I was recently interviewed for Spirit of Australia, the magazine for Qantas Airlines, about some of Hawaii’s best restaurants in 20 categories.

Beyond the usual questions about the state of contemporary Hawaii cuisine, and what dish might succeed poke’s international acclaim, there was the inevitable question about the best seafood restaurant. A stumper. Considering our location in the middle of the Pacific, the rest of the world assumes that we have dozens of seafood restaurants to choose from, which is just not the case.

We have sushi and poke bars, but an all-encompassing, comprehensive and high-quality seafood restaurant is a rare entity, at least on Oahu.

Perhaps because we are surrounded by the ocean, just about every restaurant offers a handful of seafood dishes. But this is also a democratic state and, not wanting to alienate any constituency, chefs tend to offer a little bit of everything.

STEPPING UP to the plate to remedy this situation have been a couple of malihini operators, including Herringbone, and now celebrity chef Michael Mina, who has taken command of the Fish House restaurant at The Four Seasons Oahu at Ko Olina, and given it his name.

It turns out to have been a labor of love about 40 years in the making. Mina fell for Hawaii as a young chef in the 1980s and dreamed of one day opening a seafood restaurant here. From his outsider perspective, a seafood shack on the beach seemed the most natural of pairings, but such venues and opportunities don’t come easy.

So he focused on building his nearly 40-restaurant empire across America and Dubai before coming to Hawaii with Stripsteak and The Street in Waikiki.

Having also bought a home in the islands, after vacationing here about five times a year, he might now be considered one of us. He certainly has an innate enthusiasm for the ocean. Speaking to him after his return from a deep-sea fishing expedition was like listening to that proverbial kid in the candy store as he talked about the one that got away, stolen by a shark after an intense battle, and the 60-pound yellowfin tuna that finally made it to our plates, as fresh as could be.

That freshness is evident in an array of nightly fish specials. I have eaten a lot of good fish in my life, but this is some of the best to date, perfectly cooked to be juicy and tender with that plumped, voluminous consistency you only get when fish is at its peak. So often at other restaurants, the fish is cooked to an overdone firmness, and other starters and side dishes are more impressive. This fish house is one that takes its name seriously.

The restaurant features an open-air setting, and diners also have the option of a private “Toes in the Sand” dinner experience set in Hale Wa‘a, the property’s beachfront canoe house. The venue can accommodate up to 20 people with a minimum $5,000 food and beverage requirement.

The menu is pricey, so you’re not going to be hanging out here every night, but it’s certainly going to be a top spot for special occasions like Mother’s Day, which is coming up fast.

If you’ve been to Mina’s other restaurants here, you’ll already be familiar with some of the dishes.

From Stripsteak comes Mina-style ahi tartare ($26) prepared at the table. It starts with mixing a quail egg yolk with garlic and a fine dice of red and green peppers, then stirring it into the fish with onions and pine nuts for a unique variation of poke. More decadent is his famous steamed lobster pot pie ($95) with brandied truffle cream and baby root vegetables blanketed by a sea salt-dusted crust.

From Little Lafa at The Street, the food hall at the International Market Place, comes a full-blown salad version of The Avocado. Here, the avocado has been sliced and layered with pickled vegetables, sprinkled with pieces of fried walnut, crispy kataifi and spicy jalapeno schug, a fiery Middle Eastern relish that recalls the chef’s Egyptian roots.

Other starters include a heavenly whirl of abalone-topped spaghetti ($28), swirled in yuzu butter and topped with Osetra caviar and chives. The slices of abalone are negligible, but the refreshing, citrusy pasta is memorable and perfect for a warm day.

In some instances, a heavy hand betrays a mainland approach to seafood, which I see as covering up the natural flavors of fish for people who haven’t grown up eating it. I would have liked to taste more of the hamachi than wasabi tobiko sauce on a hamachi “parfait” ($24) built over rice. And Kona lobster doesn’t require a big assist, so why drown its sweetness with Thai sour coconut bisque? A straightforward creamy lobster bisque would have reinforced the sweetness of the lobster.

MOST PEOPLE skip the introductory courses in favor of splurging on platters of wood-fired shellfish broiled in miso butter ($85), comprising a half lobster, a quarter pound of cracked crab, four shrimp and four oysters. The chilled Queen Platter ($85) echoes that content, while the King Platter ($175) adds smoked marlin dip and abalone and ups the shrimp and oysters to a dozen each. Chilled shellfish is also available a la carte.

Four classic seafood entrees include the lobster pot pie, black garlic and miso black cod ($48), grilled yellowfin tuna with seared foie gras ($57) and delicious phyllo-crusted butterfish (black cod, $44) with king crab brandade. Of course a fish house menu can’t end there. You are offered a separate menu of 14 daily specials made to taste — perhaps a half or whole fish fried and served with Indian-style coconut curry Swiss chard, saffron rice and lemon raita; or a Chinese-style broiled whole fish with ginger, scallions, bok choy, mushrooms and black beans.

Other fish steaks are grilled or pan-roasted and served in a fennel, saffron and orange shellfish nage along with Okinawan sweet potato gnocchi. I loved the saffron nage with an opah fillet ($48), but judging from my friends’ response, saffron is an acquired taste here.

Slight nods to meat eaters come in entrees such as a char-grilled Pono Pork loin ($40), broiled chili-lime chicken ($37), and grilled Angus beef. An 8-ounce filet mignon ($57) is divine, but felt heavy after a fish feast. The pomegranate fingerling potatoes that accompanied the steak were too sweet for my taste; I prefer salt on potatoes.

Also available are a 14-ounce New York strip ($68) and 40-ounce Tomahawk ribeye for two ($175). Add miso butter-broiled shrimp ($21), a quarter-pound king crab ($42) or half Kona lobster ($36) to customize your “Surf & Turf” plate.

Sides of crispy Brussels sprouts ($10) and garlic and duck fat fries ($9) are nice. The only dish that didn’t quite align was the Singapore street noodles ($12) that had too much street inspiration, not enough beach.

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.