It’s ironic that a good friend of mine who works at Sea World insisted that I finally check out the fishies at Blue Water Seafood Market & Grill. Since lunching at the eatery a few times with her Shamu comrades, she’s gushed over the fresh ocean meats that arrive here daily and never touch a deep fryer.

Blue Water fills a desperate niche in San Diego. As a seafood market, it boasts a couple of display cases brimming with lovable slabs of Hawaiian Wahoo, Norwegian salmon, swordfish, albacore, shark, shrimp, crab – you name it. What doesn’t get sold within 24 hours becomes the hodgepodge for making fish stock, the cornerstone for a hearty cioppino soup offered on the menu. The leftovers also result in some very lively ceviche, served with thick tortilla chips that originate from neighboring El Indio Mexican Restaurant.

When eating in, the atmosphere is less circus-like than its counterpart, Point Loma Seafood Company, where I’ve tripped over baby strollers and gotten squirted in the back by kids wielding water pistols. Blue Water is, thankfully, cozier, with nearly a dozen tables inside and several more on the patio. An occasional Bob Marley tune tempers the ambience. And depending on the time of day, the lines at the order counter generally move fast and the kitchen operates at a decent clip.

The grill is king here. Everything, including the non-battered red snapper used in the Fish & Chips, is cooked with flames. Only the waffle-cut French fries and onion rings get deep-fried. Both are delicious, and the fries taste even more sensational when dabbed in the restaurant’s homemade tartar sauce infused with dill pickle.

At the urging of my Sea World friend, I sprung for the Alaskan Halibut sandwich served on a bolero roll with tomato and shredded lettuce. Our order taker recommended that I request the roll toasted. “It’s a lot better that way,” she said.” Indeed so. The bread’s slightly crisped edges provided an appealing contrast to the pillowy texture of the filet, which soaked up the distinct essence of the grill. All combined, it tasted better and healthier than a good old-fashioned burger.

A mound of red snapper came with my friend’s Fish & Chips. To my surprise, I didn’t miss the traditional encasement of batter when trying it. A squeeze of lemon and a few dips into the tartar sauce delivered the plate to near-British standards.

My other companion opted for every grilled fish taco on the menu – swordfish, mahi mahi and shrimp. When the ocean’s bounty comes ashore with this much freshness, well then, gluttony isn’t so immoral. His taco trio was buried under a bright medley of firm cabbage and diced tomatoes with a drizzling of velvety white sauce on top. In the swordfish taco, the fish was mildly spiced with a piquant seasoning. The mahi mahi was meaty like chicken. And the shrimp were sweet and wonderful.

The menu is structured to give fish lovers every meal design possible. Once you zero in on a catch, simply decide whether you want it set in a salad, tucked into a hot or cold sandwich or plated with seasoned jasmine rice and fresh greens. You can also have your fish blackened or doctored up with lemon or garlic butter (both worked great on my halibut), teriyaki or chipotle seasonings.

If you prefer slurping your seafood, there are oysters served in shooters and in the half shell. Additionally, the menu offers five different seafood cocktails as well as two soups made from scratch – a flourless clam chowder and a zesty cioppino, which is bulked up with big cubes of yellowtail, swordfish and tomatoes.

Blue Water is owned and operated by the Braun family, an ambitious clan from Ocean Beach comprising the parents, siblings and a daughter-in-law. Their approach is casual and friendly, like neighborhood fish markets should be. Yet for a city that looks out to a very large tank of culinary treasures, I can only wish that a greater number of affordable, high-quality joints like this existed.