The Four Seasons brand connotes grace, elegance and discernment, which can also imply a degree of formality and stiffness that’s far from fun. But that’s not the case with its Fish House restaurant, which is as far from stodgy as can be. The idea of seafood towers and shellfish simmers is synonymous with summer fun, and that’s the spirit exuded here.

Ko Olina might be only 25 miles away from the heart of downtown Honolulu, but it feels like a world away when you’re able to leave your cares behind, and one can’t help but take a deep, relaxed breath the moment one is seated here.

Dishes of burgers, steaks and seafood are presented in a room with a rustic, beachy vibe that suits the location mere steps from sand and sea. The interior looks like a page torn from Coastal Living magazine with picturesque details including exposed wood rafters; a lounge area appointed with woven-basket wall decor and throw pillows in nautical colors; a bar graced with stylized fish scale tiles; and hanging features such as fishing nets and glass floats. It would be easy to go overboard with a theme like this, but it’s more aspirational than kitschy, occupying a space we’d all like to live in.

Any time you start feeling particularly uptight as the busy fall season approaches, sharing a few tropical libations with friends can help you find a moment of calm, such as the Pineapple Elyx-ir comprising pineapple juice, vodka, pomegranate, hibiscus, Champagne and bitters, served in a bronze-colored, pineapple-shaped vessel. When the crown is removed, it becomes the base of a pineapple chalice. Nondrinkers will find refreshment in handcrafted sodas, cold-pressed juices and kombucha.

In spite of the casual air, this being the Four Seasons, the details are pure luxe, and you’ll find sandwiches running $22 and 8- to 14-ounce steaks at about $48. Budget accordingly.

Of course, there’s a focus on seafood, and I’m glad the restaurant hones in on the fact that for an island surrounded by water, we don’t have a dedicated seafood restaurant. I get asked the question, “What’s the best seafood restaurant on Oahu?” all the time, and answering is tricky because most full-service restaurants are capable of offering a handful of good seafood dishes, but few could be classified as a seafood restaurant.

A visit to Fish House nets an abundance of seafood and other dishes with chef Ray German’s Latin flair.

The restaurant’s signature, day and night, is its Seafood Tower ($150). For the money, you’ll feast on a combo of 18 shrimp, 12 oysters, a half-pound of king crab legs, one poached lobster tail, mussels and clams. It’s enough for four. Add a salad and perhaps a dish of duck fried rice ($28) tossed with duck sausage, duck skin and duck egg, and boom! You’ve got a satisfying summer meal.

No matter what you order, do not leave this place without trying the North Shore corn on the cob ($7 lunch, $5 dinner side) drizzled with condensed milk aioli, Parmesan and lime-smoked paprika. It has every food writer I know raving about it because, as much as we all love a great raw bar, much of it can be attributed to nature’s handiwork rather than human handiwork. But the corn dazzles with its fresh, perfect crunch and burst of soulful, sunny flavors.

Day and night, you’ll find salad options such as a chilled avocado salad ($21 lunch, $17 dinner side), generous with the avocado, sprinkled with a hazelnut quinoa crumble and apple cider vinegar; and the Fish House salad ($21), a cross between a wedge salad and old-fashioned shrimp-and-crab Louie, topped with shaved bonito and a poached egg.

Also available day and night are a handful of poke options ranging from the classic Hawaiian style ($9) with limu, onion, kukui nut and soy sauce, to tako ($9) with a mixture of bright and heavy notes from slices of oranges and avocado, wasabi aioli and unagi sauce.

Unique to the lunch menu are “Crispies,” a quartet of dishes that go crunch. These are fresh-catch fish and chips ($27), coconut-fried shrimp served with curried cauliflower and pea shoots ($25), “The Pirate’s Mom” fried chicken with smoked paprika ($23) and brown butter fried lobster tails ($32).

Also available during the day only are sandwiches ranging from a lobster melt with Gruyere and Old Bay seasoning ($32) to a Fish House Cubano ($23) with roast pork and ginger-lime-cilantro remoulade.

At dinnertime the Crispies are replaced by “Simmers,” pots of mussels ($23), king crab ($48), scallops ($33) and fresh catch steeped in broth such as coconut, ginger and lime for the scallops and seaweed dashi for the fresh catch. I loved the king crab in a spicy broth of fennel and red pepper reminiscent of chorizo. Strangely for a seafood restaurant, tools for dealing with crab were absent, so this is not a dish for those who don’t like getting their hands dirty.

If you cannot live on seafood alone, there are meat options such as a 12-ounce alaea-salted New York steak ($56) or 40-ounce tomahawk steak with chimichurri sauce ($135).

Our server recommended the roasted pork shoulder ($68), which could probably feed six people. As much as I love pork, the beer-soy sauce was too pedestrian for my taste, an overly sweet take on shoyu pork. I imagine this would be popular with a lot of people, but I wish I had gotten steak instead.

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com. For more photos from this week’s restaurant go to bit.ly/2bNj3tH