Quality Seafood

It's more than just a motto! It is a place, a place that we found out about from my brother Brennan, well it's a fish-monger/restaurant in Redondo Beach. And it is a place that I can't describe in 140 characters or less!

Over the last year or so we have had a number of things here. What I will remember the most is my first experience with fresh uni. Sea urchin wasn't something that was on my bucket list of foods to try! Now I look out for it on menus.

The taste is not easy to describe, I guess the best way is, creamy and briny, with pillow-y type of texture. For a minute the briny-ness reminds you it came from the ocean, then just as that realization comes over you find yourself wondering where the creamy softness in your mouth came from.

It's not fishy, not at all what I expected, at the same time when it is fresh and you look down into that broken shell, you see the spines still moving, you expect a slimy texture. Not even!

It is funny what you bond over. Food is one of the best glues there is!

Since that visit I will say I have gone back to the standards that brought me to Quality Seafood in the first place. Fresh oysters, crab legs, and shrimp!

Fresh oysters, 5 minutes before this pic was taken,
well you the picture...

Each area of the shop has it's regular workers and as in most places you find people you like and some you don't, but the last couple times we have gone I couldn't complain about the service if I wanted to. The guys shucking the clams and the oysters usually do a good job keeping the shells out, sometimes because the shells are so fragile it's impossible. I have really enjoyed the Blue Point and Malispina oysters the last couple visits. Blue Points have thicker shells so they don't break so easy when they are shucked.

On the other side of the shop they have all sorts of seafood salads, ceviche, poke', campechana. In addition they will grill or deep fry your fish right after they scale and gut it for you. Plus this is where you get the Cajun Style shrimp with vegetables and bread. I could get this dish every time, my wife actually does!

Take that bread and dredge it through the sauce.
That's how you know you have a meal!

Every meal here has been an experience, you might go in the summer and have to muscle your way to the different areas of the shop. You might go in the "cold" of winter and get the gratitude of a bunch of cold fish mongers. It might be the first time you take a couple of friends that will want to know every time you plan on going!

Before I forget, between the bars and sushi joints you are going to see this sign.

This is not an exaggeration!

Don't pass it up! Save some room, after your meal go have some churros. It was the best dessert that I have had in some time! Oh and don't forget the caramel sauce... the best 50 cents I ever spent!!!

After this goes up I'm going to feel bad for a minute! I hate to let anyone in on a place like this, but there aren't too many places like this around anymore! It's the kind of place I will go for the rest of my life!

Follow Up: Support your local...

I have to post this short and sweet because I'm from the school of thought that you fix what you can.

I had someone post a comment on my last blog entry: http://foodiefromfrisco.blogspot.com/2012/11/support-your-local.html

I then got a reply on my Yelp account that pretty much mirrored the comment on my blog. My only issue was the comment and reply did nothing about my issues, granted the thing on my mind late last night was supporting local... But the coffee wouldn't have stopped my from going back to David Schat's Bakery. http://www.yelp.com/biz/david-schats-bakery-cafe-el-segundo#hrid:nXgeXXfzE-iY-ZMSI3Dxww I just wouldn't buy the coffee.

I want to thank Mr. Schat for replying back to and addressing some of my issues. It seems he really took my comments to heart. 

To me his second reply is rare. He accepted what I had to say and he gave me assurances that he would do his best to fix it. People PLEASE follow his example, don't justify what you have done, take your lumps and see what you could have done to make it better! That is really all I was expecting...

Thank you David!

Support Your Local...

Gunfighter! No that's not it!

Support your local (insert producer here!)

I try, I love farmers markets, mom & pop liquor stores, bakeries, and restaurants. But I have a problem with supporting them at the cost of consuming an inferior product. 

If the local guy makes beer just as good as (insert your favorite brewery here) but it costs a couple bucks more I buy local. I remember hearing Fritz Maytag talk about the sour disappointing beer he produced when he first bought Anchor Brewing. It took him 3 or 4 years to develop his "Steam Beer" and then another 6 years to finally break even but he stuck to making beer that was as good or better than the competition. Now we know him as the "Father of Micro-brewing."

My point is by all means support your local (insert producer here) but hold them to the same standards as you would the big name whatever! 

I went to a bakery in El Segundo this last weekend. They were promoting a local coffee roasting company (I think it was Groundwork) but I'll be honest it didn't even smell good, it smelled burnt! Yes they might have burnt the brew but they acted like that was how it was supposed to taste. As I walked out I could hear someone behind the counter arguing about the choice to switch to the new coffee producer. If he had listened and offered the guy a freshly brewed cup I probably wouldn't have thought twice but he said the that catchphrase that seems to excuse mediocrity, "We wanted to support a local (insert producer here)"

I'll admit I'm a coffee snob, I love Peet's coffee, granted it's not local to you but in my heart Berkeley is still just stones throw away!

I have enjoyed brew from 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters.I'm planning on getting some more of that soon. (Thanks for the heads up on that one B!)

I love local whatever it may be, but I'll admit I'm spoiled it needs to be good! Don't let that wonderful catchphrase be an excuse to produce mediocre or inferior product. That is what make buying local worth it. It might cost a couple bucks more but it's better than what they get in the next town over!