Cape Cod, on the West Coast

EAST Coasters new to L.A. imagine heading toward the water and falling upon countless seafood restaurants serving up Pacific fish and shellfish. Instead of a West Coast version of Cape Cod, though, they have to settle for Gladstone’s or Ivy at the Shore. The truth is, with the exception of Water Grill downtown, seafood restaurants are not where you go for the best fish cooking around here. That is found on the menus of top restaurants of any ilk. Period.

L.A. isn’t alone. But it’s still odd that, at a time when more and more people want to add fish to their diet for various reasons, we have so few dedicated seafood restaurants.

So when Hans Rockenwagner decided to close his Rockenwagner spinoff in Marina del Rey, the globe-trotting Rock, and reconfigure it as a fish house, it seemed like the right idea at the right time and the right place, close to the ocean. With typical enthusiasm, the hammer-wielding chef/owner designed the new incarnation and did much of the physical work to transform Rock into Ballona Fish Market.

He’s tamed the unwieldy loft-like space by constructing a series of whimsical facades inside the restaurant, turning Ballona into a Cape Cod village by the sea. The faux fronts define a couple of private dining rooms. One is topped with a New England weathervane; another is shingled. Inside the third, an armoire and a wonderful Ingo Maurer “chandelier” hung like a magical tree with scraps of poetry and sayings give that room the feeling of a private house.

All in all, Ballona Fish House is a much more comfortable place than Rock was. Booths upholstered in leather or nautical blue and white stripes are bathed in soft light cast from lampshades of thin wood. Beach photos of family and friends hang on the walls. A tiny child’s sailor suit is framed under glass, and napkins are weighted with pretty oyster shells. It feels like a well-loved local hangout, which is quite an achievement, considering that Ballona is part of a shopping mall. And the service is about as friendly and competent as it gets in Marina del Rey.

Reasonably priced

In keeping with the idea of a neighborhood restaurant, Ballona’s menu is moderately priced, family-friendly. Good quality seafood is expensive, yet Ballona’s main courses all come in under $20 and the portions are not small. They’re even served on expensive china.

However, when most people think of a fish house, they envision a place to get a nice piece of fish simply prepared. “Simple,” though, is not part of this ebullient chef’s vocabulary. An early adopter of California cuisine, Rockenwagner is enthralled with fussy presentation, and his enthusiastic piling-on of ingredients often works against the enjoyment of the fish. And neither Rockenwagner nor his chef at Ballona, Frank Springmann, seem to be able to give up the idea of tall food. It’s over, guys.

Keep it simple

The whole idea of a fish house is to serve the freshest possible fish, simply prepared, so that what you’re tasting has some resemblance to the sea. Think Dover sole sauteed in butter, a whole Dungeness crab, oysters or clams on the half-shell, steamed lobster with drawn butter. Tom Douglas’ restaurants in Seattle are a model of the genre. What can be better than seafood, impeccably fresh and skillfully cooked?

That said, the menu proposes some appealing first courses. There’s a lovely version of tuna tartare made with diced ahi tuna in a punchy dressing accompanied by pickled onions and delightful little Steiner crisps covered in what looks like birdseed. Calamari are fried to a crunchy gold and served with a pale lemon-colored honey-jalapeno aioli that could pack more of a kick. A single fat cake of fresh, shredded crabmeat is flattered by lemongrass mayonnaise and pickled honeydew melon.

Somebody in the kitchen is enamored of sweet. A fine butternut squash soup, the special one night, is garnished with dried cranberries and hazelnuts; it would be better off straight. An oddly sweet pinky-plum fig and pear soup is saved by a blast of chipotle chile and a scribble of creme fraiche. And the delicious grilled prawns and their roe wrapped in salty crisp Black Forest ham are unbalanced by their accompaniment: sticky sweet baked beans. Even the couscous beneath a golden fried trout is dotted with dried fruit.

The best main course is, surprisingly, fried chicken. Crinkly and crisp in a light buttermilk batter, it leans against a Matterhorn of mashed potatoes. The Hawaiian fish opah, a treat in itself, is hard to appreciate -- there are so many other elements on the plate competing with its delicate flavor. Wild striped bass sits on smashed Peruvian blue potatoes and snow peas. It also has a basil sauce and, on top, a dollop of vinegary eggplant for unnecessary punctuation. Steamed black cod and French lentils with Swiss chard is an appealing combination of flavors. Why confuse things by throwing in sun-dried tomatoes and anchovies?

For a neighborhood restaurant, Ballona has a wonderfully eclectic wine list, just one informal page but filled with interesting bottles at fair prices. You might want to try an Albarino from Spain, a California Viognier or, for a red to accompany the excellent pretzel burger, a Valpolicella from the Veneto or a Central Coast Pinot Noir.

Unless you’re a 10-year-old kid, dessert is not Ballona’s strong suit. There’s nothing wrong with going for the homey, but a crumble shouldn’t be so sweet it makes your teeth ache. The tempting homemade chocolate-chip cookie ice cream sandwich filled with praline ice cream turns out to be sweet piled on sweet. Not to mention that it takes an engineer to figure out how to eat it. It’s too fat to eat like a sandwich; the only possible solution is to wield your spoon like a pickax.

The best dessert I tried was a beautiful plain cake with the texture of brioche and a tender crumb that tasted of sweet butter.

If only more of the food here had that kind of integrity and focus, Ballona Fish Market would feel like a true fish house. Even so, with its inviting architecture and sense of whimsy, it’s already more at home in the neighborhood than Rock ever was.

*

Ballona Fish Market

Rating: * 1/2

Location: Villa Marina Marketplace, 13455 Maxella Ave., Marina del Rey; (310) 822-8979.

Ambience: Cheerful fish house with witty decor and a couple of private dining rooms behind faux New England facades. The bar has a few tables outside.

Service: Friendly and competent.

Price: Dinner appetizers, $5.95 to $9.50; main courses, $9.95 to $19.95; desserts, $4.50 to $6.50.

Best dishes: Ahi tuna tartare, crisp fried calamari, grilled spot prawns, crab cake with lemongrass mayonnaise, broiled black cod, buttermilk fried chicken, pretzel burger.

Wine list: Eclectic and fairly priced. Corkage, $12.

Best table: One of the cozy booths covered with striped ticking.

Details: Open for dinner, 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. daily; for lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Parking at Villa Marina Marketplace. Full bar.

Video tour: www.calendarlive .com/dining/videotours

Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. ****: Outstanding on every level. ***: Excellent. **: Very good. *: Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory.