not sure whether that fully explains how a strip mall spot in Glendale can have six types of extremely fresh oysters at any given moment, but there are some mysteries better left to the people on CSI. Or whatever’s on network TV these days. Food Rundown Hawaiian Tuna Poke Bowl You can’t go a block without coming across a sad poke bar in LA. Fish King is the opposite of sad, and this bowl is proof. There’s no option to add corn, or pineapple, or kale ice cream like at those other spots. Just incredible quality fish, some shoyu, and maybe some mayo or masago. Totorrito Sushi-burritos sound like a gimmick. And they are. But we could not give less of a fck when they taste this good. Clam Chowder Creamy soups aren’t really a thing in LA, probably because the closest we get to creamy soup weather is when it’s 65 and rains for 15 minutes in February. This excellent chowder would be right at home in actual cold weather, though. Fish & Chips Fish King has fried seafood down the way Disney has nostalgia down - no matter how many ways they do it, you’re going to like it. Shrimp Tacos The tortillas and cabbage are grocery store-quality, but the fried shrimp and aioli on top are so good we don’t care. Alternatively, you could also just get a basket of fried shrimp. Grilled Fish There are probably enough fried things in your order to make you worry about getting out of here on two feet - so maybe substitute one of them for something grilled, especially if it’s this sweet, flaky orange roughy with lemon-butter sauce." - Brett Keating

"Fish King is the best seafood in town. They have just about every type of fish imaginable and will cook it in just about every kind of way. You can go there to have a sit down meal, or just simply purchase something from the fish counter. It sounds cheesy, but when you’re at Fish King, you feel like family. Inside you’ll meet friendly staff, including our good pal Eddie, who’s always ready for a fist bump and a good fish recommendation. Fish King has been family owned and operated since 1948, and is a true Glendale staple." - Forth + Back

"Similarly, if you plan to cook on Sunday, but with a more seafood-focused menu, head to Fish King. The Hawaiian market in Glendale specializes in sushi-grade and line-caught fish, like hamachi, ahi, albacore, and Scottish salmon, and also has nori and sushi rice if you want to send your guests for a loop with a build-your-own sushi roll station. Check out their [website] for the day’s selection, which usually includes over 75 seafood options ranging from jumbo shrimp and mahi mahi filets to live oysters. " - brant cox