Minutes from the airport is Mariscos Moni, an unassuming Mexican seafood restaurant serving customers since 1993. It’s a colorful room done up in teal with nets holding shells draped from the ceiling and paintings lining the walls. For those looking for style points venture elsewhere. The Monster is in the mood for some fruits from the sea and the menu shows much promise.
There is a huge selection of fish soups, whole fish fried or grilled, seafood cocktails, tostadas, filleted fish, oysters and shrimp more ways than The Monster can count.
Guacamole, chips and salsa start the meal. The chips are warm, the salsa and guac fresh. This is but the primer for the feast to come.
And quickly it comes. Shrimp cocktail is a bounty of large shrimp, avocado, onion and tomato. Both ketchup and hot sauce accompany the cocktail so you can spice to your liking.
The sarandeado is a soy heavy dish of shrimp and rice. Served with flour tortillas and a small salad it is delicious. It also highlights the difference between this restaurant and ConiSeafood. The dishes at Seafood Moni are generally more straightforward where Sergio demonstrates a nuanced and nimble interpretation of Mexican seafood. Both are winners in their own right.
Last up is the fried catfish. Served whole and completely unadorned, it proves best wrapped in a tortilla with a liberal dousing of Tapatio.
For those with big appetites or large groups, consider one of the seafood platters which allow you to sample a wide swath of food. One table over a group is tearing into one and The Monster eyes it covetously.
Service is friendly and prices are reasonable. For those who don’t speak Spanish the menu has pictures and is mostly translated into English. The server on this day speaks perfect English saving The Monster from bludgeoning the Spanish language.
Why go? LAX>CMH
Monster rating: 3½/5 Monsters
4820 West Century Boulevard
Inglewood, CA 90304
(310) 419-3067
