rat

Having worked in one of the upper-scale seafood restaurants in the fourth largest city in the U.S., I have to say that nothing beats live. Barring that, nothing beats day-fresh seafood. If it's not live or straight off the boat, it doesn't taste anywhere as good. Out of practicality, the only seafood we had that was frozen was our shrimp (because taking the heads out and de-veining several thousand pounds every two days isn't practical--far too labor intensive). Our crawfish were fresh (if not live) though processed for the tailmeat. All our fish was fresh--either straight in off the boat, or shipped refrigerated, but never frozen.

This really didn't seem that big of thing to me while I lived in Houston--every restaurant had solid access to fresh fish and crabs. Now that I'm 150 miles from the coast, I don't bother going into seafood restaurants. I made the mistake once, and never again. Portions are smaller, taste far more bland, and cost more. Waste of money, and more importantly, a dining experience. It's a lesson that I've taken to heart and won't forget. It's not beef, it's not chicken--I don't find a noticeable difference in taste from those things.

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