EMC Raw Bar & Seafood

Stack seafood, not bills, at EMC Raw Bar in Koreatown

As we've mentioned more than once in the past few months, there may be no better time than now to dive into fresh seafood in L.A.

The only downside? It usually results in a much lighter wallet.

Imagine our delight, then, when we discovered EMC Raw Bar & Seafood, an expansive wood-and-glass-lined restaurant located within Koreatown's most opulent mall, City Center on 6th.

Daily from 5 to 7 p.m., a seasonal selection of $1 oysters is available, ranging from Chesapeake Bay Eastern bivalves to Kumamotos. Splashed with lime-jalapeƱo rice vinegar or truffled ponzu with fish roe, they're a gloriously briny meditation on the purchasing power of a single Washington.

Even if bargain oysters don't sway you, EMC has one of the most intriguing yet affordable seafood menus we've seen. We dug bowls of abalone-broth clams with bouncy taro noodles ($15), moist fennel-slaw crab cakes ($12), and petite softshell crab sliders with spicy aioli ($8). The kitchen can turn out both classic clam chowder ($8) and buttery congee loaded with uni ($15).

The toughest dilemma you'll encounter will be choosing whether you prefer your whole lobster ($39) steamed with lemon-pepper, fried and tossed in white pepper and soy, or charbroiled with red onion and cilantro.

Decisions, decisions.