La Dorada

• Cuisine(s): Seafood, Spanish
  Hours: Mon-Thu 11:30am-11:30pm, Fri-Sat 11:30am-0am
  Price: $$$$
  Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards
• Attire: Casual
  Features: Takeout, Delivery, Private Party, Banquet Facilities, Kid Friendly
  Serving: Dinner, Late Night, Lunch
  Entertainment: Live Entertainment
• Alcohol: Beer/Wine
  Reservations: Accepted, Recommended
  Parking: Valet

Description

The reason La Dorada has been a mainstay of Giralda Avenue for so many a year is the availability and quality of exceptional seafood from Spain. Thrice weekly fish are flown from the ports of Malaga, including merluza (hake), urta (red-band bream), lubina (striped sea bass), cuttlefish (calamarilike), and dorada (royal sea bream). Golden, greaseless fried fresh anchovies is a good way to jump onboard, as would be any number of simply prepared shellfish, such as razor clams spruced with olive oil, parsley, and garlic, or fresh anchovy fillets pooled in nothing but a simple tomato coulis. The signature entrée (for two) is pescado a la sal, in which the fish you choose gets baked in a solid sea-salt crust, cracked and filleted tableside, and served with extra-virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, and homemade mayonnaise. The restaurant's namesake fish -- with white, moist, mildly sweet flesh boasting buttery, slightly nutty accents -- works well with this treatment. The same sea bream ordered with "warm sizzling garlic and sherry vinegar" brought a drier, blander result. La Dorada's two stories of multiple, mustard-color dining rooms are uniformly decked out in a decidedly nautical décor. This Spanish seafood restaurant isn't perfect -- the prices are quite high, and a few fish dishes won't quite hook you -- but an excellent wine list, solid service, and delicious, exotic seafood are the norm.