Estiatorio Milos

I know there are much less expensive places to get a great piece of fish, but I've had a soft spot for Milos ever since I first visited about 7 years ago. Maybe it's the open-air market atmosphere... the diner can actually choose a clear-eyed fish right off of its bed of ice. Or maybe it's the loftlike, airy room festooned with parasols. More likely, it's the loukoumades. (More about that later.)

On Friday night, Milos was as packed as if it had just opened last week. Fortunately, my early reservation enabled my mother and I to sit at a lovely corner table.

We started with the Milos Special: a plate of potato-chip-thin fried eggplant and zucchini accented with four chunks of tangy saganaki (tangy melted sheep's milk cheese inside a golden crust).

The entree decision was more difficult than we'd anticipated. Naturally, we wanted whole fish, but there were at least 20 different kinds to choose from. Milos's fish menu is divided into North American and European varieties, and the flavor of each is described in detail. Some fish are only available for two diners to share. (By the way, for those "non-afishanados" among you, there's also a 26-oz. ribeye on the menu.)

I convinced my mother to forgo the Dover sole in favor of the loup de mer ("Europe's most sought-after fish," according to the menu). A whole fish for two and a side of potatoes may sound like a deceptively simple meal, but at Milos it is an explosion of flavor. The olive-oil-bathed potatoes, interspersed with a few sweet cherry tomatoes, were fragrant with garlic, scallions and red onions. The firm-fleshed white loup de mer was downright extraordinary in a light lemon-caper sauce, the meat sweet and the skin toothsomely crispy. I could easily go on the Mediterranean diet if I ate at Milos every day!

Of course, we did indulge in a decadent dessert. The aforementioned loukoumades, hot walnut-sprinkled dough fritters in a thyme-honey-cinnamon syrup, were garnished with a bit of mint. "Take them home so I don't eat any more of them!" pleaded my mother.

Estiatorio Milos: 125 West 55th St., (212) 245-7400.