makes some sense the outrageous prices
or “outrageous fish fraud”.
I’d not heard of K&C.
How much? Suruki was charging $23.95/lb a few months ago.
$1.2 for a Shigoku. That’s robbery. Us robbing them, that is. And I thought Sun Fat was cheap.
I have a reason to go to San Jose more often now. Do they have live stuff other than shellfish?
We bought hamachi a few months ago at about $17/lb. The live offerings are mostly shellfish: geoduck, lobster, clams, etc…
Per usual for seafood purveyors, price and availability subject to market. Like yourself, getting the freshest quality is most important consideration. Moving up the supply chain gets us closer to the source.
Wouldn’t surprise me if bulk customers get an industry discount off the listed or quoted price. Fair enough.
Hmmph, a little odd that Shigokus cost less than Kumamotos. I would have thought they taste close enough.
I always seem to be in the city or Oakland on days when we are eating out at night. Eventually we’ll get some good fishes there.
Live black cod at Marina Cupertino $13.99/lb.
Live gopher cod $20.99/lb.
Got a sea trout today from Marina Cupertino at $21/lb. They translated the fish into ‘mouse grouper’ though the skin looks more like a ‘sesame grouper’. That said, the flesh was a little mushy for a live fish, and certainly more so compared to a grouper.
Sometime, it can easily cross into the mushy area, which is unfortunate. Recently, I had a Coral trout (東星斑). Not inexpensive, and I felt underwhelmed.
That is true. Its a small-ish fish. May have overdone.
Where did you have yours? What’s the price?
I got it in LA restaurant called Atlantic Seafood & Dim Sum Restaurant. The fish (2.25-2.5 pound) cost me a little over $200 with tips and everything. Not cheap for a one person meal.
Scored some live brown cod Sunday from a boat a few boats from the far end of slip D. Forgot the name. They got black, brown, yellow cods and one other types. I got the brown. Either $8 or $10 / pound. Here are the cods in the bucket that was pulled up to the dock from the water for customers.
Here’s my fish.
The bucket went back into the water afterwards:
Look at this beauty.
Also got some petrale sole and what they said was rock fish from Mr. Morgan. The rock fish was a bit different from what I usually thought was rock fish. Bigger and a little tougher meat.
Also got a few sand dabs:
Someone was selling albacore tuna for about $9 a pound. Only two fishes left when I arrived. 9 and 17 pounds. Has anyone tried making sashimi from this tuna? How’s it?
@Google_Gourmet Maybe we were even on the docks around the same time LOL.
Does anyone know what yellow cod is supposed to taste like?
1 Like
We really should head out to HMB more often, especially in the summer. @Google_Gourmet i know you like Captain Morgan, any other recommendations and dis-recommendations of boats at Pillar Point?
That rock fish is a Red Chilipepper, one of our favorite fish from HMB. It is a firm fish, delicious braised (w/tofu) or baked. We had it both ways for Saturday dinner, as well as some baked Petrale.
Finished off our last Petrale tonight. Not exactly “fresh off the boat”, so sauté picatta. The tart capers complemented the sole well.
A couple years back, albacore was $2.50/lb!!! We sashimi’d and poke’d and grilled. Won’t pay more than $5/lb, but at half that, makes a few nice meals
On Friday, two boats had live Kingfish, another of our favorites. Kingfish are very similar to Yellow Croaker in Korean restaurants. Light flaky fish, delicate and delicious. Didn’t buy this time, but have indulged before. Should be ~ $5/lb.
Shoutout to another favorite boat, New Day. They fish Alaska waters and flash freeze fresh catch within minutes out of the water. We buy Coonstripe and Spot Prawns ten lbs per shot. Eat them raw, sometimes Thai style, sometimes just soy and wasabi. Their whole salmon is also good for sashimi.
Some “catches” from HMB. Starry flounder:
Ling cod:
The sign at the foot of the pier lists what boat has what on which dock:
Guy catching own salmon during season. Jealous!!!
2 Likes
Good point. The next time I get it I am going to try to braise it.
Yellow croaker? I haven’t had a wild yellow croaker since I was a kid. And farmed yellow croakers nowadays are just too mushy and fishy to be enjoyable. I’d very much love to try the kingfish and relive some childhood memories.
Beautiful fish day at Half Moon Bay. Plenty of boats and fish and everybody buying enthusiastically. Boards listing what’s available.
Scored a bright eyed 6.5 lb Albacore and of course, a 2lb+ Chilipepper.
Will post dinner on the WFD thread.
1 Like
What time is best to buy fish at the pier in HMB?
Weekends are best. A Couple of boats may be selling on Fridays. The other weekdays are hit and miss.
Do you have to go early in the morning? What time of day do the boats come in?
A live ‘mouse grouper’ from Marina from Thursday. Great fat oily skin and light flesh.
What is gopher cod, which Marina translates to Coral Trout? Does it bear any resemblance to coral trout?
Last Sunday we got to Pillar Point late. Almost everything was sold out. Someone was selling anchovies. Though I wonder how clean those harbor water is. That question extends to other fishes kept live at the harbor too, like the brown cod I ate the other week.
Ended up getting a 1 lb kingfish from a recreational boat at $5/lb.
Not a fish, but spotted the Alaskan king crab at Marina Cupertino today at $34.99/lb
Spot prawn at $32.99/lb. Anyone aware of a cheaper source for live spot prawn?
Very happy to see that the Pacific St. Fish Market is now open. Around the corner from the previous burnt out location, now on Stockton Street.
They must have just opened, the selection was not as good as when they were in full operation.
This has always been my go to place for Black Cod, they always seemed to have a few finning in their tanks. They were $9.99/# today. Glad to have them back.
2 Likes
