San Diego’s “waterfront” restaurants come in two varieties: There are those where nothing obstructs the view between you and the shoreline (a rare treat in a city defined by its bays and ocean), and then there are scores that offer only tangential peeks of the water with occasional sea breezes sneaking through the front doors.

Sally’s Seafood on the Water fits the latter, a freestanding outgrowth of the Manchester Grand Hyatt downtown that Wine Trader Magazine cited as one of the “Top 20 Dining Experiences in North America.” What Sally’s lacks in breathtaking panoramas it makes up for in a sleek, airy floor plan, plus an exhibition kitchen that sends out deftly prepared fish and meat dishes stamped with an abstruse French touch.

The restaurant’s bar lounge looks out to the marina boardwalk. Just beyond, a cluster of yachts bobbing in the harbor culls a decent view. The two-tiered dining room, however, faces an uninteresting courtyard, which is easily upstaged by a huge glassed-in kitchen boasting an adjunct chef’s table. The exposed kitchen adds a bright spark to the industral black motif. And the table appears highly inviting, allowing six to 12 guests to choose from a series of chef-crafted menus while witnessing the chefs’ culinary hijinks.

My dining companion and I hunkered into a booth on the main floor that was staffed with an army of attentive servers unusual to any restaurant on a Tuesday evening. Our appetizers included Seared Sea Scallops atop silver-dollar corn pancakes that we found titillating. The scallops were big and firm. They matched blissfully to a tangy orange-walnut reduction and came garnished with a palate-cleansing plop of greens strewn with fresh basil.

When our waiter recited, “We have the best crab cakes in town,” I almost passed on ordering them because it’s a hackneyed claim that I’ve heard stated in too many restaurants. But low and behold, these cakes were sweet, fluffy and accurately spiced. No fishy flavor and no errant bits of shell.

My companion’s Asparagus Veloutè revealed the French roots of Chef de Cuisine Fabrice Tissier, whose knack for flavor and texture hits “waterfront” worthiness. Frothy on the surface, the soup is constructed from chicken broth and thickened slightly with asparagus puree. A few crumbles of pancetta and blue cheese were the angelic touches.

From nine available fish entrées, the Seafood Paella includes several catches for broader sampling – shrimp, clams, mussels and rockfish, along with chorizo. Shell out an extra $10 and you get a half Maine lobster thrown into the mix, which lends more drama to the flavor and presentation. The paella adheres to traditional Spanish style in that the saffron rice leans toward the dry side. Though good by itself, we requested a side of drawn butter to moisten it up.

Oftentimes in restaurants that specialize in seafood, I like to test the kitchen’s capacity for cooking meat. So I opted for Pan Seared Beef Tenderloin, and was disappointed only by its salty cabernet sauvignon sauce. The steak, however, was perfectly cooked; top quality and supple. And truly, the dark robust sauce would have been a winner sans the excess sodium. The plate also featured delicately roasted fingerling potatoes and braised Swiss chard with cremini mushrooms.

Other dinner entrées include Cured Salmon enhanced with a striking spice rack of anise, cumin and coriander, Grilled Shrimp Brochette with white truffle emulsion, California Cioppino comprised with a medley of shellfish, Braised Duck and Rack of Lamb.

A well-developed wine list runs the price gamut, with bottles ranging from $25 to $150. We ordered by the glass and took educated recommendations from our astute waiter, who steered us away from big-lot wines and led us to some pleasant boutique reds. For a restaurant that takes in casual boardwalk pedestrians as well as Hyatt hostlers with bucks to spare, the level of service we observed was expectedly sharp and adaptable.

Our desserts must have been made in-house given their creative vigor. The Chocolate Crème Brulee Napoleon was layered with buttery pastry sheets sprinkled with sugar that tasted freshly caramelized. And the luscious Orange Chocolate Mousse was tangy and sweet at the same time.

With water at one end and the back entrance of a towering hotel at the other, Sally’s amphibious menu fits her lively bayside location.