Dining review: Mo' Fish seafood restaurant in Keller

By Malcolm Mayhew

Special to the Star-Telegram

Keller diners may not know it, but there's a new mom-and-pop restaurant in town: a small, cheery seafood restaurant called Mo' Fish.

Opened in January by local restaurateur Gloria Segovia, whose family also owns and runs the nearby Funky Baja's Cantina, Mo' Fish is easy to miss. It's tucked into an innocuous strip mall on the busy Keller Parkway. But inside, it's all splashy, bright colors, rustic signs, checkerboard tablecloths and pictures of -- what else? -- people fishing.

New Orleans-inspired seafood is the big draw here: po-boy sandwiches; buckets of crawfish; and fried, blackened or grilled catfish. A good way to start is with the crabcakes ($8.99), served a pair per order. Ours had plenty of chunky, zesty crabmeat, and we loved the crunch of the browned tops. They came with a pair of round hushpuppies, golden brown on the outside, soft inside, and a warm jalapeño cream sauce that went well with both the cakes and the pups.

Chargrilled oysters ($9.99) come three ways: topped with habanero butter, Parmesan and bacon; butter lemon sauce and blue cheese; or garlic and romano cheese.

We chose blue cheese, but the half-dozen oysters arrived cheese-free. After we flagged our server, they reappeared a few minutes later, each dabbed with a dot of blue cheese dressing that, unfortunately, drowned in the deep pools of overly rich butter sauce.

There was more to like on the catfish and shrimp entree ($13.99). A large, single catfish fillet came draped in a good, crisp cornmeal breading. It wasn't the least bit soggy or oily, and it had a great, simple, peppery flavor; the fish itself had a nice, clean taste. Four jumbo-sized shrimp, served atop the catfish, were supposed to be blackened but came out grilled. At that point, our server had taken a hike, so we just ate them, enjoying their buttery flavor.

The dish came with two sides: macaroni and cheese that was very dry and, despite being showered with bits of bacon, lacked flavor; and the more memorable jalapeño cheese grits, which had a smooth, pleasant texture and fiery bite.

During our visit, one dessert was available: a house-made "chocoflan" ($4) consisting of three layers: chocolate cake on bottom, smooth vanilla flan above it and a caramel top. Could have used some mo' of that.

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