Catch of the Boulevard

You can count on good, cheap food and lots of it at Fish Grill, a no-frills Sherman Oaks seafood bar with a bit of a hokey nautical theme--fishnets on the walls and so on. You just walk up to the counter, place your order, take a number and go back to pick up your food when it’s called.

The place is Israeli owned and staffed, and all the food is kosher; in fact, there’s usually somebody in a yarmulke behind the counter. But the only specifically Israeli dish is the salad of cucumbers and tomatoes with garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. It makes a refreshing side dish.

You’ll get a basket of fresh pumpernickel bread and some whipped butter. There are bottles of malt vinegar, Tabasco and other condiments on the table in tin pails, a nice little touch.

The seafood is very fresh and prepared with imagination and flair. Fish is either grilled to order on a mesquite broiler, pan-fried or deep-fried. The best dish on the menu is the blackened redfish, and it may just be the best plate of fish on the entire Ventura Boulevard. This is genuine redfish from the Gulf of Mexico, and the cooks blacken it over a high flame with a layer of intense spices. Finally, someone around here has gotten this dish right.

The deep-fried cod -- two giant filets -- is also excellent, with a deep brown crust. Trout, which comes skin on, is impeccably fresh but a bit bland.

One of the best bargains here is the broiled salmon steak, which is about as good as salmon gets in the Valley . . . and it’s under $10. There’s the inevitable ahi, of course, in this case a nice, fresh chunk that you should probably get mesquite-grilled.

Good fish sandwiches come on sesame-seed buns with tomato, onion and spices (no lettuce). The best sandwich is probably the one made with deep-fried cod, but the grilled ahi runs a close second. You can also get a good fish taco made with deep-fried cod. If you prefer grilled fish in your taco, Fish Grill does a nice one with a hot salsa and a good-sized piece of Pacific snapper.

The side dishes are mostly OK. The one not to miss is spicy rice pilaf; it’s a dusty brown color and chock full of Cajun spices, minced celery and chopped onions. Sometimes a nicely piquant red Manhattan clam chowder is available, and the freshly cut French fries have a tiny bit of the skin left on them; very tasty. I’d take the fries over the mealy baked potato. The crunchy cole slaw has a healthy dose of vinegar.

I wonder whether there are fish restaurants this good in Israel.

BE THERE

Fish Grill, 13628 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Open Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Closed Saturday. Parking on street. No alcohol. Discover, MasterCard and Visa. Dinner for two, $17-$26. Suggested dishes: fish tacos, $6.95; blackened redfish, $7.95; salmon steak, $9.95; ahi, $10.95. Call (818) 788-9896.