Announcement of the new Nico’s Kailua came via Facebook, and before learning where it was, I’d already guessed its location, in the former Pinky’s Pupu Bar & Grill site.

No, I’m not psychic, but I know that for Nico Chaize a seafood restaurant doesn’t make sense without a physical connection to the sea. Pinky’s was one of the available spaces that came closest, overlooking the canal that flows into Kailua Bay. It’s an “ah” moment to sit and relax with a view of the water. The mind simply filters out the man-made structures surrounding it.

The Kailua menu isn’t as extensive (yet) as that of Nico’s Pier 38 at Honolulu Harbor, but Chaize has brought all the essentials — that is, the best of the original Nico’s, when it was just a small, unassuming, mostly takeout spot where people were willing to stand in line for plate lunches and sandwiches made with seafood fresh from the docks. It was an inexpensive luxury.

Nico’s Kailua continues the gathering-place tradition of its predecessor, with people lining the bar at all times of day. In one corner a minimarket sells poke and fresh fish to rival that of giant competitor Whole Foods. Beyond basic ahi pokes, you might find kim chee white crab, furikake salmon or spicy scallop poke, alongside fish fillets, smoked fish and Chaize’s specialty Moby Dip (fish dip with mayonnaise, celery, lemon juice and onion). You can also purchase bottles of his wonderful lemon-miso salad dressing.

Addressing restaurant labor shortages statewide, Nico’s has a self-service format at lunch, with dishes in takeout containers. You start by finding a table, where you can study the menu before placing your order with cashiers up front. A pager alerts you when your order is ready to pick up at a window between the kitchen and dining room.

As much as I appreciate table service, I have to admit a hungry customer is very efficient at moving plates, assuring dishes are at their peak when you eat them. No time is wasted waiting for distracted servers to collect and double-check orders.

In the evening, regular wait service caters to a packed house. The ambience is like visiting an auntie’s home on the water. It’s homey and comfortable, with plenty of pupu, such as poke of the day ($8), truffle fries ($7), spicy edamame ($7) or grilled hamachi kama ($15).

Fresh fish has been Nico’s claim to fame since 2004, when Chaize opened his initial small restaurant, and it continues to be the best of the menu, which I feel has a bit of the “elephant and the blind man” quality to it. In the Indian tale, several blind men each touch a different part of an elephant to figure out the nature of the beast, and walk away with different perspectives based on having felt its tail, tusks, ears, trunk or body.

Choose the right dishes at Nico’s, and it’s easy to walk away thinking this is the best restaurant ever. Choose wrong, and you’d question the wisdom of the crowd.

The Pier 38 fish burger ($12.55 at lunch) is the best of the menu by far. It was not just hype when Guy Fieri came to town and featured the burger on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” We’ve come to associate fish burgers with fish fillets, but this sandwich comprises two moist and flavorful dill-spiked handmade patties. Use of the day’s fresh catch gives the patties wonderful texture as well.

Furikake pan-seared ahi ($13.50) takes me back to the original Nico’s, when the sheer simplicity of fish cooked to order won diners’ hearts.

With growth at Pier 38 came pressure to impress and accommodate more people, so in came the variety of meat and fried food you see today, as well as more hands in the kitchen. In Kailua this makes for uneven results, and dishes under- or over-seasoned.

On the dinner menu there are many reasons to like poke nachos ($14) with a base of wonton chips, a layer of poke and extras of avocado, shredded nori and Sriracha aioli, but a salty kabayaki glaze overwhelms the dish, driving my party to fish around for pieces of poke untouched by the sauce. Without a controlled hand, I imagine that on other days it might be the Sriracha that drives diners to steer clear of the sauce.

On the same evening, rib-eye in a dish of steak frites ($28) had good flavor in itself, but oddly, it was topped by garlic butter that was neither garlicky nor buttery, defying explanation. We could see the buttery pool on top of the steak, but no flavor emanated from it. Our waiter had tried to steer us toward the red wine-braised short ribs ($25), and perhaps we should have listened.

One dish that sold out early, suggesting its popularity, was braised pork belly with arugula-macadamia nut pesto ($23).

Nico’s steamed clams ($19) are decent, but I prefer steaming in wine to the beer used here, which left a bitter aftertaste. Fish and chips featured fresh swordfish that was great, but the beer batter coating was flabby, not the crisp ideal.

Some people simply find their favorite dish and stick to it, such as one friend who — strangely, at a seafood-centric restaurant — eats only Nico’s beef stew ($12 on the lunch menu), confirming there’s something for everyone. You just have to find your sweet spot.

Before leaving, walk over to the dessert case to check out what’s available. Confections such as chocolate, red velvet or carrot cake slices, cheesecakes and dessert bars are $4 to $5.50, all packaged to go.

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