Tangaroa Fish Market & Raw Bar

Friendly place, lots of New Zealand rugby posters, maps, etc. on the wall. Rugby on TV.
Ceviche was more like fish in pesto. Tasted ok, but not really ceviche — nowhere near enough citrus.
Ahi Poke was not bad, with tasty pickled vegetables on the side.
Fish and chips were nice — fish was lightly breaded, and nice and juicy. This was my favorite among the things we tried.
Rocket salad was simple but tasted fine.
Portions were a bit small (except for the fish and chips which was ample, and the salad). $ 80 out the door for all of the above for two people (plus two sparkling waters) including tip — it was not too much food. Friendly but slow-​ish service on a Tuesday evening. Overall, has potential but could be better.

Food tasted great! We had the fish tacos and the beet salad. The service was nice too. Usually I don’t complain about pricing but the portion to price ration was definitely off. $ 15 for a basic beet salad is a bit much, especially in Culver City. Also, we had to order 3 plates of tacos to feel full.

Really wonderful selection of incredibly fresh seafood.
The calamari was some of the best I’ve had. Wonderfully prepared.
The shrimp cocktail was also delectable. I always end up wishing I had more. The cocktail sauce could have used more horseradish, but that’s just my preference.
The cocktails are basic, not really comparable to the craftsmanship of a cocktail across the street at Corner Door or Hatchet Hall (but hey, sometimes you’re not lookin’ for a craft cocktail).
The ambiance is really nice. It has an open, airy, casual feel to it. The price is steep, but that’s the price you pay for fresh seafood. I think the price for the cocktails may be a bit high for what you get, though.
All in all, it’s a great neighborhood spot with very fresh seafood, and I’m glad it’s here!

For those who don’t want to drive to Santa Monica seafood, you really can’t find a better spot. Great calm chowder, poke tuna, ceviche, fresh oysters, etc. Nice beer and wine selection too.

***Simply the best little fish market in town!!!***
(A market review. Restaurant review to follow.)
While I have yet to eat, here, I have been here a couple times to buy fish. Both times, I’ve been absolutely humbled by the tremendously friendly and hospitable service I’ve received. Both Max and Mark are absolutely at the top of their game. The second I came in, Mark (in his Aussie accent) said, «You the fella that called about the Yellowtail and Yellowfin?» Wow. That’s freakin’ awesome.
He continued to tell me that they WERE gonna have halibut, but when he checked it, the quality of the fish just wasn’t up to par. He had to sadly resign to the fact that he couldn’t sell it. He took the hit, so his customers didn’t have to; that’s what you want from a fish vendor… Nothing but the freshest.
The fish here is fresh, vibrant, and many are even on display, whole, so you can see gill coloration and eye opaqueness.
I went in, today, for Yellowfin Tuna and Yellowtail (Hamachi). Both came in fresh, this morning. Suh-​weeeeeet! I saw the Yellowfin had been fabricated into one long filet, but the Yellowtail was still whole. I squeamishly asked if he sold the Yellowtail whole or if he broke it down. Without missing a beat, Max said, «Oh, I’ll break it down for you. Would you like the belly or the back?»
Whoa.
What just happened? Did I just get the best service of ANY fish market I’ve ever been to? Yes… Yes, I did.
Max broke the fish down with a quickness. It was a beautiful thing to watch. Nothing fresher than a fish that is just getting fabricated in front of your very eyes. I couldn’t believe it. I STILL can’t.
This place not only beats the pants off of Santa Monica Seafood, service-​wise, but price-​wise, too. They will bend over backwards to please their customers; each of which they treat like family upon their FIRST visit. I’m absolutely flabbergasted… Mind-​blown… And a bit remorseful that I didn’t know about this place, when they opened about a year ago. Oh well, I’m on board, now.
TWO HUGE THUMBS UP!

The kiwi chowder was very rich and thick, but a tad too salty. However, when you keep eating it, it doesn’t taste so salty. It was good overall. It’s also $ 15… for a small bowl…
The lobster fettuccine had an abundant amount of delicious, plump pieces of lobster! The sauce was very rich as well and added a lot of flavor. It was also a bit salty. The chef was a bit heavy handed with the salt that day. $ 27
The seafood pork belly risotto was beautifully plated with colorful edible flowers! The pork belly was deep fried and nicely crisp. The risotto was very flavorful with delightful chunks of various kinds of seafood. $ 28
The little neck clam, as the name states, was very little, but it was also very delicious. $ 2 for one is a bit high, but it was worth it to try it once.
The environment is open and modern. I liked being able to see the fresh seafood on display. Cool Australian vibe. Great place for dinner. The tables have gaps in them which we saw the waitress manually cleaning… I felt bad for them. They should buy tables without these gaps to save their servers from cleaning each little gap– their poor backs!
Anyway, we’d come back again.

Really really like this place. We went in for lunch, it wasn’t very busy, but I knew they had just opened so maybe not everyone knew about it.
This place is exactly what culver city needed. If I have to go to another hipster joint that serves Bacon on everything, I’m going to shoot myself!
We got a dozen oysters, which were superb and super fresh and I got the fish taco’s which I loved.
And don’t forget, this is a fish market, my husband and I went in here to get some clams and the owner couldn’t have been nicer, the clams were delish. They also have great prices on Halibut and Snapper! Much better than Santa Monica seafood with half the BS.
Worth a visit :)

Good service and food is great. Fish and chips is good with the fish batter really thin and you can taste the freshness of the fish inside.
Happy hour offer is really good. ½ dozen oysters and glass of proscecco for less than $ 20.

Oysters selection is good and wine as well.
Cioppino for two was in a medium to small bowl and just a few bread slices and fish, 4 shrimps, 2 small crab legs. I wouldn’t recomend this place. At the end, the bill for the experience is pricy.

So I was very happy to see Tangaroa is located more on the westerly end of Culver City, as downtown CC can be too much of a zoo on a Sat nite for me. I was craving seafood and their Unilocal menu sounded great! It was about 6:30 on a Sat nite and the place was jammin. folks eating in, and taking seafood to go.
I got 3 menus…2 smaller and one large. One smaller was the beer, wine, sake, drink menu. Nice variety, and I went for a Berry Bliss Cosmo… light and refreshing!
The other smaller menu describes the 5 types of Oyster Shooters they offer (see pic). I went for the Maxanda, and loved it! They also had 11 different types of oysters on the half shell featuring today!
Servers were very nice and very attentive.
I then went for the fresh uni, served right in its shell!!! Very fun and got the folks at the tables near me askin what it was!
Lastly, I had the pork belly/​seafood risotto. The seafood risotto was excellent, but the pork belly was on the dry side, so i took off one star. It was a flavor combo my stomach, sadly, could not quite embrace, so I ate the two parts separately, and put a little Cosmo on the pork belly, which tasted great, actually. I was too full for dessert.
The place has a lot of energy, and I hope they do well… I would for sure come back, and next time its oysters on the halfshell to start for me!!!

Can’t see this place being open in a year.
Worst service I’ve had in quite some time.
Pork completely overlooked and risotto tasted like it was still soaking in wine.
Hope you guys figure it out.

Stopped by for first meal out since delivery of baby! Now that oysters are possible came by here after photo shoot! This place is run by some of the kindest folks from New Zealand (aren’t they all!!!) ever! Started with the oysters shooters with ponzu sauce and sake… amazing! Then got a dozen oysters from west coast (Washington and British Columbia only) then got the seafood sampler for main course… it’s HUGE but I did finish it myself it was so good. It had lobster, salmon poke, tuna poke, incredibly fresh clams and mussels, more oysters from BC, and super fresh shrimps! I have to admit, this is the FIRST time I have ever had shrimp where the shell was peeled down the to the tail which was such a small detail but it was so obvious to me-​from having seafood in Maldives to Japan to Hong Kong to Paris… first time it was peeled so well! I was impressed! My wife got the cioppino for one which had some of the best soup base I have ever had! This place is excellent… the only reason you would not give 5 stars is because you don’t like fresh seafood, or if you are in a hurry, since they make everything to order! It was a feast and it was fantastic!

3 ½ stars. I’ve passed by this spot numerous times so I finally decided to stop by for a late birthday dinner with my roomies. Parking isn’t included and street parking can be a pain in the ass so be prepared to walk a block or two. Tangaroa is intimate but casual so you can feel free to seat yourself.
Negatives:
— Our party sat right by the door which was a terrible idea. No spring on the door so it stayed open. Mind you, it was raining cats and dogs that night so I had to get up multiple times to close the door. So chilly!
— Took forever to get our main courses so we were hangry, lol.
— Special of the night: Surf ‘N Turf for $ 39. Filet was a bit tough and under seasoned.
— My Bloody Mary was the size of a cocktail drink. I like my alcohol, boooooo.
— Roomie’s risotto tasted a bit overcooked but she said the pork made everything taste better.
Positives:
— Great happy hour deals! Tue-​Fri from 5−7pm and Sat-​Sun from 4−6pm. One of my roomies ordered the crab cake bacon avocado sliders and she loved it. We also ordered the fries and tap beer which came with a huge order of tasty fries.
— Surf ‘N Turf’s lobster seriously saved the dish. Cooked to perfection and seasoned just right.
— Friendly customer service.
I think it’s safe for me to say that I’ll only be ordering their seafood going forward. It’s a huge disappointment for me when you mess up my steak. I was eyeing the mussels and oysters so I’ll definitely be going back for that and happy hour.

I pass by this place going home every day and I never gave it much thought until my roommates & I spontaneously decided to have dinner here. With the good reviews, I definitely had some high expectations!
Parking is a little rough as it’s only street. There isn’t a lot and you might have to circle around the block a few times until you find something. It can also be a walk as well!
When we arrived, it was a bit awkward because all 4 of us missed the sign to seat ourselves. It was happy hour and they had some sweet deals. $ 7 craft beer & a mountain of fries?! Such a steal and the fries were delicious (reminded me of McDonald’s but probably much healthier)!! Food was on the pricier end. I opted for the Pork Belly Seafood Risotto — $ 28, ³⁄₅ stars. The risotto didn’t seem like it was cooked all the way through and felt like it was missing something if you took a bite of it on its own. The pork belly was WONDERFUL! Cooked to perfection and seasoned just right. Taking a bite out of everything together was great and definitely made the dish feel more cohesive. Now that I think about it, a little lime/​lemon would have made this dish great to add a bit of that freshness. I didn’t like that it could be overwhelming and rich halfway through the dish. My roommates weren’t that impressed with the special of the day, which was a Surf & Turf for $ 39. It included a huge Maine Lobster and beef imported from New Zealand.
Service was also lacking. Zero sense of urgency. I felt like it took them awhile to take our order and my risotto took FOREVER!
All in all, I was not too impressed with this place and I might return for Happy Hour.

Came here on a rainy day. Feel free to seat yourself when you come in.
Luckily, we arrived just in time for happy hour!
Tues-​Fri 5pm-​7pm
Sat-​Sun 4pm-​6pm
My bf & I ordered:
— the surf & turf special ($ 39) — The lobster was good when dipped in this truffle butter sauce that originally came with a complimentary side of roasted potatoes. The steak was not seasoned enough & was a bit tough. I would not get this dish again.
— crab cake bacon avocado slider ($ 9 happy hour) — this slider was really good! All the flavors worked well together and was my favorite dish of the night.
— fries & a tap beer ($ 7 happy hour) — the fries taste like McDonald fries (yum!!) & you get a huge portion with your tap beer of your choice.
The food took pretty long to come out when there were only 2 – 3 other small tables so I thought that was a bit odd. Our food probably took like 30 – 40 minutes.
The service was good but wasn’t amazing. For example, they made sure our water was always filled but they forgot to take our menus away once we ordered and still didn’t take the menus when they brought out our food. We ended up just putting it all on the table next to us.
I think I would only come back for the happy hour. The seafood here is what’s really good so I’m going to order only seafood items the next time I come.

It’s good and completely affordable. I dunno why the neighborhood hasn’t caught on yet because when we went, it was completely empty. The owner and the servers are totally chill and it’s simply good fresh seafood.
I met a girlfriend here for lunch and we had a bit of everything: a dozen tasty, briny oysters, the lobster tacos (very good), the kiwi chowder (superb), and a side salad. Our server even had us try a new chocolate dessert they were testing out. (Word to the wise: you don’t EVER have to ask two gossiping women if they would be interested in trying out a chocolate mousse. Just give us some!)
A seafood joint is just what this area sorely needed so I hope it sticks around. I will totally come back with the hubster.

High’s:
oysters on the half shell
wine
NZ snapper, though it’s not what we ordered
ahi tuna salad
Low’s:
hostess indifferent
sitting by door that has no spring so we jump up at least 6x to shut the door
items on the menu not available (octopus salad, sashimi plate, lamb burger, etc) — even though we are there at 6 pm
2 entrees arrive and 3^rd is promised in 10 minutes
3^rd entrée arrives and it is the wrong entrée
serving sizes are incredibly SMALL
no decaf anything available
coffee is lukewarm at best
terrible music blaring
So many apologies. So many missteps. Must say that they tried to take responsibility by comping some items but honestly, I’d rather just have a decent meal with decent service and execution.
I had a very different experience than most Unilocalers. This restaurant is a disappointment at best. No way 4.5*. Hope they get it together as there are very few good fish/​seafood restaurants in So Cal.

I came here for the first time with a friend on a Saturday for happy hour. Oysters are $ 2 and there are several other items on the happy hour menu. I was cognizant of what other reviews here have mentioned: the prices are high. So happy hour seemed a good option. It’s a nice bright, open space and there were only a few other people in the place when we arrived around 3pm.
We got a dozen oysters. Unlike some places the very friendly bartender Josh said we’d get a variety. To try. The oysters were delicious but it brought up the first «problem.» Josh (don’t know why it says Mark on the receipt) aid to let him know which we liked so if we wanted more we could just get those. Not being connoisseurs of oysters we asked him to point out which was which when they arrived. But he didn’t know. The oyster shucker guy came over later was only a little better at telling us which was what. He seemed very unsure but told us to save the shells we liked. We did and asked what they were. Instead of getting an answer, we got two more of those oysters. Fine (they didn’t charge for them either!). But we wanted to know what they were.
Anyhow we also go the crab cake sliders and and the lamb sliders. Both were underwhelming. The crab cakes were mushy and not at all crisp on the outside. The lamb was just a hunk of under-​seasoned meat. The buns on both were mushy. There were both very meh. I tasted one of the wines offered for happy hour and it was clear the bottle had been open way too long. So we both ordered the Presidio Chardonnay – the other HH white wine option – which was so so, but $ 8. That’s the happy hour price. After the sliders my friend said, «enough» and wanted to go and thus we didn’t explore the menu more. We got the check. $ 61 for a dozen oysters four sliders and two glasses of wine at happy hour.
I want to like this place. Maybe I’ll come back and try some more fish options, but probably won’t go out of my way.

This has got to be one of the best fresh seafood/​restaurants in town!!!
Came here this past weekend and I had a great time and great food!!! My wife and I shared the ceviche, edamames, king crab legs, fish tacos, aaaaaaand the mussels, everything was sooo good! They don’t take reservations so its sit as you come basis. We got there and were sat down rather quickly. The staff here was also very very helpful! Looks like they can get very very busy but they stay on top of things and come by to check on you.
ok back to the food, everything was tasty and the staff helped us pick good options because we were unsure on which to go with at times. The seafood all tastes fresh nicely prepared.
There is valet and also street parking available so not too difficult to park.
The interior has very calm but artsy décor. Crates cover one half of one of the walls and one side has whole glass wall which is cool. Their counter has their fresh fish and also the lobster tank sits dead center of the location. Again, this place was real good and I will be back for sure. Cannot wait to visit!

Where do I start?! Such great food overall. Lee wanted a little bit of everything so we got a few plates for dinner.
We started with the ceviche. The pictures don’t do justice, it looks simple but it was so good. We also got the grilled fish tacos, you have the option of getting them fried or grilled. We ordered half a pound of king crab which to have to say it was so damn worth it. We weren’t sure if half a pound would be enough but it truly was. The crab was full of meat and flavor. The mussels, wow!!! We got the New Zealand mussels with the sausage sauce and oh my gawdddd! They were huge and packed with flavor!
Service blew me away too! The lady that helped us was so nice and gave us great recommendations. I will be coming back!