FIRST IMPRESSIONS : A Profile of Barrymores A Place for Fish

John Barrymore had a very large bedroom. With a very large view. Big enough, in fact, to be a restaurant, which it has just become. Barrymores A Place for Fish, 8430 Sunset Blvd., (213) 656-8121, has just opened, opposite the Comedy Store (with which it is intimately connected).

The restaurant is casual and quite pretty, with peach tablecloths and bay windows and ceiling fans circling lazily above. As for the food-- the name says it all. With the exception of a steak and a chicken breast, the menu is mainly fish (entree prices range through the mid-teens). Appetizers include crab cakes and steamed clams; pasta comes topped with combinations like shrimp, sundried tomato and olive oil; and all manner of fish are roasted, steamed and broiled.

The food itself is served with great simplicity; the chef has been quoted as believing that less is more. Personally I believe that if the fish were cooked a little less, it would be far more appealing.