Little Fish Echo Park — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I’ve been reading about little fish for three months or more. I don’t live close. I don’t live far either but getting there is 40 to 45 minutes with traffic.

When a friend came in from New York, I thought this would be a good place to go. I know the area. It has character.

So Sunday for lunch seemed like a great idea.

I was, because of all the photos and peoples review, that there would be a crowd align. Far from the truth.

We had to wait because they weren’t serving lunch at that moment. We sat at a table on the bench, not on the sidewalk, but in an alcove.

The woman who was working was great. She let us know when it was time to order. I think we both ordered the fish sandwich and split in order of fries. The fries were plentiful. We were told no need to get two separate orders.

She was absolutely correct

Maybe because the anticipation of finally going there. Seeing what the hubbub was all about.

The expectation of having a great meal; especially since I love fish that way. Whenever I see fish and chips on a menu, it’s… Over done with that’s what I’ll have.

I loved the background info on the two chefs. Because I’m a personal chef, my level of appreciation for what they created. For the different menus, the Beauty, I read that they put into even the simplest dish.

We ordered sat down, the waiting didn’t seem like waiting at all. Probably because it was me my friend and if I’m correct two other people.

Presentation once we got the food and sat back down was beautiful. I know from experience that it takes a real eye to present. Something is simple as the fish sandwich and not have it look like a piece of breaded fish stuck in between two buns, with a piece of cheese, which by the way isn’t melted, but not have that look like it was just put together and slapped on a plate.

It takes a lot of effort to have something that looks and feels rustic homestyle. There’s an art to it so that it doesn’t look like you just bought something from the corner hamburger burrito joint.

I didn’t let my anticipation my expectation get in the way I would experience I was looking forward to.

I have to say, and it very well could’ve been that day. But the breading overpowered the fish. It overpowered the bun the cheese. It was almost too too crispy. For me, my friend loved it from the first bite.

He has a pretty damn good pallet.

It’s not that I didn’t like it. I was hoping for the breading to be bit more on the lighter side.

Not tempura-ish. But not as thick. Like I said - I lost the fish, which is the store of the meal because the breading was too thick.

The whole sandwich looked fantastic. The fries, crispy enough on the outside, soft enough on the inside.

I have a service dog so I have to think of what would be the appropriate time for the two of us to come back.

It has a West Village New York 70s feel. It shares the outdoor table bench area with a gourmet, upscale grocery store.

I haven’t been to that area for quite a while, so it was a wonderful surprise to see that type of sore come into the area. I know that longtime residents complain about gentrification so to speak.

But that store and little fish are so unobtrusive, you’d most likely drive-by. Like me. If I remember correctly, the exterior also has a naval ship gray. Which goes perfectly with the streamlined look to the restaurant to the store to the seating area, etc..

It’s an industrial look that’s soft around the edges. Not once did I feel uncomfortable . Not once did I feel that pedestrians and traffic were intruding on the space and by extension intruding on my meal.

I will be back. I won’t be a fish and nori potato and run customer.

BTW: I realize that I referred to the Nori Potato dish as fries a few times. Even though I gave the wrong name, those potatoes were pretty damn outstanding. ...

This is a comprehensive review of Little Fish and DADA Market, as they share a space and seem to operate in tandem - with Little Fish making the food and DADA running the market (of course) and making the coffee.

I have a lot of thoughts. Let's start with the good things!

Food/Coffee: 5/5 The food and coffee are really solid. The fish sandwich was fried well and is really satisfying without trying to do anything too fancy. Almost $20 feels hard to justify, but it was really good.

Pretty good cortado - well made and it's clear that the coffee staff know what they're doing.

Service: 4/5 Staff was not overly welcoming but that's totally fine and not expected. Good service both for food and in the market.

Atmosphere: 2/5 Okay, it's a nice place. The seating out front is lovely and it's a clean and new place - all good.

However, some really confusing vibes overall. The first thing you notice when you walk up is the security guard posted out front. Nothing wrong with this person themselves, but just the presence of security out front is off-putting and feels intimidating.

The general flow is also weird. It looks like a window where you can order quickly on the go, however signs directs you to order at the counter/bar inside the market. I saw multiple people confused about where/how to order food. And then when you walk in the door, it's pretentious and stuffy.

There's a small selection of expensive grocery goods and a small wine selection in a large space, so it feels underutilized. At the other end of the room is a counter/bar where you order, can sit down to eat, and/or have a drink - although it wouldn't be in my top 5 places to have a drink on this stretch of Sunset.

The first impression is that this would be order-and-go type food for an affordable price, but it's expensive and stuffy. Definitely not accessible to the average passerby.

Overall: 3.5/5 This just feels like a weird choice. Why put an expensive market that doesn't really serve the population of the neighborhood in a prominent location on Sunset? Why sell $17 fish sandwiches outside of a bus-stop? Why have a large market lacking groceries that would allow you to cook a meal? Overall the answer seems to be that they are trying to limit who can access this establishment, which is a shame.

I don't want to sound overly harsh - I fully support new local restaurants, but I feel like this place doesn't know what it is and it's not clear how it's beneficial to the neighborhood.

That being said, I I would encourage folks to give it a try! I hope they can improve in some areas and I will definitely be back from...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all know the fish sandwich is a 5/5. But I wanted to come for the breakfast. I got the Elsinore coffee while I was waiting and that was so damn good. It tops the Maru Cream Top. It’s indulgent, but it’s worth it and I’m going to crave it. I grabbed my two dishes to go, featuring the Brown Cheese Toast and the Fish Congee. The Congee kind of melted on side of my toast as it was in the bag on my way home (5 min away) but it didn’t seem to change any textures or flavors.

The toast is unlike anything I have tried before, the salt and cheesy taste is delicious and the bread is incredible. The white on the piece of bread is a fat slab of butter. lol. Maybe a little too much tbh. Half way through I dumped the butter off and ate it with just the cheese and bread. Delicious. Will I crave this dish or order it again? Probably not. But it was a good addition to my Fish Congee.

The Fish Congee looked a little sad on the eyes (in a to go bowl) but as I dipped my spoon in there, it revealed the fish, mushrooms, etc. and damn it’s good. The perfect amount of Chili oil, great tasing fish, and the egg was cooked to perfection. Would I order this again? Yes.

This makes me want to come back to try the Tartine and the pancakes. I think this is overall a great option for a quick grab upscale weekday...