Fish Soup

However it’s made, fish soup is a bowl full of aromas of the sea.

* 5 Dudley: When bouillabaisse is on the menu here, it’s 10 ounces of fish, Santa Barbara prawns, cockles and mussels in veal broth with tomatoes, fingerling potatoes, baby fennel and saffron. It comes with homemade potato chips or bread, or croutons with the peppery paste called rouille. (Bouillabaisse, $29.) 5 Dudley, 5 Dudley Ave., Venice, (310) 399-6678.

* Trattoria Tre Venezie: The zuppa di pesce is shrimp, mussels, clams and bite-sized pieces of fish in a subtle lobster broth along with tomato, carrots, leeks and celery. It comes with grilled polenta. (Zuppa di pesce, $27.50), Trattoria Tre Venezie, 119 W. Green St., Pasadena, (626) 795-4455.

* Ocean Avenue Seafood: This place makes its cioppino with a slightly spicy mixture of fish and veal stock, plus garlic, herbs, tomatoes and crushed red peppers. It’s full of Dungeness crab legs, black mussels, shrimp, Manila clams and fish. (Cioppino, lunch $14.75, dinner, $18.75.) Ocean Avenue Seafood, 1401 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 394-5669.

* Mimosa: There are two choices here, both made with a broth of white wine, tomatoes, saffron, fennel, leeks and garlic finished with a drop of anise liqueur and served with a crouton covered with spicy rouille. The smaller Riviera soup includes blue crab and rock cod; the bouillabaisse is full of snapper, rock cod, shrimp, New Zealand mussels, Manila clams and baby sea scallops. (Riviera fish soup, $6.95; bouillabaisse, $23.) Mimosa, 8009 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 655-8895.

* Ago: This place makes a simple, understated soup with a fresh tomato base, enhanced by chunks of salmon, whitefish, calamari, shrimp, black mussels and Manila clams, finished with minced green onions and a garlic crouton. (Zuppa del Golfo, $9.50.) Ago, 8478 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, (323) 655-6333.

* Bluewater Grill: Here the seafood stew is a spicy chicken and clam broth with tomatoes, peppers, herbs and half a pound of assorted fish, topped off meaty Canadian bay shrimp. The cioppino includes mussels, Manila clams, Mexican prawns, Eastern sea scallops and half a Dungeness crab, along with ahi, swordfish or salmon, in a richer tomato and Burgundy broth. (Seafood stew, $10.95; cioppino, small $16.50, large $28.50.) Bluewater Grill, 630 Lido Park Drive, Newport Beach, (949) 675-3474.