Four out of the five senses agree: fish tacos are disgusting. They smell like the Long Beach Aquarium, look like they were scraped off the floor of an arts and crafts class, break apart in your juice-covered hands, and sound like a particularly foul euphemism. But taste overpowers all else for Los Angelenos, and locals go straight to the man himself, Señor Fish, to snag their aquatic snack.

With a handful of locations in LA including Downtown and Pasadena, this lesser-known chain is an underground fish taco empire. On a recent evening, I dropped by the Señor Fish in Eagle Rock at 4803 Eagle Rock Blvd.  The entrance is constructed with a cathedral-style gazebo, suggesting that this is where the Angels come for their plain fish tacos, ceviche tostadas or grilled trout. Electric pinks and teals cover the walls inside and out on the patio, giving the restaurant a Mexi-tropical vibe.

At the suggestion of Sandra, who works the register in front, I ordered the non-battered halibut taco and the lightly battered orange roughy, which is a deep-sea fish in the slimehead family -- a family I assume could benefit from a dip or two in the deep fryer.  The halibut taco, blanketed in a double-wrapped flour tortilla and littered with crisp lettuce and fresh tomatoes, retained its moisture and fish taste. I decided to make over the roughy with a trip to the salsa bar -- all are house-made.  Following a treatment with tomatillo-green chili salsa, the orange roughy was muy rico -- a perfect balance of flavors and textures. Unlike Taco Bell or Del Taco, the bottom of the fish taco food chain, and even the upstarts Rubio's grill and Baja Fresh, Señor Fish delivers on its promise of chewy, crunchy, fish tacos fresh off the docks. 

Sadly, though, due to a large lunch, I sinned in the church of fish tacos and did not clean my plate. As a result, I got a flat tire pulling out of the parking lot. Come for the orange roughy or the lunch special, but beware of the taco Gods. --MICKEY STANLEY

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