The warning about eating seafood in the desert just doesn't apply anymore. Vegas has great fish houses these days: Michael Mina at Bellagio, and the new RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay, where a chef named Rick Moonen is showing off his dazzling creativity, being just two.
Good fish houses are starting to surface in the 'burbs, too, evidenced by King's Fish House, new in the District at Green Valley Ranch. King's isn't quite yet cutting edge, but in its own way, it manages to be an innovator by bringing good seafood to areas infamous for not having any.
I once ate regularly at a King's Fish House in Long Beach, California, where they also own the excellent steak house, 555 East, and I'm well acquainted with their concept. This restaurant is cut from the same tablecloth as their other six locations, principally found in upscale communities around Southern California.
Dining is available in a room modeled after a Maine crab shack, at a small sushi bar, or in a clubby main room that sports a retro tile floor, mirrored walls hung with nautically themed paintings and snapshots, red and green leather booths, and plenty of handsome, dark wooden trim.
Come at peak times, and you'll more than likely be greeted with a pager, just like Claim Jumper and P.F. Chang's. I'm not fond of this format; call me old-fashioned but I still prefer the reservation system. King's does reserve a quarter of their tables, at least. Oh well.
Choices aren't as plentiful as at, say, fish houses like McCormick and Schmick, where the fresh catch list is truly extensive, but there are always interesting ones, with emphasis on regional specials such as California spiny lobster and California-caught swordfish. But the provenances of the fish, Costa Rican tilapia, Alaskan halibut, the dreaded farm-raised Atlantic salmon, are usually listed, so it's easy to make intelligent decisions.
There are many appealing first courses, with a blackboard listing a variety of fresh oysters, which are shucked to order. You also will get a sushi list not dissimilar to that in any Japanese restaurant, and the sushi is delicious. I had a perfectly good salmon-skin roll, and a nice tempura halibut hand-roll, although I'll be careful not to order anything with "krab" on the ingredients list next time. Krab with a "k" isn't crab but surimi, a crab substitute. I've tasted crab, and Senator, you are no crab.
But there are consolations. I love the grilled artichoke, served with a basil-garlic mayo, and I kinda like the shrimp pot-stickers, slightly doughy on one side, yes, but tasty, with a nice soy dipping sauce.
King's spicy seafood chowder is overwhelmed by bay leaf and tomato, a waste of all its good seafood, but the white-bean and smoked salmon chowder is pleasant, as are most of the salads, crab and shrimp Louie overflowing with seafood, a crisp Caesar, a nice thing called Danish walnut salad (made with candied walnuts and Danish blue cheese), and even Southwest salad with blackened chicken, if you eschew seafood.
Two of the dishes I tried were terrific: Parmesan-crusted sand dabs and swordfish piccata. Sand dabs are delicate little rockfish in the sole family, uncommonly sweet and delicate. The swordfish came in a perfectly light lemon-caper-butter sauce, and the sides—Provencal ratatouille and halved, roasted rosemary potatoes—couldn't have been better.
Side dishes are generally top- notch, in fact. I love the homemade mac and cheese, and the sautéed fresh spinach and sweet buttered corn are excellent, as well. Most of the entrées come with a choice of two, unless you order an already composed plate such as my swordfish piccata. It's basically a win-win situation.
Not everything from the kitchen is quite this successful, though. Yellow fin ahi was bland and stringy, not sushi quality by any means. On one visit, my Alaskan halibut was cooked to dryness, but the server was quick to notice my displeasure and substitute it. Ditto with regard to a crab cake that came to the table cold. King's clearly aims to please. Just wrinkle your nose and the staff will bend over backward to please you.
No such calisthenics are required when it comes to dessert. Lots of the good sweets come topped with Lappert's ice cream, a premium label from Hawaii that produces one of the best vanilla-bean ice creams anywhere. Old-fashioned chocolate layer cake is huge and a treat with real whipped cream. Rustic apple tart, crusty and drizzled with caramel sauce, was totally made for a scoop of that killer vanilla-bean ice cream.
You just may see me holding a table buzzer here yet.