The Blue Point, a cool, contemporary, on-the-corner restaurant, opened recently at 46th Street and Ninth Avenue — and it’s a small spot with a big menu. Although the name Blue Point conjures up images of seafood — and a first glance at the menu makes one think of creperies (there are 124 crepes on it) — it is neither, both, and more.

The menu, which would challenge even larger establishments, offers a bit of French-bistro fare, pastas, steaks, oysters and clams (Blue Points among them), quiches, sandwiches, burgers, salads and, yes, seafood dishes. There’s also a $22.95 prix-fixe, three-course dinner and a Tuesday night happy-hour fondue special that, for $18, provides diners (and drinkers) a choice of French, Swiss, Mexican, American, Italian, chocolate, and caramel versions. That same happy-hour menu, which seemed quite popular with the twenty- and thirty-somethings at the bar, provides patrons with cosmos, frozen caipirinhas, mimosas, martinis, and mojitos in the $5-to-$7 range.

While it would be impossible to hit a home run on every one of the huge number of possibilities available here, there are more than enough successes to put together a winning meal. Appetizers are an especially strong course: Six medium-sized escargots in a delicious garlic butter (priced at a gentle $8) were terrific; the smoked salmon that encircled a turret of egg salad was also first-rate; avocado and shrimp with tarragon mayonnaise looked like little upright shrimp sandwiches with tomatoes and avocados substituting for bread; and the steamed mussels boasted a savory broth. All received surprisingly upscale presentation, considering their modest prices.

Among the entrées, a generous portion of bouillabaisse passed muster, and an Angus steak au poivre sporting a traditional brandy cream sauce did as well. A plate-filling beef bourguignon (buckwheat) crepe was tasty but needed more meat. A slightly fatty balsamic-marinated rack of lamb in a heady whole-grain mustard-and-rosemary reduction yielded admirable flavor.

Among the desserts, a hot apple-and-ice-cream crepe was good and a colossal banana-split crepe (ice cream, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and sliced bananas) was even better.

Blue Point has a hard-surfaced, modern, high-tech look with its tile floor and walls, glass-topped, stainless-steel-bordered tables, plasma television, and color-changing back-lighted bar. And the happy chatter from that bar makes the restaurant more a scene than serene. Its floor-to-ceiling windows also provide an excellent view of the diverse, colorful parade passing along Ninth Avenue.

375 W. 46th St. at Ninth Ave., 212-247-8040