Please understand that this is all opinion, but in my mind these are my top fish. However, there is quite a bit of fish taste to it, so be advised of that. Their two filets are just perfect size to make into fish and chips. They are a huge pain to clean, I would only bother with the bigger ones. I ran out of best options, but PoвЂ™opaвЂ™a is decent table fare.

Some restaurants serve them as a special occasionally.

You can also deep fry them, but their main flaw is that you have to scale them more than other fish, since they have a lot of big scales similar to Toau. A very flaky fish, good pan fried in butter and oil, with salt, pepper, and other garnishes. Same as halalu, but a little less meat and more crunch. Japanese restaurants sometimes sell them labeled as baby Aji. Upper class restaurants will sometimes have deep fried smelt, this is very similar to it, but homemade. Small Halalu when deep fried with panko and oil are very good, almost like french fries. Throw in some butter and parsley to make it even better. Pan fried, you can add shoyu, garlic, and onions to make a great meal. If you fry them enough, you can eat the whole fish, even the bones, if you cook it until it literally shrivels up. They have a lot of bones, but when they are over ten inches, they have more meat than bones, and become good for eating. Toau are very abundant, and easy to catch if you are light dunking at nighttime or dusk/dawn. I know of one restaurant that served them as a special once. I would assume they are good fried as well. They are somewhat easy to catch if you know the spots to catch them, but however, I donвЂ™t know the right spots for them. I like them steamed chinese style and a ponzu or soy dipping sauce. In my opinion, Aweoweo are a great eating fish. Some Ulua fishermen love to eat Ulua, but there is risk of ciguatera and the meat is quite dry and tough when it gets big. However, once they reach Ulua size, their table fare rapidly goes down. White Papio when they are small are very mild, tasty, and soft. Omilu are great any way possible, sometimes a little fishy as it gets bigger. Yellowspot Papio make fantastic sashimi, and lots of bottom fishermen praise Yellowspot Papio for their moist and fatty flesh. Certain species of Papio have their strengths in eating. However, they are still somewhat difficult to catch, especially during the winter months. It is mild, and a lot easier to catch than Moi, Uku, or Mu from shore. They are a meaty fish, and have more bones than Mu or Uku, but the taste is definitely there. However, they are very hard to catch, so your best bet at eating one unless you are one of those Moi hammahs is at a Japanese izakaya. In particular, Uosan (Ala Moana/Ward area) has very good Moi, as well as a lot of other dishes. It is a killer dish, and that is that is why I go to izakayas a lot. In the izakayas, they serve it deep fried with special salt and a ponzu dipping sauce. Moi is a very moist fish that is often served in Japanese izakayas. Some people would put Moi in the top spot, and I would too, but after Mu and Uku, I think that Moi should belong in the number three spot. Occasionally on restaurantвЂ™s special of the day list. DonвЂ™t let that stop you from eating it though. However, sometimes they have ciguatera poison in the areas of the head and stomach region. No bones except for the center and has a very mild taste. This is a non-fishy fish, and about the same as the Mu. Even though it isnвЂ™t caught often from shore, it still lives pretty close to shore, where shorecasters catch them sometimes. Baking or steaming is the best way I think. You donвЂ™t even need to pan fry this fish to make it good. Steamed chinese style with onions and garlic, and a little bit of butter, it is heavenly, and cannot be beaten. Mu are very meaty, have no bones except for the center bone, and have no fishy taste to them. In my opinion this is a well-deserved top spot. My top ten list for shoreline fish only is as follows (ten being the lowest out of the ten and one being the best out of the ten):

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