The Joint Seafood and Coffee
Liwei Liao buys at dawn against the sushi chefs, butchers whole fish behind a tiled wall, and dry-ages the rest. The espresso bar is on the other side of it.
Why go
Six mornings a week Liao is at the downtown seafood markets before the shop opens, filling a case he describes as high-mix, low-volume: wild Canadian black cod one day, farmed Baja striped bass, live Santa Barbara box crab.1
The butchery is the house rule. Fish are cut whole in the shop, other than the big tuna, Alaskan halibut and swordfish, and the second half of each one waits until somebody wants it. When a fish gets cut, it starts breaking down and losing a bit of its moisture,
Liao told Joshua Lurie.1 What he holds, he dry-ages, and the shop is direct about why: it pulls moisture and the fats break down, which concentrates the flavor.3
A tiled wall splits the room. Market on one side, coffee bar on the other, so you can work at a table without a tuna on a hook in your eyeline.2
Order this / avoid
- Order: anything in the case, seared with salt, pepper and garlic butter, or baked under a Parmesan herb crust. Liao prints a new menu daily off what he bought.1
- Order: the dry-aged fish to take home. Ora King salmon, black cod, branzino, barramundi.3
- Avoid: expecting a dining room. It is a market with a café in it.
What locals & experts say
- The Infatuation LA, Brant Cox:
Setting up a laptop and getting work done inside a fish market sounds like a nightmare we wouldn't wish upon even our worst enemies. But Joint Seafood, the coffee shop/fish market on Ventura, proves it can and should be done.
2 The Infatuation does not rate coffee shops and did not score this one. It is owned by JPMorgan Chase. - Our Ventura Blvd, Joshua Lurie:
Coffee & Seafood will never be the next PB & J, but those two items share the spotlight at The Joint, an airy Sherman Oaks café and market where owner Liwei Liao celebrates his twin passions.
1
Good to know
- Which door. This is the Sherman Oaks shop on Ventura. The operator also runs a downtown flagship, which has no entry here.3
- Coffee: Copa Vida beans on brew, Heart Coffee Roasters for espresso.1
- Booking: walk in for the market and the café. The Butcher's Counter, a ten-course tasting, is a separate reservation.3
Verdict
should-visit — Liwei Liao goes to the downtown markets at dawn six mornings a week and buys against the sushi chefs, then butchers whole fish in his own shop and dry-ages what he holds. His reason for cutting each second half late is that a cut fish starts losing moisture, and you can taste the consequence of that rule in the case. Joshua Lurie recorded the range on one visit: wild Canadian black cod, farmed Baja striped bass, live Santa Barbara box crab. You can have any of it seared or baked while you sit with an espresso. It stops short of the top rung because nobody has reviewed the cooking, only the operation.