Eat This: New Menu Items @ Kanaloa Seafood

For fresh fish, Kanaloa Seafood is one of the best catches in town. With a menu based entirely on sustainably sourced seafood, you can eat without any eco-guilt and know that what you’re getting is impeccably fresh. Kanaloa’s so committed to sustainability, in fact, that they have been awarded top honors from the Marine Stewardship Council and the International Organization for Standardization (a first for an American seafood company). With off-beat offerings like opah and grouper cheek for sale at the market, it’s also a dream destination for the creative chef.

Kanaloa recently launched a new net of menu items. Here are some of the ones that hooked me in:

Poké Salad: A great, refreshing showcase for the tender tuna, this appetizer features ruby-red ahi nestled between a salad of seaweed and mixed greens, red and green onions, cucumber, and a sesame vinaigrette atop a bed of sushi rice.

Grilled Baby Octopus: The octopus here is succulent, soft, and smoky, a delicious and expertly done meal of the mouthwatering mollusk, offset with a cooling and sweetly acidic slaw on the side and a tomato salad beneath.

Copper River Salmon: Lightly crisped on the outside with that soft, sweet-savory salmon interior, this awesome catch from Alaskan waters comes with a caper white wine sauce, braised Swiss chard, crispy radicchio, sautéed mussels, and fresh artichoke hearts — a standout entrée.

Kanaloa Seafood is at 715 Chapala Street. For more information, visit 966-5159.