Tintos Restaurant, the former Spanish tapas spot tucked in the back of River Oaks Shopping Center near S. Shepherd, got a new name a few months ago: Pesca World Seafood. The restaurant still has the same owners, including chef Alberto Alfonzo.

What the name change has allowed is a broader perspective. Rather than being strictly tied down to tapas, the eatery now focuses on fresh seafood and fish and draws from culinary influences around the world. The menu carries accents from Asian, Peru, the Caribbean, Spain and, of course, coastal United States.

At a recent media lunch, we were treated to a range of chef Alfonzo’s dishes. I felt like I won the lottery with the Portuguese seafood stew. Besides being full of clams, squid, shrimp and fish, there were herbs, spices, green olives and tomatoes all tied together with a rich shrimp stock.

Also highly recommended here are the pretzel crabcakes (below) with red bell pepper coulis. The generous serving of lump crabmeat is bound with a light hand. The red pepper coulis adds a touch of vegetal sweetness, and a mustard cream brings everything together with the taut balance of acidity and creaminess.

Pesca has so many fresh fish dishes to choose from that it’s a little hard to decide. Our blackened Redfish Orleans was topped with a generous heaping of crawfish tails and a light andouille cream. The Thai-influenced flounder (photo at top) was lightly fried, bathed with a bit of basil-touched coconut sauce and served alongside jasmine rice.

It’s a place where it’s easy to eat healthily, if that’s what motivates you. If that’s the case, though, you’ll have to skip dessert, and that’s kind of a shame. There’s a mighty fine flourless chocolate cake and an intriguing Venezulan-style flan called quesillo. Even though the name means “little cheese,” there’s no cheese in there – just eggs, condensed milk, caramel and other good things that you’d expect in a custard. The only misfire was a crème brûlée that was too sweet and sugary for adult tastes.

We haven’t indulged in brunch yet, but the menu is very appealing. Beef tips with chimichurri and eggs as well as a slate of tasty empanadas sounds like a wonderful way to dine on a Sunday. There’s also a very reasonable Mother’s Day brunch menu with a $25 three-course prix fixe option.

What else? A flower-bedecked patio for sipping wine, as well as bottles of wine that can be purchased retail.

PESCA WORLD SEAFOOD RESTAURANT, 2015 West Gray, Suite J (faces Peden), 713-522-1330, pescaseafoodrestaurant.com