Little Fish

The fried fish sandwich at Little Fish draws more attention than that PETA billboard on Sunset. Pause in front of this sidewalk cafe in Echo Park and you’ll hear the audible crunch of people biting into beer-battered sea bass filets on soft brioche buns, which is as good an advertisement as any if you’re standing in line around lunchtime.

As great as the fancy Filet-O-Fish is here, though, don’t mistake Little Fish for a one-hit-wonder. The rest of the menu at this casual daytime spot reads like a mashup of a retro delicatessen and a fancy Nordic coffee shop, and there isn’t a dish we wouldn’t clear our morning plans for. Little Fish might be a neighborhood cafe at heart, but it approaches brunch with the same finesse Switzerland does watches.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Before they opened inside a boutique grocery market near Sunset and Echo Park Ave, Little Fish was a pop-up run by unemployed friends who sold a weekly rotation of fried seafood in their backyard. These days, Little Fish exists as a prototypical sceney cafe: expect a few rows of communal picnic tables full of off-duty sommeliers in Lemaire loafers, friends cackling over espresso tonics, and mullet-bearing parents buying fancy jam with $800 strollers in tow.

The early morning hours are when Little Fish is at its best. Starting at 8am, you can walk up and order from a short list of breakfast dishes that are 50% seafood-related and 50% brunch classics that somehow taste even better than they look. A stunning whitefish tartine on a slab of Clark Street rye comes decorated with fried capers that shatter against your teeth, but we’re just as enamored with the sourdough toast spread with a generous amount of fancy butter and symmetrical curls of sweet-savory brown cheese. The best of all is the fish congee: a silky porridge dusted with chili crisp and packed with strips of soft-poached striped bass (the same fish used in the sandwich).

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Not to sell lunch short, though. After 11am, Little Fish flips to a salad-and-sandwich-dominant menu that’s less seafood-centered, but still impressive. It’s also when you can order that famous fried fish sando, which is the star of the show in the afternoon. We also rarely leave without an order of crispy potatoes dusted with nori salt, or the ciabatta steak sandwich punched up with horseradish. If you manage to get here just before the menu changes from breakfast to lunch (10:30am or so), you’ve hit the daytime cafe lottery. Grab a light breakfast at the counter inside, then head out to the sidewalk tables for a second-act lunch, then walk off knowing you’ve just gotten a double dose of Echo Park’s most reliable serotonin hit, especially if the sun is out.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Brown Cheese Toast

If you’ve never tried Norwegian brown cheese (a.k.a. brunost), think of it as a salty-sweet brown butter fudge. At Little Fish, it’s thinly shaved into gorgeous beige arches, which have a nutty, caramelized flavor that adds even more richness to salted butter underneath. Start your breakfast here.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Fish Congee

As long as you order before 11am, this porridge is the best thing to eat at Little Fish. As you mix the ingredients, the tender chunks of fish, chili crisp, scallions, and soft-boiled egg merge into a warm, soothing one-bowl symphony with a pleasant kick of heat. We wouldn’t share it if a soup fairy promised us three wishes.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Smoked Whitefish Tartine

If you’re drawn to this creamy whitefish salad studded with fried capers and spread over Clark Street rye, don’t hesitate. You can finish it in four bites, and every one tastes like a kiss from a smoked fish wearing lemon and olive oil lipstick. They sometimes offer a similar tartine with cured trout and mustard seeds, but we like this one best.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

You might not think to get the short stack at a place called Little Fish, but ordering these to share with the table is a power move. The pancakes are slightly savory with a subtle richness, but what makes them special are the dollops of cherry jam and sour cream on top, which pushes things to not-too-sweet dessert territory.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Fried Fish Sandwich

As Urkel to “Did I do that?” or Paris Hilton to “That’s hot,” this fish sandwich is the metaphorical catchphrase of Little Fish, and for good reason. It's the golden brown Filet-O-Fish you were promised in TV commercials, complete with tangy Japanese-style mayo and briny pickles. They start serving it after 11am which, not coincidentally, is when the line to order starts to fill up.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Crispy Nori Potatoes

Crispy fried potatoes tossed in nori salt and served with a side of creamy garlic aioli—a can’t lose side. Not that you need an excuse to order these, but they go particularly well with any of the sandwiches on the menu.